One of the key factors in determining the success of your digital marketing strategies is having indicators and tools that allow you to measure the results of your digital campaigns.
Metrics show the performance of your actions and allow you to verify whether your strategies are achieving the expected results according to your stated objectives.
Among the tools you can’t miss for analyzing your marketing efforts is Google Analytics, which offers free information about your website traffic. But to get more accurate results, even Google needs a little help. That’s where Google Analytics’ UTM parameters come in .
Although the tool captures a wealth of data and information about your website traffic, UTM parameters are an advanced tracking option that provides you with much more specific information. Below, we’ll share why you should use UTM parameters in your links and how to generate them.
What are Google Analytics UTM parameters?
Before discussing UTM parameters in practice, it’s important to understand their meaning and definition. UTM is short for Urchin Traffic Monitor, which, in simple translation, could be called “Urchim Traffic Monitor,” the name of the company acquired by Google to build Analytics.
Using UTMs, you can more easily analyze where your website traffic is coming from , i.e., which actions generate the most clicks. This could be from advertising media such as social media, landing pages, banners, or blogs, as well as links on your website.
UTM parameters are small snippets brother cell phone list of text that can be added to your links to track each click. An example of a URL with UTM parameters we use at HostGator would be:
By using UTM parameters, Google Analytics will show you specific traffic results for a specific source or channel. For example, you’ll be able to see how many people accessed your blog post through Facebook or Twitter, or how much traffic came to your website from a specific campaign you’re running. This information is very important, as it allows you to monitor the results of each of your digital channels and evaluate which actions are working best with your audience.
Why use UTM parameters in your links?
To make effective decisions for your digital marketing strategy, it’s important to measure and analyze the results of each of your online actions. UTM parameters will help you gain useful insights and optimize your results. Learn why you should use UTM codes :
Tracking traffic sources
Do you share your blog posts on social media? Chances are you do so with the same link. But by adding UTM parameters for each top 5 best online resume and cv builders 2024 platform to the links you share, you’ll be able to find out which social network is driving the most traffic to your blog.
Tracking your campaigns
Are you running a special promotion on your website and want to know how much traffic and results this campaign is generating? Simply add the campaign name to the UTM of all the links and ads for this promotion. You can also monitor click-through rates in the emails you send. We’ll explain how to do this later.
Optimizing your ads
You can optimize the performance of your online ads by running A/B tests with UTM parameters. For example, in a promotional ad, you can use one image with the discount percentage and another image with the final price of the product, and add a UTM for each image. Ultimately, you’ll know what works best for your audience.
How to build a URL with UTM parameters?
To build a URL with UTM parameters, you can use Google’s URL Builder tool . The variables you can use in links for tracking are as follows. To better understand, let’s go back to the example used previously.
Tips for creating UTM parameters
- You can use Google’s tool to shorten the URL and make it more user-friendly;
- Be very careful with uppercase and lowercase letters. Using “utm_source=facebook” and “utm_source=Facebook” is egypt data not the same;
- Use a template to control the parameters you use. It’s important to have rules for how to write them so you don’t create different UTMs that can lead to future confusion.
- Do not use special characters such as accents or punctuation marks;
- Pay close attention to names, keep them as simple and short as possible so they are easy to remember.