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FAQ-style guide to URL UTM-tagging for use with Google Analytics (GA) to track offline, inline, word of mouth (WoM) URLs, or even 301 redirects. UTM tags can however be appended to any link: PPC ad, online banner, etc. If you are running several offers across multiple venues and need more information than simply the referrer data or need to segment paid search, UTM tags can provide you with additional insight.

1. What is a UTM tag?

A UTM tag is a tracking marker appended to a URL, and is recognized by GA as a dimension.

The UTM systems are the legacy Urchin Tracking Module and Urchin Traffic Monitor. In short, Urchin Software Corporation was purchased by Google in 2005 and rebranded to Analytics later that year.

2. Why would I want to track off/inline or WoM URLs?

To segment visit sources with Analytics and evaluate a campaign's response level, e.g. an email newsletter, radio spot, flier.

3. Will the UTM tags make my visible or WoM URL look or sound impractical?

No, you will be redirecting your offline or inline URL to a custom UTM-tagged URL.

4. How does it work?

1. User types offline URL in browser address bar or clicks on an email link
2. The server redirects the user to a custom UTM-tagged URL that you have set
3. Google Analytics tracks the hit for the UTM-tagged URL, and reports the UTM values within 24 hours

Tip: your visible URL should ideally be short, memorable and lower-cased so that it can be used for both print and word-of-mouth. Alternatively, you could also redirect variants to the same UTM-tagged URL as long as they come from the same source, e.g. for a WoM URL: /special and /specials, or /2009 and /09

Example 1: Redirect to the homepage

• Off/inline URL: yourdomain.com/2009
• UTM-tagged URL: yourdomain.com/?utm_source=Value&utm_medium=Value&utm_campaign=Value (where you set the custom Value)

The 301 redirect to the UTM-tagged URL in your .htaccess file (located in your public root) will look like this:

Example 2: Redirect to a subpage

• Off/inline URL: yourdomain.com/special
• UTM-tagged URL: yourdomain.com/subfolder/subpage.html?utm_source=Value&utm_medium=Value&utm_campaign=Value

The 301 redirect entry will look like this:

On a SEO sidenote, I recommend the 301 redirect in case a webmaster links to your website using the off/inline URL (the code 301 "permanent redirect" will pass link value to the destination URL). Meta refresh works too, but bear in mind that i.) it will not pass link value if your off/inline URL is used to link to your website and ii.) although of lesser importance, meta refresh has a stigma for unethical use in the SEM community.

5. How do I tag a URL?

You can either manually replace the Values below or run them in the Google URL Builder.

Notes:

• The custom Value is case-sensitive, e.g. "PRint_01" will output "PRint_01" in GA's reporting.
• UTM Source, Medium and Campaign are required dimensions. If it doesn't apply to your campaign, just enter "none" or "null" as the value, e.g. utm_campaign=Null. Click here for information on additional Google UTM tags.
  • Source: e.g. Postcard_1, Newsletter_Q1_2009, Trade_Journal_XYZ, Tradeshow_Flier_2009
  • Medium: e.g. Print, Podcast
  • Campaign: e.g. Winter, Free_Demo

6. Where do I track the hits on Google Analytics?

Hits are logged in the following two reports:

• Traffic Sources > All Traffic Sources. The Source and Medium tag value will be listed. The Campaign tag can be viewed by clicking on the Source / Medium listing.
• Traffic Sources > Campaigns. Source and Medium tag value can be separately displayed through the Dimension dropdown.

Jeremy is a certified Google AdWords Professional, a pre-Panama Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and an accredited Microsoft adExcellence Member, and prior to BIGSHOT, has campaigned for over 150 SMB clients nationwide in both the organic and the sponsored realms of search engine marketing. Learn more about Jeremy.

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Comments (6)

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Craig said:

	Great post! Have you tried setting up separate profiles for offline, inline or word of mouth campaigns, and then filtering out the results for that traffic? I have setup basic profiles with filters for "organic traffic only" & "paid traffic only" and I like the convenience of this. Have you tried creating a filter for tracking offline, inline or word of mouth campaigns? Thanks for the post!
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February 26, 2009
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Jeremy said:

	@Craig: Thanks for reply. Yes, good question, we have custom GA profiles setup to filter certain keywords. We've found these valuable in segmenting our reports to assess our visibility on location and service-specific keyphrases outside of branded terms.
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March 09, 2009
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Beth said:

	Hi Jeremy, Thanks for the post, however, is there a way to place a cost value within the UTM tags? I would love to track revenue. This is a complicated scenario. Thanks
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August 05, 2009
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Jeremy said:

@Beth: to my knowledge, UTM tags only track 5 dimensions: Source, Medium, Term, Content, and Campaign. Alternatively, you could however assign goals to track approximate cost based on your average ticket size or lead value -- depending on what type of business you are in. To do so, go to your Analytics settings, and edit the profile you want to use to track cost in the Conversion Goals and Funnel table. You can then assign a monetary value per goal. For example, a hit on the thank you / order confirmation page could be set as the desired user action. If your conversion is multi-stepped, you can setup the page chronology in the funnel. All best, Jeremy Kuo

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August 05, 2009 | url
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CD Generation Group said:

	You are perfect say it. Thanks you for this informatios!
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October 16, 2009 | url
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Quinlan UX said:

	We just used your tutorial to implement the code for a redirect to a subpage used for an offline print campaign. Thank you for the nicely laid out and easy to follow tutorial!
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December 16, 2009 | url
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