If you post a link to your services page on Instagram, Facebook and a local newsletter, a plain URL may not tell you which post sent the visitor. UTM tags add campaign details to a link so Google Analytics can group traffic by source, medium and campaign.

Google's GA4 documentation describes parameters including utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. It also warns that naming is case-sensitive: Instagram and instagram can appear as different values. Pick a format and stick to it.

Make a simple naming convention

For example, a link to a boiler-service page might use:

https://example.com/boiler-service?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=boiler_service_october

Use:

  • utm_source for the platform, such as instagram or facebook.
  • utm_medium for the channel type, such as organic_social or paid_social.
  • utm_campaign for the specific promotion or content theme.
  • utm_content if you need to tell two creative versions apart.

Use Google's Campaign URL Builder or a spreadsheet to generate and record links. Keep values lowercase, use underscores consistently and avoid putting a customer's name or other personal data in a URL.

Test before publishing

Open the finished link on a phone and check that it loads the correct page. Then inspect Analytics after visits have processed to see whether the campaign values appear in the traffic-acquisition reports. A broken URL or typo in a tag can fragment results.

UTM data measures tagged website visits, not every social interaction and not completed jobs by itself. Compare it with enquiry forms, tracked calls and your job records. Do not install analytics cookies without checking the applicable consent rules; see our cookie-consent guide for trade websites.

Read Google's GA4 URL builder guidance. For interpreting enquiries, see our guide to measuring trade-business marketing enquiries.