Among many advantages of SEO and digital marketing, its ability to track the customer journey from start to finish is so powerful. It will be great if you can apply this same feature to all your marketing campaigns. For the benefits of internet marketers, Google now has created a unique system based on Urchin Tracking Module or UTM codes, which let the users track the online and offline campaigns for its success. Let’s have a detailed look into it.
Defining UTM Codes
UTM codes are actually pieces of codes which are attached to the end of page URLs to track the campaign name, source, and medium. With the help of these code snippets, Google Analytics can determine the exact source of traffic.
UTM codes can be set up by creating custom URLs and redirecting them to the main page. You can easily create unique UTM codes by your own for all types of offline marketing avenues too. Say, for example, a lead from the newspaper advertisement can be used as a specific URL which redirects to a UTM code to track the newspaper ad traffic. This can also be set for various other offline sources too as radio, TV and different other offline sources.
We have discussed the creation of UTM codes in detail at another article in this series. Let’s have a quick overview here about preparing UTM codes, both manual and using Google URL builder.
- Manually creating UTM codes
To create a manual UTM, you need to understand the structure of a URL. You can use keywords as you like also based on the source you consider. But, as a rule of thumb, use only relevant keywords to make the tracking of different campaigns easier. The manual method of preparing UTM is not usually recommended as there are chances to commit mistakes, which may create a bias and will tamper the statistics. As suggested by https://siteimprove.com/en-us/analytics/utm-code-builder/, using the Google URL builder is a reliable alternative.
- UTM codes with Google URL builder
You can use the Google URL builder to create effective UTM codes instantly, in an organized way. To do this, go to the “Website URL” option at and then key in the homepage URL which you want to track. You need to provide the traffic source also expected in the below field. Other fields in the form are options, but it is ideal for filling in all the fields in order to get the data in a more structured and organized way. Once all these fields are filled, you can scroll down to see the custom URL. Simply copy the URL and use it for your campaigns.
There are five parameters in the UTM code:
- Utm_source: the source of traffic is identified with this tag.
- Utm_medium: which medium the traffic is generated from.
- Utm_campaign: with date separation to distinguish between multiple campaigns. Say, for example, newspaperadMAR2019 could indicate the campaign results from the newspaper added dated March 2019.
- Utm_content: Limited to the specifics of a campaign. Say, for example, if you run the same campaign with two different content, you can specify which one to use this parameter.
- Utm_term: It can be used to identify things as keywords to get more traffic.
Mastering the art of UTM code-based analytics will help you fine-tune your digital marketing campaigns and enjoy more and more results over time.
