What Are UTM Parameters and What Are They Good For?

In digital marketing, accurately measuring campaign effectiveness is the foundation of success. But how do you tell whether a visitor came from an organic Facebook post, a paid ad or a newsletter? The answer is UTM parameters. In this article we explain in plain language what UTM parameters are, what exactly they are used for and how to set them up.

Summary for Those Who Don't Have Time to Read the Whole Article

• UTM parameters are special codes that you add to the end of a URL and that show you where a visitor came to the website from.
• They tell apart whether a customer clicked on a paid ad or an organic post on the same social network.
• Without UTM parameters you see only general information such as "Facebook" in Google Analytics. With UTM parameters you see the specific campaign.
• There are 5 types of parameters: source (utm_source), medium (utm_medium), campaign (utm_campaign), content (utm_content) and keyword (utm_term).
• Every advertising platform has a different way of setting UTM parameters.

What Are UTM Parameters and Why Do You Need Them?

UTM parameters (from Urchin Tracking Module – the tool that preceded Google Analytics) are short text codes that you add to the end of a URL. They work like invisible labels. They don't change where the link leads, but they tell you exactly where the visitor came from.

Without UTM parameters you have a problem. When someone clicks on your link from Facebook, Google Analytics shows you only "facebook.com" as the source. But you don't know whether the user came from a paid ad costing CZK 10,000 or from an unpaid post.

With UTM parameters you know exactly:

• Which specific campaign performs best.
• How much money each channel brings you.
• Where to invest more and where less.

5 Types of UTM Parameters: What Does Each of Them Mean?

As we have already said, UTM parameters are added to the end of the URL and start with a question mark. Each parameter has a name and a value in the format name=value. The individual parameters are separated by an ampersand &. Let's go through all the parts.

1. Source (utm_source)

Identifies the name of the specific platform or website the user came from.

Examples:

• utm_source=facebook (from Facebook),
• utm_source=google (from Google),
• utm_source=newsletter (from an email).

2. Medium (utm_medium)

The medium type determines what type of medium the visitor came from (e.g. organic entry, paid ad).

Examples:

• utm_medium=cpc (paid ad),
• utm_medium=social (organic post on a social network),
• utm_medium=email (from an email campaign).

3. Campaign (utm_campaign)

Identifies a specific marketing action or campaign. We need to know not only where the user came from, but also because of which campaign, so that we can measure correctly.

For professional campaign management we recommend using structured naming with two types of separators:

• Underscore (_) to separate groups of information.
• Hyphen (-) to separate words within one group.

Recommended structure: YYMMDD_campaign-name_AUDIENCE (250901_christmas-hits_REM)

4. Content (utm_content)

Helps distinguish different versions of the same ad, for example different buttons or images.

As with utm_campaign, use two types of separators here too.

Examples of structured naming:

• video-animation_feed_variant-a
• static-image_stories_red-button

5. Term (utm_term)

Term is used mainly for tracking keywords in PPC campaigns.

Examples:

• utm_term=nike_shoes,
• utm_term=digital_marketing,
• utm_term=web_analytics.

What Does a URL with UTM Parameters Look Like in Practice?

Let's show what a real URL with UTM parameters can look like:

/post/predictive-data-analysis-the-courage-to-predict-the-fut
ure-based-on-numbers/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=facebook&utm_cam
paign=spring_sale

What does this URL tell us?

• The user came from Facebook (utm_source=facebook)
• clicked on a paid ad (utm_medium=cpc)
• as part of the spring sale (utm_campaign=spring_sale)

Why Are UTM Parameters So Important?

Without UTM parameters it is hard to track the performance of different marketing activities effectively.

Imagine that on Facebook you run a paid ad alongside organic posts at the same time. How do you tell which of these activities brings more visitors or generates more conversions?

UTM parameters give you a clear answer. Thanks to them you can in Google Analytics or other analytics tools analyse, among other things, exactly:

• Which platforms bring the most visitors.
• Which campaigns have the highest conversion rate.
• Which types of content work best.
• Which keywords generate the highest-quality traffic.

This information is essential for optimising your marketing budget and strategy.

How to Set Up UTM Parameters in Different Advertising Systems

Every advertising system has its own specifics for working with UTM parameters. In general, though, you should already in the interface name your campaigns the way the resulting UTM parameter should look, that is in an exact structure, without spaces, without Czech diacritics and straight away with the separator used. Let's look at the most commonly used platforms.

Google Ads

Google Ads doesn't need UTM parameters. Google Ads and Google Analytics communicate with each other using the GCLID parameter. You just need to link the accounts and all the data is transferred automatically. In your Google Ads account the auto-tagging feature, which generates the GCLID, is switched on automatically.

If you still want to use UTM parameters (for example for other analytics tools), use the Google URL Builder.

Facebook (Meta) Ads

Facebook lets you add UTM parameters directly when creating an ad. In Ads Manager you will find a "Tracking" section where you can set the parameters manually or use dynamic tokens (e.g. {{campaign.name}} to insert the campaign name automatically).

Recommended setup:

• utm_source=facebook,
• utm_medium=cpc (or social_paid),
• utm_campaign=your_campaign_name

We also recommend setting the UTM parameters already when creating campaigns/ads. A later change during an already active campaign can restart its learning phase.

Sklik

Sklik requires UTM parameters, but you don't have to add them manually. In the account settings you switch on "Automatic URL tagging" and the system does everything for you.

Sklik sets automatically:

• utm_source=seznam,
• utm_medium=cpc,
• utm_campaign=campaign_name_in_sklik.

Common Mistakes When Using UTM Parameters

Even seemingly simple UTM parameters have their pitfalls. Avoid these common mistakes.

1. Inconsistent Naming

• Mistake: Once you write "Facebook", another time "facebook", a third time "FB".
• Problem: Google Analytics sees these as three different sources.
• Solution: Set uniform naming rules and stick to them. Ideally everything in lowercase, without diacritics.

2. UTM Parameters on Internal Links

• Mistake: You add UTM parameters to an internal link (e.g. from the homepage to a product page).
• Problem: Google Analytics counts this as a new visit
• Solution: Use UTM parameters only on links that lead to your website from outside.

3. Spaces and Diacritics in Parameters

• Mistake: utm_campaign=spring sale.
• Problem: The URL may break.
• Solution: Use hyphens or underscores instead of spaces: utm_campaign=spring-sale or spring_sale

4. Links That Are Too Long

• Mistake: You create a link as long as a novel.
• Problem: It looks unprofessional and can discourage users from clicking.
• Solution: Use URL shorteners such as Bitly. A long link turns into a short and tidy one.

5. Testing UTM Links by Visiting Them Yourself

• Mistake: You repeatedly click on your own UTM links when testing.
• Problem: You spoil the campaign statistics.
• Solution:Test UTM parameters in the browser's incognito mode or set up a filter for your IP address in Google Analytics.

6. The UTM in the URL Doesn't Match the Campaign Name in the Advertising System

• Mistake: In the URL you have utm_campaign=spring_sale, but in Facebook Ads the campaign is called "Spring SALE 2025".
• Problem: When you want to create a marketing cost report and connect data from Google Analytics with costs from advertising systems, the data will never match. The analyst who has to deal with it will be driven to despair.
• Consequence: You can't calculate ROI, CPA or other key metrics, because you don't know which costs belong to which results.
• Solution: ALWAYS name campaigns in the advertising system THE SAME as the utm_campaign parameter. Use the exact structure without spaces and diacritics already when creating the campaign.

7. Renaming a Campaign After Launch

• Mistake: You create a campaign incorrectly and then rename it in the advertising system.
• Problem: In Google Analytics the original name stays (because the UTM parameters in the URL don't change), but data will be pulled from the advertising system under the new name. The result? Total chaos in the data.
• Solution: NEVER, REALLY NEVER rename campaigns after launch! If you entered the name wrong:
  1. Pause the wrong campaign.
  2. Create a NEW campaign with the correct name.
  3. Delete or archive the wrong one.
• Note: The utm_id parameter should partly solve this, but its integration is not yet complete and requires manual implementation. So for historical data the problems above always apply.

Tools for UTM Parameters

There are various tools for UTM tagging, as already mentioned above, for example the UTM Builder from Google, or this Czech Jak měřit web. For our clients we use our own tagging tool, customised for each client.

Manual vs. Automatic Setting of UTM Parameters

There are two basic approaches to implementing UTM parameters – manual and automatic tagging.

Manual UTM Tagging

With manual setup you create every UTM link yourself. You therefore have full control over all the parameters and can customise each link individually according to the specific needs of the campaign. This method is ideal for specific campaigns where you need detailed tracking.

The drawback, however, is that it is time-consuming. What's more, when you have to create every link manually, the risk of typos rises, especially when several people work on the project at once. We recommend manual setup for all projects where you need detailed control over the data.

Automatic Tagging

Automatic tagging uses tools that create UTM parameters for you. The main advantage is that it saves time and minimises errors. The system ensures consistent naming of all parameters, which is ideal for large campaigns with many links.

BEWARE: Automatic tagging works correctly only when you already name your campaigns correctly in the advertising interface, that is, the way you want the resulting utm_campaign to look.

The drawback is lower flexibility. You can't influence the individual parameters in as much detail. Sometimes you also get information that is too general, which may not be enough for detailed analysis.

Automatic setup is the best choice for simple and short-term campaigns or small projects, where speed and simplicity matter.

Evaluating Campaigns by UTM Parameters

You will find all campaigns with UTM parameters in Google Analytics in the Acquisition → All Traffic → Source/Medium or Campaign section.

You can also export the data to Looker Studio for more advanced analyses and clear reports. Would you like to visualise your results nicely, find your way around the outputs and make decisions based on data? Take a look at our article on creating reports and visualisations or contact us and arrange a free consultation!

Do you need help with UTM parameters? Try our UTM builder.

Frequently Asked Questions

Already have UTM parameters? Have a marketing cost report made.