By Mehdi HassanUTM parameters are simple, and that's why they fall apart. Anyone can add them, so after a few months your reports show Facebook, facebook, fb and meta as four sources and a long tail of campaigns nobody can decode. A convention fixes this. This template gives you one to copy, and it fits into the reporting described in our GA4 setup guide for marketing websites.
What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are tags added to the end of a URL that tell analytics tools where a visit came from. GA4 reads them to fill in source, medium and campaign, so you can see which posts, emails and ads bring people who convert.
Parameter | What it records | Example value |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Where the traffic comes from | |
utm_medium | The type of traffic | paid_social |
utm_campaign | The campaign or initiative | 2026-q3_demo-offer_founders |
utm_content | Which link, ad or creative | video-hook-a |
utm_term | Paid keyword or audience | series-a-founders |
utm_id | A campaign ID, for cost data imports | li-0412 |
Source, medium and campaign are the three you should set on every tagged link. Content and term are optional but useful once you run several variations. GA4 also accepts a few newer parameters, such as utm_source_platform, which most marketing sites can ignore.
How should you name UTM parameters?
Name UTM parameters in lowercase, with hyphens inside values and underscores only between parts of a campaign name, using values from a fixed list. The goal is that two people tagging the same kind of link always produce the same result.
- Lowercase everything. GA4 is case-sensitive, so mixed case splits your data.
- No spaces. Use hyphens inside values, such as product-hunt, so links stay clean.
- Fixed lists for source and medium. Pick values from the sheet; never type them freehand.
- A pattern for campaigns. Date, offer and audience, separated by underscores.
- Descriptive content values. Name the creative or placement, such as footer-link or carousel-v2.
- No personal data. Never put emails or names in a UTM value.
What does a UTM naming convention sheet look like?
A UTM naming convention sheet lists the allowed source and medium pairs for each channel, so people only ever pick from it. Here's the sheet we start from. Copy it into a shared spreadsheet and add your own channels.
Channel | utm_source | utm_medium | Lands in GA4 as |
|---|---|---|---|
LinkedIn ads | paid_social | Paid Social | |
LinkedIn organic posts | social | Organic Social | |
Meta ads | facebook or instagram | paid_social | Paid Social |
Google Ads | Set by auto-tagging | Set by auto-tagging | Paid Search |
Newsletter | newsletter | ||
Sales email sequences | outbound | ||
Partner or affiliate links | partner-name | referral or affiliate | Referral or Affiliates |
Podcast or event mentions | podcast-name | audio or event | Check your channel group |
The last column matters. GA4 assigns traffic to channels using rules based on source and medium. If your mediums don't match those rules, sessions fall into Unassigned. Check Google's current default channel group definitions in GA4 help before adding a new medium, or create a custom channel group for anything unusual.
How do you build campaign names that stay readable?
Build campaign names from three fixed parts: when, what and who. A pattern like 2026-q3_demo-offer_founders sorts by date, tells you the offer and names the audience, and stays readable a year later.
Start with the period
Use year and quarter or year and month, such as 2026-q3 or 2026-09, so campaigns sort in order.
Name the offer
Use the thing you're promoting, such as demo-offer, pricing-launch or webinar-ai-ux.
Name the audience
Add the segment, such as founders or agencies, when you run the same offer to different groups.
Log it
Add every new campaign to the sheet with an owner and a start date before the first link goes out.
Generate links from the sheet
Use a formula or a URL builder that reads from the sheet's lists, so nobody types values freehand.
For example, suppose one campaign runs on three channels
For example, suppose a startup promotes a new landing page for a webinar on LinkedIn ads, in its newsletter and through a partner's newsletter. All three links share the campaign 2026-q4_webinar-ai-ux_founders.
The LinkedIn ad uses linkedin and paid_social, with utm_content set to each creative, such as carousel-a and video-b. The newsletter uses newsletter and email. The partner link uses the partner's name with referral. In GA4, filtering by the campaign shows all three side by side, and the content values show which creative drove signups. The tracking plan lists the signup event they all lead to.
How do UTMs connect to landing pages and conversions?
UTMs connect to conversions through the session: GA4 attaches the source, medium and campaign to the session, and every key event in it is credited to them. That only works if the landing page keeps the parameters and the conversion is tracked on your domain.
Watch for redirects that strip query strings, such as a redirect from a trailing slash or an old URL, and for forms that send people to another domain before the conversion fires. Both break attribution. Dedicated campaign pages make UTM data cleaner, because one page maps to one offer. Our guide to conversion tracking for landing pages shows how to set that up, and the results feed the channel view on your website KPI dashboard. If tagged traffic shows up without conversions, work through our GA4 conversions troubleshooting guide.
