UTM parameters: a simple naming system for small teams
· 3 min read · MAALI team
You post on LinkedIn, send a newsletter, and share a link in a community. A week later, Google Analytics says your visits came from "linkedin.com", "(direct)" and "(not set)". Which post worked? Which email? Without UTM links, you're guessing.
UTM parameters fix that, and they take thirty seconds per link once you have a simple system.
What UTM parameters are
UTM parameters are tags you add to the end of a link. When someone clicks it, analytics tools like Google Analytics read the tags and record exactly where the visit came from.
https://yourbusiness.com/pricing?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring-launch
Everything after the ? is the tagging. The page itself doesn't change.
The five parameters
| Parameter | Answers | Examples |
|---|---|---|
utm_source |
Where exactly? | linkedin, newsletter, reddit, partner-blog |
utm_medium |
What kind of channel? | social, email, referral, cpc |
utm_campaign |
Which campaign or push? | spring-launch, webinar-oct, black-friday |
utm_content |
Which version or placement? | post-1, header-link, video |
utm_term |
Which keyword? (mostly paid search) | invoice-software |
utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign are the ones you should always use. The other two are optional.
A naming convention you can stick to
Most UTM data gets messy because people type it differently each time: LinkedIn, linkedin, linked-in. Analytics treats those as three different sources. Agree on a few rules and write them down:
- Lowercase everything. UTM values are case-sensitive.
- Use hyphens, not spaces.
spring-launch, notSpring Launch. - Keep a fixed list of mediums. Google Analytics 4 groups traffic into channels (like "Organic Social" or "Email") partly by medium, so use the standard ones:
socialfor unpaid social posts,emailfor newsletters,referralfor links from other sites,cpcfor paid search,paid_socialfor paid social ads. - Source is the specific place.
linkedin,x,facebook,instagram,newsletter,partner-name. - Campaign is the reason you're posting. A launch, an article, an event, or a month (
2026-11-newsletter). - Use
utm_contentto tell posts apart when you share the same link more than once in a campaign.
A shared spreadsheet with one row per link (date, channel, final URL, campaign) keeps a small team consistent and gives you a record of what you posted.
Where to use UTM links (and where not to)
Use them for:
- social posts (organic and paid),
- email newsletters and announcements,
- links in partner sites, guest posts and directories you control,
- QR codes on printed material,
- links in your bio or profile.
Don't use them for:
- links inside your own website. Tagging internal links starts a new session with the wrong source, and your real source (like Google search) gets lost.
- links you expect people to copy and share widely. The tags travel with the copy. That's not a disaster, but it muddies the data.
Reading the results in Google Analytics 4
- Open Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition.
- Change the main dimension to Session source / medium to see
linkedin / social,newsletter / emailand so on. - Add Session campaign as a secondary dimension to split by campaign.
- Look at engaged sessions and key events (like sign-ups or purchases), not just visits. A small source that converts well beats a big one that bounces.
If you connect Google Analytics to MAALI, the Results page shows your top channels and pages, so you can see at a glance whether social, email or search is bringing visitors. For post-by-post detail, use the report above.
Make the links
Our free UTM link builder builds tagged links from a simple form and keeps your values lowercase and tidy. If links look long in a post, most social schedulers and link shorteners keep the tags when they shorten.
The short version
Tag every link you share outside your website, with a consistent source, medium and campaign. In a month, you'll know which channels deserve more of your time, and which ones you can stop.
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