UTM Link Builder
Add UTM tracking parameters to a URL so your analytics tool can tell you exactly where clicks on this link came from.
What UTM parameters do
UTM parameters are tags added to a URL that get picked up by analytics tools like Google Analytics, letting you see exactly which campaign, channel, or specific link a visitor clicked to reach your site — instead of just seeing generic "referral" traffic.
Source vs. medium vs. campaign
- Source — where the traffic originates (e.g. "newsletter", "facebook")
- Medium — the marketing channel type (e.g. "email", "cpc", "social")
- Campaign — the specific promotion or initiative (e.g. "spring_sale")
A worked example
Start with https://example.com/pricing?ref=nav. Enter newsletter as the source, email as the medium, spring_sale as the campaign name and hero_button as the content, and the tool returns https://example.com/pricing?ref=nav&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=hero_button. The existing ref parameter is kept, and the new ones are added after it.
How the link is assembled
- Values are trimmed, and any optional field left empty is simply left out of the link.
- A space inside a value is written as a plus sign, so "Spring Sale" becomes Spring+Sale. Underscores or hyphens avoid the issue altogether.
- If the URL already carries a utm_source or another UTM tag, it is replaced rather than duplicated, and a #fragment stays at the very end.
- A bare domain gets a trailing slash, so https://example.com becomes https://example.com/. The two load the same page.
- The protocol is required. Without https:// or http:// the tool reports the URL as invalid.
- The asterisks mark the three fields analytics tools expect, but the tool will still build a link if they are blank, so check them yourself.
Naming habits that keep reports clean
Analytics platforms, including Google Analytics 4, treat UTM values as case-sensitive text. Email, email and E-mail show up as three separate rows in a report. Pick lowercase, one separator and a fixed vocabulary for mediums, and keep a shared sheet of the campaigns that have been tagged. Standard medium names such as email, cpc and social also help the platform sort traffic into its default channel groups.
What not to do
- Do not tag links between pages of your own site. A tagged internal click can start a new session and overwrite the real source of the visit.
- Do not put personal data, such as an email address, in a value. The whole URL is visible to the visitor and appears in server logs and browser history.
- Tags only help where your analytics script runs. They have no effect on links to sites you do not control, and some apps and shorteners strip them.
Frequently asked questions
Will adding UTM parameters break my link?
No — they're added as standard URL query parameters, which every browser and server handles normally. Any existing query parameters on your URL are preserved.
Do I need utm_term and utm_content?
Only if you want that level of detail — they're optional. utm_term is mainly used for tracking paid search keywords, and utm_content is useful for distinguishing between multiple links or ad variants in the same campaign (like A/B testing two different call-to-action buttons).
Does capitalization matter in UTM values?
Yes. Analytics tools normally treat Email and email as different values, which splits your report into separate rows. Choose one convention, such as all lowercase, and stick to it.
Can I use UTM tags on links inside my own website?
It's best not to. Tagged internal links can start a new session and replace the original traffic source, which makes your reports less accurate. Use them only on links that bring people to your site from outside.