- [Pavel] Hey guys, this is Pavel for measureschool.com,
and today we're going to talk about UTM parameters.
If you've ever been thinking,
if it's possible to tag and then following recognize
the specific traffic you're sending to Google Analytics,
then using UTM parameters will take place.
UTM parameters are small text strings
which we can append to final URL address.
And then, if it's used properly,
Google Analytics tracking code can easily recognize it
and then we'll see the data in GA Reports.
We will show in which GA dimensions
we can see the data from UTM parameters,
and then we will show how to properly create
and test the final URL address, including UTM parameters.
So let's go to Acquisition report,
All Traffic and Source/Medium.
As said before, UTM parameters are used for tagging traffic.
So I guess it's not a surprise for you
that all of the traffic dimensions
we have in Google Analytics can be filled in
from the data from UTM parameters.
So here are the two most common of them, source and medium.
Then there's a keyword which has a different name
in UTM tagging, it's called UTM term.
And then there are two more, which is campaign,
and then there's ad content.
So let's have a look on the most two common one,
source and medium.
What are typical values
we should put into a source parameter mostly is the domain
or the search engine from which the traffic is coming.
So mostly it's Google, or Partners,
or any domain or search engine
from which we're sending the traffic to our domain.
Then the medium is the way or the form of the ad
or the proposition that was shown to users.
So mostly it's a CPC, or email, or affiliate,
or in general, the way the ad or the proposition was shown.
Then there is a third UTM parameter,
which is in GA naming called keyword.
And as we said, in UTM naming, it's UTM term, sorry.
So by clicking here,
you can see that there are keywords.
It's mostly used for then keywords analysis,
so it's always good to keep in mind
that we only should put a keyword
in that UTM term parameter, nothing else,
otherwise we'll see the wrong data and the wrong report.
It won't be easy to analyze it.
Then, there is a fourth parameter called UTM campaign,
which we can either use by secondary dimension
searching for a campaign,
or there is a specific report for all the campaigns
we have in GA, it's clicking here on All Campaigns.
And I guess this one is pretty straightforward.
In an ideal way, it should be the name of the campaign.
So for example, spring sale or something like this.
So this is UTM parameter called campaign.
And then there is the last one which is called UTM content,
and let's have a look here by searching for Ad Content,
it's this one.
And this UTM parameter is mainly used for seeing various,
for example, A/B test variants we are trying.
We can see here that this case for the ad content,
the Google Merchandise store is
using the dimensions of the banner, it can be for example,
blue versus red versus yellow banner,
or any parameter you want to use
for differentiating between various campaigns.
For example, it can be also different naming
for different copy we're using for text ads.
So pretty much anything you want to put there
can be in ad content.
So these were the five UTM parameters,
and now how to create the final URL address.
The easiest way is to use Campaign URL Builder,
which is a nice web application,
which creates the final URL address for us.
So all we need to know is the website URL
to which we want to send the traffic
and then use reasonable naming
for all UTM parameters we want to use.
I highly recommend to always use at least three of them,
which is source, medium, and then campaign,
it's entirely up to you,
whether it makes sense to use campaign term,
which should only be used for keywords, as we said.
Or if you're trying to test something
and you also want to use a campaign content.
So, how to use it?
As we are in the Google Merchandise store,
Google Analytics account,
I'm also going to that website,
and what I'm doing right now is that
I'm copying the URL address, I'm pasting it here,
and then I want to create a specific campaign source.
So in this case, it would be measureschool.com.
Campaign medium will be video,
and campaign name would be
pavel_video_recording.
So here it is, and if I only will scroll down a bit,
I can see the final URL address.
As you can see, its main domain name,
which is Googlemerchandisestore.com,
and then the UTM source=measureschool.com&
and so on and so forth.
So you can see it's quite long.
And it's always good to use some of the tools
available online for generating the final URL address.
So all I have to do right now is to copy that URL address
and then paste it here.
It's always good to test it before you start running it,
or start using those specific UTM parameters for one reason.
Sometimes it happens that you have a specific setup
on your server, which can cut off the UTM parameters.
So the way how to test it is
to paste it to address bar
and then waiting until the website is fully loaded
and UTM parameter should persist there.
It shouldn't be removed.
Then, the second good way or basically number two way
what you always have to do once testing UTM parameters is
going to Google Analytics real-time report,
clicking to Traffic Sources.
And as you can see, I was using this UTM parameters
where I used campaign source, measureschool.com
and campaign medium video.
And as you can see, I already can see myself
as the one user with that specific UTM parameters.
And then just to confirm that
I will filter it in real-time reporting and by clicking,
for example, to location.
I'm based in Prague, Czech Republic,
and this is exactly what Google was able to recognize.
So that was it, guys.
That was the lesson about
how to use UTM parameters properly
and how to create a final URL address.
So hope you enjoyed it, guys, and see you next time.
- Thanks, Pavel, for this great explanation.
If you found this video helpful, then give us a thumbs up.
And if you are interested in porting over
these UTM parameters into a form,
so your CRM would also see these UTMs,
then I recommend to watch this video right here,
where I show you how to do just that
with the help of Google Tag Manager.
Now, my name is Julian,
from everybody here at MeasureSchool, happy measuring.