UTM

How do I create a UTM link?

Enter your page address and a few values into Google's free Campaign URL Builder, and it creates an address with UTM tags attached. You can write them by hand, but using the tool cuts down on spelling mistakes.

The tool is in English, but it's easy once you know what each field means. If you put Korean characters or spaces in the values, the address turns into a long string of garbled characters, so it's easiest to stick to lowercase English letters and underscores.

Always tap the finished address once to test it. If the original address already has values after a ? and you edit it by hand and add another ?, the data may not be recorded correctly.

1. 01Decide which page to send customers to. Example: the booking page on your website.
2. 02Open the Campaign URL Builder and enter that address in the Website URL field.
3. 03In campaign source (where), enter the source, such as instagram, sms or flyer.
4. 04In campaign medium (how), enter the channel type, such as social, sms, print or cpc.
5. 05In campaign name (which promotion), enter the promotion's name, such as spring_class. If you use several links for the same promotion, tell them apart with campaign content.
6. 06Open the finished address yourself to check that the page loads properly, and turn it into a short link or QR code if needed.
7. 07Write the address and values in a log so you use the same names next time.

How should I choose UTM values?

Google advises always using three: utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. Values are case-sensitive, so Instagram and instagram show up as separate rows; it's a good idea to set a rule to use all lowercase.

GA4 looks at the medium value to sort visitors into channels such as search, social and ads. Use a value that marks paid traffic, like cpc, for ads, and something like social for regular posts and profiles, and your reports will be less tangled.

Once you choose a value, keep using it without changing it. If you write sms last month and text this month, visitors from the same text messages get split into two rows and are hard to compare.

Can I use UTM tags on flyers or QR codes?

Yes, and they're even more useful offline. It's hard to know how many people saw a paper flyer and came to your site, but if you add UTM tags to the address inside the QR code, you can count the visits from that flyer separately.

If a tutoring academy gives different campaign values to its apartment bulletin board flyer and its info session handout, it can compare which brought in more consultation requests. A cafe splitting its table QR code and the QR sticker on its takeout bags works the same way.

Before printing a QR code, always scan it with your phone. You can't change the address after printing, so for flyers you'll use for a long time, it's safer to link to an address on your own website, where you can change the destination page later.

If you hand out the same flyer in several neighborhoods, you can also split them by area with the utm_content value. Give content different values like mangwon and hapjeong, and you can compare which neighborhood's flyers got the better response.

Where do I see visitors who came through UTM links?

In GA4's Traffic acquisition report, view by "Session source / medium" or "Session campaign" to see visits split by UTM value. Menu names and locations may change with updates.

Look at key event numbers in the same table, and you can find channels that bring few visits but lots of bookings. For example, visits from texts to regular customers may be fewer than from Instagram but have a much higher booking rate.

If a link has a wrong value, an odd name shows up separately in the report. Skim the list once a month, and if you see a name that doesn't match your log, find that link and fix it.

It's best to check UTM results a week or two after sending the link rather than right away. Customers who get a text or flyer sometimes don't visit immediately but come a few days later.

How do I keep a UTM log?

A simple table where you add a row every time you create a link is enough. Use columns for date, where the link goes, destination page, source, medium, campaign and the finished address.

Write your naming rules at the top of the table. If you set rules like "all lowercase," "underscores instead of spaces" and "promotion names as month_topic," the same rules are followed even when staff create links.

With a log, even when an unfamiliar name shows up in a report months later, you can find right away where that link was used. If a craft studio runs class enrollment every season, it can match the log with the reports to see which channel brought the most sign-ups last season and plan its next promotion.

It's a good idea to keep the log somewhere others can see it, like Google Sheets. When staff or your agency create links, they can pick names from the same table so your rules stay consistent.

What are common UTM mistakes?

The most common mistake is naming things on the fly with no rules. If insta, instagram and Instagram are mixed, the same Instagram visitors scatter across three rows and the total is hard to see.

A UTM isn't something that follows customers around; it's a tag that marks the path they came in on. If a customer shares the link as-is with someone else, that person is recorded with the same path too, so treat the numbers as a rough trend.

Some ad platforms have their own field for UTM tags or a feature that adds them automatically. When you start advertising, check that platform's guide first and then decide whether to add them yourself.

If you use a short link, always check that opening it leads to the original UTM address correctly. If the tags get dropped when shortening, visitors from that link are recorded with no source.

• Mixing uppercase and lowercase, or spaces and underscores
• Adding UTM tags to links within your own site, like a banner on your front page linking to an event page
• Putting information that identifies customers, such as phone numbers or names, in UTM values
• Adding manual UTM tags on top of ads with auto-tagging, like Google Ads, so the values get tangled
• Creating links without a log, then forgetting months later which link was which