The UTM standard consists of five parameters. The first three are required; the last two add extra detail.
- utm_source — the traffic source: the specific platform or system the visitor came from. Examples: google, facebook, telegram, newsletter.
- utm_medium — the channel type: cpc for paid search, social for social networks, email for newsletters, banner for display ads.
- utm_campaign — the campaign name: a promo, launch or newsletter issue. Examples: spring_sale, black_friday_2026.
- utm_term — the keyword in paid search. In Google Ads it is handy to insert the dynamic macro {keyword}.
- utm_content — the ad variation or placement: use it to compare banners, copy versions and buttons against each other. Examples: banner_1, text_ad, footer_link.
Naming conventions
Analytics tools are case-sensitive and compare values character by character, so Facebook, facebook and fb become three different sources in your reports. To keep the data clean, agree on rules and stick to them:
- lowercase only, Latin characters;
- no spaces — separate words with underscores or hyphens, and use the same separator everywhere;
- consistency: the same value is always written the same way across all campaigns. Keep a shared tagging dictionary for the team — a simple spreadsheet is enough.
Typical schemes per channel
Google Ads. The classic combination: utm_source=google, utm_medium=cpc, the campaign name in utm_campaign, the {keyword} macro in utm_term and the ad variation in utm_content. Auto-tagging with gclid only works inside Google Analytics, so UTM tags are still needed for any third-party analytics.
Social networks. Put the platform in utm_source (facebook, instagram, linkedin) and use social in utm_medium for organic posts or paid_social for paid campaigns. The campaign is your promo or content series; utm_content identifies the specific creative.
Email. Use the newsletter or list name in utm_source (newsletter), always email in utm_medium, the topic or issue date in utm_campaign (digest_2026_08), and utm_content to tell the header link apart from the button and the footer.
Common mistakes
- Non-Latin characters and symbols in values. After URL encoding they turn into unreadable sequences and your reports into a mess. Stick to Latin characters.
- Inconsistent spelling. Google, google and google_ads split one source into several report rows, and you end up totalling the channel by hand.
- UTM tags on internal links — never. Following a tagged link within your own site breaks the session and overwrites the real source: instead of the ad, you will see a visit from your own website.
- Empty required parameters. A link without source, medium and campaign technically works, but analytics cannot attribute the traffic to a channel correctly.
