UTM Builder

Assemble a campaign URL with the right UTM parameters in the right order, so your analytics groups the traffic instead of scattering it across six near-identical rows.

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Where the traffic comes from: google, newsletter, twitter.

The channel type: cpc, email, social, referral.

The campaign this link belongs to.

Paid keyword, for search campaigns.

Distinguishes two links to the same place in one message.

How to use the UTM Builder

  1. Enter the destination page

    Paste the landing page URL. Any parameters already on it are kept, and the UTM tags are appended correctly whether or not it already has a query string.

  2. Fill in source, medium and campaign

    These three are the ones analytics tools actually group by. Source is where the traffic comes from, medium is the type of channel, campaign is the initiative.

  3. Copy the tagged URL

    Copy the finished URL and use it in your post, email or ad. Shorten it afterwards if it is going somewhere a long URL would look bad.

What each UTM parameter is for

utm_source names the specific place the traffic came from - newsletter, linkedin, partner-blog. utm_medium names the type of channel - email, social, cpc, referral. utm_campaign names the initiative that ties several links together - spring-launch, black-friday. Those three carry almost all the analytical value.

utm_term and utm_content are optional. Term traditionally holds a paid keyword; content distinguishes two links inside the same message, which is how you learn whether people clicked the header button or the text link at the bottom.

The mistake that ruins UTM data

UTM values are case-sensitive in most analytics tools. Facebook, facebook and FaceBook become three separate rows in your report, splitting one campaign into thirds and making every comparison wrong. The same happens with newsletter versus news-letter, or email versus e-mail.

The fix is a convention you never break: all lowercase, hyphens instead of spaces, and a fixed vocabulary for medium. Decide once that social, email, cpc and referral are the only mediums you use, and write it down somewhere your whole team can see. This tool normalises what you type so a stray capital does not quietly fragment three months of reporting.

Tagged links and short links together

A fully tagged campaign URL is frequently too long and too ugly to put in front of a human being. The usual answer is to build the tagged URL first, then shorten it - the UTM parameters travel intact through the redirect, so your analytics still receives them while the visitor only ever sees a clean short link.

This also gives you two independent counts to compare: clicks recorded by the short link, and sessions recorded by your analytics. A large gap between them usually means bot traffic or people bouncing before the analytics script loads, and it is worth knowing about.

Frequently asked questions

Which UTM parameters are required?
Source, medium and campaign are the three that matter, and most analytics tools expect at least source and medium to attribute traffic properly. Term and content are optional refinements.
Are UTM parameters case-sensitive?
Yes, in most analytics tools. Email and email are counted as two different mediums, which splits one campaign into several rows. Always use lowercase and stick to one fixed vocabulary.
Do UTM tags survive a URL shortener?
Yes. The parameters are part of the destination URL, so they arrive intact after the redirect. Build the tagged URL first, then shorten it.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The UTM Builder runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, which matters when an unreleased landing page URL is the thing you are tagging.