How should UTM parameters be structured?
Five parameters, each answering exactly one question:
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Build UTM links your future self can read.
A UTM generator with the convention baked in: channel presets, live linting for the mistakes that split your data, and a copyable link — plus the short guide most teams never wrote down.
First time here? Read the full guide — the naming convention, the five parameters, and the mistakes that split your data.
1
Pick a channel preset
Presets fill source and medium with the standard values — the guide, applied.
2
Build the link
The page the click should land on.
WHERE the click comes from — the platform.
HOW it arrives — the channel type.
WHY it exists — the initiative. Pattern: [goal]-[theme]-[geo]
Optional — paid search keyword or audience.
Optional — which ad or variant. Great for A/B tests.
| Parameter | Answers | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where — the platform sending the click | google · facebook · newsletter · chatgpt |
| utm_medium | How — the channel type | cpc · paid_social · email · offline |
| utm_campaign | Why — the initiative, patterned | leads-migration-us ([goal]-[theme]-[geo]) |
| utm_term (optional) | The paid keyword or audience | zendesk-pricing |
| utm_content (optional) | Which creative — turns “the ad worked” into “the quote-hook variant worked” | quote-hook-v2 |
The campaign pattern is where discipline pays off: [goal]-[theme]-[geo] gives you names that sort, filter, and explain themselves a year later.
The rules that keep attribution clean
- Lowercase, always. Analytics tools are case-sensitive; mixed case splits one source into three rows.
- Dashes, not spaces. Spaces become
%20and make reports unreadable. - One convention, written down. The tags only work if everyone uses the same ones — our UTM naming convention template is the one-page doc to share (part of the free template library).
- Never on internal links. UTMs on your own navigation overwrite the visitor's true origin — they belong only on links pointing at your site from elsewhere.
- Let Google Ads auto-tagging live. The GCLID does conversion plumbing UTMs can't; run both — UTMs for your reporting, GCLID for Google's.
- Check the CRM, not just analytics. UTMs earn their keep when they land on the contact record and follow the deal — that's attribution that survives to revenue.
Which utm_medium should I use?
Stick to the standard set so your analytics groups channels correctly — invented mediums like fb-stuff end up in “Unassigned,” where attribution goes to die:
| cpc | Paid search — Google Ads, Bing Ads. |
|---|---|
| paid_social | Paid social — Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok ads. |
| display | Banner and programmatic display placements. |
| Newsletters and campaign sends. | |
| organic_social | Unpaid social posts. |
| referral | Partner and affiliate links. |
| offline | QR codes, print, anything physical. |
| paid_ai | ChatGPT ads — newer, worth standardizing early so conversational-AI spend reports separately. |
Tagging links is step one. Connecting them to revenue is ours.
We wire ad platforms into the CRM so every campaign answers to pipeline — Google Partner, ~$10M in managed spend.
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