UTM links for small business: see where your visitors come from

A UTM tag is a short piece of text added to the end of a link. Your analytics tool reads it and shows which link sent each visitor.

Without tags, many visits show up as direct or unknown. With tags, you can tell the newsletter from the Instagram bio.

The three tags to use

• utm_source: where the link sits, such as newsletter or instagram.
• utm_medium: the type of channel, such as email or social.
• utm_campaign: the name of the push, such as spring-sale.

A naming scheme that works

Use lower case only. Use hyphens, not spaces. Pick one spelling and keep it. Analytics tools treat "Email" and "email" as two different values.

Where to use them

Use tags on links you place yourself: emails, social posts, QR codes and ads. Do not add them to links inside your own site. They can split a visit into two sessions.

Build the link

Use the UTM link builder. Enter the page address and your three values. Copy the result.

If you share tagged links widely, add a canonical tag so search engines use one address.