How to Create a UTM URL
By Tools Star Hub Editorial Team · Published · Updated
A UTM URL is a destination address plus campaign tags in the query string. The UTM Builder adds utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content when those boxes are filled. example.com/page?ref=nav with source newsletter, medium email, and campaign spring sale becomes https://example.com/page?ref=nav&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring+sale. Blank tags are left off. The page does not record a visit.
Analytics tools can group visits when the links share the same tags. A newsletter and a paid ad can point at the same page and still be told apart. Building the query by hand is easy to mistype. The builder keeps tags that are already on the URL and adds https:// when you omit the scheme.
Which tags does the builder add?
Source, medium, and campaign are the three tags most reports expect. Term and content are optional. A blank box is skipped, so you do not get an empty utm_term= on the end. Values are trimmed. A campaign of spring sale is encoded as spring+sale.
Existing query parameters stay. ref=nav remains beside the new tags. The builder uses the URL standard search parameters, so a tag you already had is replaced if you set that same tag again.
What does the builder accept as the page address?
A full URL with http or https is used as typed. example.com/page receives https:// because no scheme was present. An empty box says Enter a website URL. A string that still is not a URL says Enter a valid website URL.
The result is a link you can copy. Opening it later is what a browser does. This page does not call the site, does not shorten the link, and does not tell you how many people clicked it.
How should the tag values be chosen?
Use the same spelling every time you mean the same campaign. Newsletter and newsletter are different sources to a tool that matches the text exactly. Spaces become plus signs in the query. Decide the names before you build a set of links.
Put the tags on the final destination, not on a link that immediately redirects and drops the query string. If a shortener or a login wall strips the query, the tags never arrive. Read the finished URL before you send it.
utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign are ordinary query parameters. They are not a special kind of link by themselves. A reader who copies only the path, or a site that canonicalizes the URL and drops the query, removes the campaign labels. Check the address you will actually publish, including the question mark and everything after it.
The builder replaces a tag when you set it again. If the destination already contains utm_source=old, typing a new source overwrites old. Other parameters, such as ref=nav, stay. Read the result once after you fill the boxes so you notice an overwrite.
Campaign names with an ampersand or a question mark are encoded in the query. Leave those characters out of the name unless you want them as part of the label. The page does not treat a second question mark as a new URL.
How to create a UTM URL
- Enter the destination. Include the path. A scheme is optional. example.com/page becomes an https URL.
- Fill the tags you need. Source, medium, and campaign cover a normal campaign link. Leave term and content blank if you are not using them.
- Read the full URL. Check that older parameters such as ref are still there and that the campaign text encoded the way you expect.
- Copy it into the message or ad. The builder does not publish the link or count clicks.
Example
A newsletter link that already has a query
example.com/page?ref=nav, source newsletter, medium email, and campaign spring sale produces https://example.com/page?ref=nav&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring+sale.
A blank optional tag
Leaving term and content empty omits utm_term and utm_content. The URL is not padded with empty parameters.
Common mistakes
Spelling is the report
Email and email are different mediums if you use both. Pick one spelling and keep it.
The builder does not track anyone
It only writes a URL. Your analytics tool sees the tags if the visitor’s request still includes them.
FAQ
- What does a space in the campaign become?
- spring sale is encoded as spring+sale in utm_campaign. The other tags are encoded the same way.
- Do I have to type https://?
- No. example.com/page is saved as an https URL. A URL that already has a scheme keeps that scheme.
- What happens to ref=nav?
- It stays on the URL. New UTM tags are added beside it.
- Are empty tags included?
- No. A blank source, medium, campaign, term, or content is omitted.
- Does this page record the click?
- No. It builds the URL in the browser and does not contact the destination.
To add campaign tags to a destination, use the UTM Builder. Blank fields are left off the URL.
To see how a finished URL is split into parts, read How to read a URL.
Spaces and reserved characters are covered in How to percent-encode a URL.