UTM parameters explained (and how to build links that don't break)

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UTM parameters are little tags you add to a link so your analytics can tell where a visitor came from. They're the difference between "someone visited" and "someone visited from the March newsletter."

The five UTM parameters

• utm_source: where the traffic comes from: newsletter, twitter, partner-site.
• utm_medium: the channel type: email, social, cpc.
• utm_campaign: the campaign name: spring-sale.
• utm_term: optional, usually the paid keyword.
• utm_content: optional, to tell two variants apart (e.g. hero-button vs footer-link).

They live in the query string: https://example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-sale. Your analytics tool reads them and groups visits accordingly.

How to build them without breaking things

• Be consistent. Pick email and always use email, not Email or e-mail. UTMs are case-sensitive, so Twitter and twitter become two rows.
• Use lowercase, no spaces. Use hyphens: spring-sale, not Spring Sale.
• Don't UTM internal links on your own site, since it resets attribution.

Then shorten it

A UTM link is long and ugly, which is exactly what a shortener is for. Urlicer has a built-in UTM builder on the link form, so you can add the tags and shorten in one step. One note worth knowing: the tags live in the destination URL, so if you later add targeting rules or A/B variants (which swap the destination), give each of those its own utm_content so you can still tell them apart.

Want to tag and shorten in one step? Shorten a link free. No signup, and every link gets a QR code and click analytics.