A guide to UTM naming conventions
A clear, well-managed UTM naming convention will reap huge returns down the line when it comes to measuring campaigns, reporting and creating advanced marketing automation flows.
Have no illusion - a lack of an agreed UTM structure will lead to misinterpreting campaign results, wasted advertising budget and slow, painful reporting.
Setting up a clean UTM structure is easy. However, if your organisation is large (and political), Uplifter offers UTM workshops to help you all nail down a UTM taxonomy which works for your entire MarTech stack and every stakeholder.
Before we jump in, if you're looking to create, track and report on UTM parameters at scale, our UTM builder is the go-to choice for marketing teams, analysts and agencies.
What are UTM parameters and why are they important?
UTM parameters are small pieces of code put at the end of a landing page (after a question mark) to tell your analytics and marketing tools where the user came from.
These codes are also known as marketing codes, tracking codes, UTM codes in Google Analytics, and CID codes in Adobe Analytics. Whatever they are called, they all work in the same way... using Query String Parameters.
Query string parameters
Query string parameters are the only way we can send information between websites and apps you don't own, without using cookies. They are more reliable than cookie-based tracking, which requires cookie acceptance.
UTMs are the most popular query string parameters as Google Analytics and Google Ads use them, but many other marketing technology platforms can also read and use them. Adobe Analytics uses Adobe Campaign IDs (CIDs), and Salesforce uses Salesforce IDs (SFIDs) - but most platforms are cross-compatible with all query string parameters.
It's best practice to create a unique campaign link made up of the landing page and multiple UTM parameters for every marketing URL which lands on your website or app, to understand exactly what marketing drives traffic to your website.
If you want to know more about campaign links, why they work and why they’re important, use our campaign links guide.
A quick breakdown of UTM parameters and codes
You can identify the UTMs as the part after the ? in the URL:
https://www.example.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=black_friday
The 5 types of standard UTM codes
It's best practise to use the standard parameters most marketers understand and platforms can read:
utm_source: The name of the website, publisher or ad network users came from before clicking on your ad to reach your website or app. Examples: New York Post, Facebook, Google Ads.
utm_medium: The type of marketing activity users clicked on to reach your website. Often referred to as 'Channel'. Examples: Display, Paid Search, Paid Social, Organic Social.
utm_campaign: The name used to describe a group of marketing activity for a specific period, product or promotion. Examples: Black Friday, Womens Boots, Free delivery.
utm_term: Often only used for paid search advertising campaigns. The name of the Paid Search keyword, phase, or type (Broad/Exact/Brand/Generic) typed before clicking on a paid search ad. Examples: boots, womens boots, dr. martens.
utm_content: The name of the creative asset (Ad) or subject line (Email) of the marketing that was clicked before visiting your website . Used for A/B testing different ad types. Examples: hot_coffee_image, store_video.
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Uplifter gives your team a centralised UTM builder with locked dropdowns, a shared taxonomy, and a full audit trail, so clean data is the default, not the goal.
Book a demo Try Uplifter for freeRecommended models for UTM naming conventions
There are no set rules for how you name your UTMs; however, I advocate for clear, simple names which can be understood by everyone - internal stakeholders, agencies and customers.
This reduces the risk of applying the wrong UTMs on the wrong marketing link, which can result in you optimising your marketing budget for the wrong channels, campaigns or creatives.
Below are the most common UTM naming taxonomies/conventions:
Basic UTMs
Just clean, basic UTMs with the values after, nothing added, no abbreviations.
Often just the 5 basic UTMs, Source, Medium, Campaign, Content and Term. With the last three being optional, depending on the type of marketing.
Best for: Small or simple businesses, with a small amount of advertising.
Advanced UTMs
Using the same basic UTMs above, but also using some or all of the new Google Analytics 4 UTM parameters:
utm_creative_format: Defines ad type (e.g., banner, video, native).
utm_marketing_tactic: Describes the strategy (e.g., remarketing, prospecting)
utm_id: Specifically used to connect clicks to a unique campaign ID in GA4. Google recommends using this for cross-referencing campaign data, especially when importing cost data from non-Google advertising platforms.
Best for: Simple e-commerce businesses, where you advertise a lot on ad platforms or have lots of creatives.
Concatenated parameters
Adding multiple parameters to the prefix or suffix of utm_campaign, utm_content and utm_term so you can search and filter by additional parameters.
Example: utm_campaign=credit_cards-uk-best_abroad - Here we have concatenated three parameters, product, country and campaign name into U=utm_campaign separated by dashes (-).
Best for: B2C companies, with multiple business units, products and markets. And B2B companies, with different business units or operating in different markets.
Hybrid UTMs with custom parameters
Using the UTM parameters above and adding custom parameters provides an easy way to split your marketing traffic by parameters important to your organisation.
For example, adding &product=coffee after UTM parameters. Common custom parameters include: Business unit, product, brand, agency, country, language, etc.
Best for: Large organisations who do a lot of advertising and require custom parameters.
Custom parameters only
Want to fly under the radar? You can use only custom query string parameters by shortening UTM parameters, like "utm_sourcel" to "source" or even just "s". Not recommended for most users, as you lose the cross-compatibility element of UTMs.
Best for: Large organisations which require custom parameters and unique needs. Websites with lots of characters in the URL, meaning long UTMs, could be truncated. Stakeholders worried about UTM query strings being stripped or removed by companies like Apple/Safari browser.
UTM naming conventions: best practices
Choosing the right UTM model is only half the job. Consistent naming keeps your campaign data clean and your reports accurate. Below are examples of good and bad UTM naming conventions to follow when building your tracking links.
How to avoid UTM tracking mistakes
Name things clearly, avoid abbreviations or codifying UTM values
Nominate a dedicated owner to design and enforce your UTM taxonomy
Include stakeholders and agencies when designing your UTM taxonomy
Don't let any agency dictate your UTM taxonomy based on what's easiest for them (its your data)
If creating over 100 links, avoid spreadsheets which break under volume - use an online tool like Uplifter
Use an all-in-one link management platform like Uplifter to create short links, app links and QR codes with UTMs to avoid copy and pasting errors
Use an all-in-one link management platform like Uplifter which checks the landing page URL to avoid creating links which don't work
Don't create links to pages which redirect, as this strips off UTM parameters
Free download: UTM governance checklist
33 expert-backed steps to clean UTM data, including the exact spreadsheet structure and the governance layer that makes it work.
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