UTM Builder: create tracked links for Google Analytics
Create URLs with UTM parameters to track your marketing campaigns in Google Analytics. Guide and best practices.
Published on January 11, 2026UTM parameters (Urchin Tracking Module) are tags added to a URL that allow Google Analytics to know where a visitor comes from. Essential for measuring the effectiveness of each marketing channel, campaign and content, they transform anonymous visits into actionable data.
Understanding the conversion
A complete UTM link contains 5 parameters: utm_source (traffic source: newsletter, facebook, google), utm_medium (channel type: email, cpc, social, banner), utm_campaign (campaign name: christmas-promo-2025), utm_term (keyword for paid campaigns) and utm_content (content variant for A/B testing). Only the first 3 are mandatory. UTM parameters are case-sensitive: 'Newsletter' and 'newsletter' will create two different sources in GA.
📐 Formula
📊 Conversion table
| UTM parameter | Required | Typical values | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Yes | google, facebook, newsletter | utm_source=newsletter |
| utm_medium | Yes | cpc, email, social, organic | utm_medium=email |
| utm_campaign | Yes | campaign-name, summer-sale | utm_campaign=summer-sale-2025 |
| utm_term | No | paid keyword | utm_term=trail+shoes |
| utm_content | No | A/B variant, button name | utm_content=header-button |
💡 Practical examples
https://mysite.com/promo?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer-sale-2025&utm_content=cta-button — In GA4, this traffic appears under Source/Medium: newsletter/email, Campaign: summer-sale-2025.
https://mysite.com?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product-launch&utm_content=story-post — Distinguishes Stories traffic from regular posts vs bio link.
Always use lowercase. Use hyphens (-) rather than underscores or spaces. Create a shared reference table across your team to avoid inconsistencies (summer-2025 vs Summer_2025 vs summer 2025).