UTM Code Generator

Introduction to Links with UTM Parameters

So, what are these UTM links, and why and where should we use them at all? There are plenty of articles and texts on this topic on the internet, and here is one of the definitions:

UTM link is a URL that includes parameters used by marketers to track the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns, including source, medium, campaign name, and other relevant information.

Something very clever is written, isn't it? But what does it mean in practice? What's so magical about these parameters (tags)? Let's say you're a website owner, whether it's a commercial site selling goods/services or your personal blog, and you want to share a link to your article, product/service on social media, or buy advertising from a blogger or even purchase ads from several Telegram channels. The question arises: how do you understand the effectiveness of such link placements, especially if it's paid advertising with bloggers, public pages, social channels. That's where UTM links come to the rescue. My definition: 

✅ UTM link is a link to your website or its specific page, to which additional tags are attached, allowing you to determine the source of traffic (clicks on a specific link) and measure its effectiveness.

What are UTM tags?

Let's say you have a link to a website, for example, to my main website: https://devosa.website, and I want to place it in this article so that when a reader clicks on it, I can track that the click was specifically from this link and from this placement. Then I need to modify the link and add these "magical UTM tags or as they are also called "tags/parameters":

You can click on the link, it will open in a new tab, and you can see that the website itself opens, but UTM parameters are present in the URL.

This link contains additional parameters, called UTM tags, which are used for tracking and analyzing the effectiveness of various traffic sources. Let's take a closer look at them. In Google Analytics or other analytics tools, you'll be able to get information about:

• Traffic Source utm_source=utmbuilder: This parameter indicates the source from which the traffic was obtained. In this case, the traffic source is the subdomain utmbuilder, where you are currently reading this guide.
• Traffic Type utm_medium=article: This parameter determines the type or category of traffic. Here we are using the medium "article", indicating that the user clicked the link from an article.
• Campaign Name utm_campaign=utm_guide: This parameter specifies the name of the campaign or project under which the link was placed. For example, "UTM guide".
• Content utm_content=introduction_to_utm_parameters: This parameter indicates the specific content or section that attracted the user to click the link. In our case, it's "Introduction to understanding UTM parameters".
• Identifier utm_id=en: This parameter is typically used to identify an advertising campaign, but in this example, I used it to indicate the language version of the article where the link is placed.

Analyzing these tags allows you to determine which sources, advertising campaigns, or platforms attract the most traffic.

✅ UTM tag is a special additional parameter in a URL that allows tracking traffic.

Let's consider each UTM parameter individually

There are three main categories of UTM tags:

• Required parameters: These parameters are typically used to denote the basic information about the link and are necessary for the proper functioning of UTM tags. Usually, these are utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign.
• Optional parameters: These parameters are not mandatory and can be used optionally for more detailed tracking of traffic. For example, utm_content, utm_term, and utm_id.
• Custom parameters: These parameters are not standard for UTM tags but can be created and used according to unique tracking needs and goals. They allow adding additional information not included in the standard set of parameters. Custom parameters can have any names, but they must start with the prefix utm_ to be recognized by analytics systems.

UTM Source — traffic source

Denotation: utm_source, is a required parameter.

UTM Source parameter defines the traffic source, i.e., where the user came from. For example, if the UTM tag is placed on Facebook, the value of this parameter will be "facebook".

Example: utm_source=facebook

UTM Medium — traffic type

Denotation: utm_medium, is a required parameter.

UTM Medium tag determines the type of traffic or channel through which the user clicked the link. For example, if it's social media advertising, the parameter value can be "social"; if it's an email, then "email"; if it's a paid advertisement (ADS), then "cpc".

Example: utm_medium=social

UTM Campaign — campaign name

Denotation: utm_campaign, is a required parameter.

UTM Campaign tag indicates the name of the campaign or project under which the link was placed. For example, if it's an advertising campaign for promoting a new product, the parameter value can be "product_launch".

Example: utm_campaign=product_launch

UTM Content — content

Denotation: utm_content, is an optional parameter.

UTM Content tag is used to specify the specific content or section that attracted users to click the link. For example, if it's a "Learn More" button on a web page, the parameter value can be "learn_more_button".

Example: utm_content=learn_more_button

UTM Term — keyword

Denotation: utm_term, is an optional parameter.

UTM Term parameter is used in the context of contextual advertising or keywords and allows identifying which specific keywords attracted the user. For example, if it's the keyword "buy iphone 15 online", the parameter value will be "iphone_15_online".

Example: utm_term=iphone_15_online

UTM ID — identifier

Denotation: utm_id, is an optional parameter.

UTM ID tag is used to identify a specific element or aspect of the campaign. For example, if you need to track the effectiveness of a specific version of banner advertising, the parameter value can be a unique identifier of that version.

Example: utm_id=banner_v1

UTM Custom — custom parameters

Denotation: any custom parameter name, such as utm_custom1, utm_custom2, etc.

Custom parameters can be used to track additional data that may be important for your analytics. For example, if you want to track the color or size of a product, you can create a custom parameter for this purpose.

Example: utm_color=red, utm_size=large

Hopefully, now your understanding of what UTM parameterized links are and how they are used has become comprehensive and clear. Start applying UTM tags for your purposes today, and you will see how they help you make more informed decisions and achieve greater success in your online business or marketing efforts.

Now let's move on to the practical aspect: how to generate utm links?. In the next section, I will explain in detail how to compose UTM links for your web application, and provide a guide on building UTM tags in my web application.

How to create a link with UTM tags?

Let's consider several ways you can create UTM links with tags.

• Manual: You can create UTM links manually by adding tags to the URL using special connector symbols. The opening symbol will be "?", and the connecting symbol will be "&". Simply add the label name and its parameter in any order, as shown in the example above.
• Spreadsheets: You can use spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to create UTM tags in batch mode. Create a table with parameters and values, and then combine them to form UTM links.
• Online generators: There are many online tools (one of the popular free ones is Tilda generator) that help automate the process of creating UTM tags. Simply enter the required information, and the tool will generate the UTM link for you.
• Paid services: There are specialized paid services that provide advanced capabilities for creating and managing UTM parameters. These services usually offer a wider range of features, such as automating the tag creation process, additional analytical reports, integrations with other marketing platforms and tools, as well as more flexible options for managing marketing campaigns.
• CMS and analytics platforms: Some content management systems (CMS), analytics platforms, and marketing tools provide built-in features for creating UTM links. In such systems, you can create tags directly in the interface without manually adding parameters to the URL.
• API: If you have technical skills, you can use APIs to automate the creation of UTM tags. This allows you to integrate the tag generation process directly into your web applications or systems.

As you can see, there are many ways to create UTM links with tags, ranging from manually adding parameters to the URL to using specialized paid services.

But then why did I develop my own free online web application UTM Builder DevOsa?

Description of UTM Builder DevOsa Functionality

While working on SEO marketing for my projects, I encountered the problem of the variety of UTM generators and at the same time the inconvenience of each one. When you need to quickly create a UTM link without unnecessary complexity, paid services seem too complex and cumbersome for efficient work. And free online generators don't remember created links, allow creating only one link at a time, and also do not provide the ability to export all links at once.

Therefore, as a marketer and web developer, I came up with the idea of creating my own free online web application — UTM Builder DevOsa. This application is designed to address the mentioned problems and provide a simple and convenient way to create and manage UTM links.

Main Advantages of UTM DevOsa Online Generator

• Validation for required fields completion
• Validation of the entered URL address, if you make a mistake, the generator will indicate the error
• Possibility to fill in required fields with popular parameters: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tik-Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn
• Links are added to the list, they will remain in the browser's memory until you delete or clear them
• Possibility to copy or delete individual links
• Possibility to export all generated links as a list

Step-by-Step Instruction for Creating UTM Tags in UTM Builder DevOsa

Step 1. Introduction of URL Address.

Enter the URL of your website or page into the corresponding "URL" field, as shown in the image.

Step 2. Filling in the Mandatory and Optional Fields

Fill in the mandatory fields: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign.

You can also use the most popular templates by clicking on one of the buttons: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tik-Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn. The fields will be automatically filled, and you will only need to fill in the remaining fields (optionally) before generating the link.

Step 3. Generation of UTM Link

Click the "Generate link" button to create a UTM link based on the entered parameters. Wait for the appearance of the utm link in the list of all generated links below.

Step 4. Copying and Usage

Click on the link itself or the "copy" icon to copy it to the clipboard and use it in your marketing campaigns or advertising.