We talk a lot about UTMs, and the fact that you should use them at every possible opportunity. Every time we do, we get a follow-up question about them, so we thought it was high time to put everything we know about these super-useful bits of code in one place.
A to Z
A – Automatic
Spotler’s platform automatically adds UTMs to all your emails and social media posts. We’ve gone with a simple generic formula to get you started, then you can adjust them once you know your way around.
B – Backlinks
Whether these come from planned partnerships, or if other sites are referencing your expertise unprompted, you want to know where your online presence is having the biggest impact.
C – Content
A second optional field. Required if you are running an A/B test.
D – Discipline
It is important to set clear conventions for the structure of your UTMs when you are creating your own. If you keep switching whether it’s “Blog” then “[year]” or “[Year]” then “Blog”, it’ll be much harder to track all your results in one place and get a clear view of what’s working and what’s not.
E – Email signature
An often-overlooked place to put a link. We use a plug-in called CodeTwo to add a custom banner to all outgoing emails from individuals in the Spotler family. As well a nice piece of branding, it’s an extra way to nudge anyone we’re speaking to about news, upcoming events, and more.
F – Free
UTMs are so essential for your success that we’ve built a free tool to add them anywhere you like. What are you waiting for?!
G – GatorLeads
The platform with search fields for every element of a UTM link, making it easy to group results and look at different levels of detail.
H – Homepage
We’d never advise you to drive traffic to your homepage, but if you insist on doing so, UTM those links!
I – Internal links
This can be the most interesting way to use UTMs. We try to include several links in each blog, in order to capitalise for your attention. If each of those links has a UTM attached, we can see which of them you chose to follow and get a clearer idea of what interests you.
J – Joined-up View
Because UTMs require at least 3 parts (Source, Medium, Name) you can look at different levels of analysis. For example, you can see all your traffic for every webinar you’ve hosted in a year, from emails, social posts, and PPC in one place. Or you can look at everything that’s come from Facebook.
K – Kick-Off
“The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is now.” Also true of UTMs; it’s never too late to get started by adding them to your key pages and seeing the immediate impact.
L – Limit
A UTM value can in theory be as long as you like. However, if your entire link goes over 2000 characters, it may not work with every combination of web server and web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc.). So try to keep them short. Shorter values will make more sense in reports too!
M – Medium
The second of 3 required fields when you’re creating a UTM link. Most often the specific channel (email, Facebook, etc.).
N – Name
The final required fields when you’re creating a UTM link. Use this to specify a campaign by name (e.g. “GatorWorkflow Awareness Push”).
O – Organic
Unfortunately, you can’t add UTMs to organic traffic, by definition. But if you’re deploying UTMs everywhere else, then you’ll know which leads are organic because they’ll be the only ones without UTMs in their URLs.
P – PPC (Pay Per Click) ads
When every click costs money in such a direct way, you need to know that the clickers are worth it!
Q – Quality
It would be great if you could spot bad leads before they engage with you, but sadly you can’t. With UTMs deployed across your site, you’ll know if a particular channel is bringing you the wrong kind of people, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
R – Reporting
There’s nothing wrong with trying a new channel, such as a podcast. Part of the challenge is what happens next; does interest in an episode lead listeners to explore your site further? If so, where do they go? UTMs can show you the answer.
S – Source
The first of 3 required fields when you’re creating a UTM link. Usually the platform type (social, search engine, etc.).
T – Term
An optional field. Usually for paid keywords.
U – Urchin
Urchin was the company that invented these little bits of code, and then got snapped up by Google.
V – Visual
This is what a link UTMs included looks like:
www.example.com/page? utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid-social&utm_campaign=summer-sale.
Admittedly it’s not the most visually attractive, so we recommend using a link shortener like Bitly.
W – Web
The place where all UTMs live and feel safe and happy.
X – eXact knowledge of what’s working
Give us a break, this is harder than we thought!
Y – You
The person that should be adding UTMs to every link.
Z – Zzz
Sleeping well knowing that you’ll see clearly which channels are driving traffic to which pages.
