What is a UTM and why you need to recognize them

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Done What is a UTM and why you need to recognize them

“UTM” stands for “Urchin tracking module.” Which to give you some more background, Urchin Software Corporation was acquired by Google in 2005, and this is basically what we now know as Google Analytics.

In a nutshell, UTM codes are bits of text you can add to a link that tell an Analytics account more information about each link. Many marketers rely on these UTMs to identify who they are driving for the campaigns they work on.

This is what an example of a UTM link looks like;

https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=lawless&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=march2012

This is what the domain looks like without the tracking identifiers

https://domain.com/landing-page?

Now adding just that little bit extra to the link may not look like much, but it answers 3 Essential Questions that you should understand.

Where is the traffic coming from?
How is it getting to me?
Why is it coming to me?

You can use the UTM variables within the link to track general information, like how much traffic you’re getting from social media. You can use them to track the fine details also, like how much revenue you get from your Twitter bio.

There are many, many ways to track links with UTM codes and what seems like a simple amount of data can reveal quite a bit.

For example: Google Analytics will automatically tell you if your traffic comes from Facebook or Twitter. The benefit of a UTM code is being able to track your specific posts since Google Analytics doesn't break down what post on Facebook or Twitter that traffic came from. In these cases, it's best used in combination with the campaign parameter.

What you should do 1. remember the users that constantly share these links. if you read this post, i guarantee you'll start to notice just how a few users are responsible for most of the UTMs on this site. 1. remove the UTM parameters from the domain as I listed above 1. As user @hrdgj54ed pointed out, you can also pollute the UTM data by adding extra parameters.

A pollution example could be something like this

Original UTM https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=lawless&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=march2012

Polluted UTM https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=instagram&utm_campaign=march2018

This is an amazing way to fight back against shills pushing propaganda on various networks. Take away their money and you'll take away their incentive to keep doing it.

I realized just asking why we don't ban UTM codes doesn't make sense if you don't know what UTM codes are for? So here's a little knowledge for the people on poal unfamiliar with these little evil trackers. “UTM” stands for “Urchin tracking module.” Which to give you some more background, Urchin Software Corporation was acquired by Google in 2005, and this is basically what we now know as Google Analytics. In a nutshell, UTM codes are bits of text you can add to a link that tell an Analytics account more information about each link. Many marketers rely on these UTMs to identify who they are driving for the campaigns they work on. This is what an example of a UTM link looks like; https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=lawless&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=march2012 This is what the domain looks like without the tracking identifiers https://domain.com/landing-page? Now adding just that little bit extra to the link may not look like much, but it answers 3 Essential Questions that you should understand. 1. Where is the traffic coming from? 2. How is it getting to me? 3. Why is it coming to me? You can use the UTM variables within the link to track general information, like how much traffic you’re getting from social media. You can use them to track the fine details also, like how much revenue you get from your Twitter bio. There are many, many ways to track links with UTM codes and what seems like a simple amount of data can reveal quite a bit. **For example:** Google Analytics will automatically tell you if your traffic comes from Facebook or Twitter. **The benefit of a UTM code** is being able to track your specific posts since Google Analytics doesn't break down what post on Facebook or Twitter that traffic came from. In these cases, it's best used in combination with the campaign parameter. **What you should do** 1. remember the users that constantly share these links. if you read this post, i guarantee you'll start to notice just how a few users are responsible for most of the UTMs on this site. 1. remove the UTM parameters from the domain as I listed above 1. As user @hrdgj54ed pointed out, you can also pollute the UTM data by adding extra parameters. A pollution example could be something like this **Original UTM** https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=lawless&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=march2012 **Polluted UTM** https://domain.com/landing-page?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=instagram&utm_campaign=march2018 This is an amazing way to fight back against shills pushing propaganda on various networks. Take away their money and you'll take away their incentive to keep doing it.

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