How to Find UTM Term in Google Analytics

Finding your utm_term data in Google Analytics 4 isn't quite as straightforward as it used to be, but it's absolutely vital for understanding your paid search performance. This quick guide will show you exactly where that keyword data is hiding and how you can use it to build powerful, custom reports that reveal which search terms are actually driving results.

Graphed

Build AI Agents for Marketing

Build virtual employees that run your go to market. Connect your data sources, deploy autonomous agents, and grow your company.

Build Your First Agent

What Exactly is utm_term? A Quick Refresher

Before we jump into GA4, let's quickly review what utm_term is and why it matters. The "term" parameter is one of the five standard UTM parameters you can add to a URL to track campaign performance. Its specific job is to identify the keyword associated with a paid search ad click.

In practice, it looks like this:

https://www.yourstore.com/special-offer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=summer_promo&utm_term=waterproof_hiking_boots

When a user clicks on an ad with this URL, Google Analytics records that their session originated from a specific term: “waterproof_hiking_boots.” This allows you to connect advertising costs to user behavior, conversions, and revenue, letting you see precisely which keywords are worth your ad spend.

Without utm_term, all your traffic from paid search gets lumped together, leaving you guessing about which keywords are your high performers and which are just draining your budget.

AI Agents for Marketing

Crash Course

Graphed

Free PDF · the crash course

AI Agents for Marketing Crash Course

Learn how to deploy AI marketing agents across your go-to-market — the best tools, prompts, and workflows to turn your data into autonomous execution without writing code.

Download the PDF

How to Find utm_term in Standard GA4 Reports

The easiest way to find your keyword data is by customizing one of GA4’s built-in acquisition reports. It only takes a few clicks.

Step 1: Navigate to the Traffic Acquisition Report

In the left-hand navigation panel of Google Analytics, go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition. This report provides a session-level overview of where your traffic is coming from.

Step 2: Change the Primary Dimension

By default, this report groups sessions by the "Session default channel group". To see your keyword data, you need to change this primary dimension.

Click the small downward arrow next to "Session default channel group" at the top of the table. A search box will appear. Type "term" into the search box. You will see a few options, but the one you are looking for here is Session manual term.

You’ve found it! The report will refresh, and the first column will now show all the traffic sources tagged with utm_term. You'll see your tracked keywords listed, along with metrics like Sessions, Engaged sessions, and Conversions.

A quick note on scope: Session vs. First user

You might have also seen "First user manual term" in the dimension list. Choosing the right one depends on the question you're asking:

• Session manual term: Attributes data to the specific term that initiated this particular session. Use this to measure the performance of a campaign on a session-by-session basis. This is typically what you want for keyword analysis.
• First user manual term: Attributes data to the term that brought a user to your site for their very first visit. This is useful for understanding which keywords are best at acquiring new customers.

Graphed

Build AI Agents for Marketing

Build virtual employees that run your go to market. Connect your data sources, deploy autonomous agents, and grow your company.

Build Your First Agent

Step 3: Add a Secondary Dimension for More Context

Seeing your keywords is great, but it's even more powerful when you can see which campaign or source they belong to. You can do this by adding a secondary dimension.

Click the blue "+" icon next to the primary dimension dropdown. Search for and select another dimension like Session campaign or Session source / medium. The table will update again, giving you a more detailed breakdown.

Now, you have a clear view of your top-performing utm_term keywords and can easily trace them back to the specific campaigns that generated them.

Creating a Custom Keyword Report in GA4 Explore

Standard reports are great for a quick look, but if you want to create a more permanent, customizable view of your keyword data, the "Explore" section is your best bet. Here, you can build a report from scratch that you can save and revisit anytime.

Step 1: Open the Explore Hub and Start a New Exploration

In the left-hand navigation, click on Explore. Choose Blank or Free form to start a new, custom report.

Step 2: Import Your Dimensions and Metrics

The Explore interface is divided into two main panels: Variables on the left and Tab Settings on the right. First, you need to import the data you want to analyze into the Variables panel.

• Under "Dimensions," click the "+" icon. Search for and import the following:
• Under "Metrics," click the "+" icon. Search for and import the key performance indicators you care about. Good starting points include:

Once imported, these dimensions and metrics will be available to use in your report canvas.

AI Agents for Marketing

Crash Course

Graphed

Free PDF · the crash course

AI Agents for Marketing Crash Course

Learn how to deploy AI marketing agents across your go-to-market — the best tools, prompts, and workflows to turn your data into autonomous execution without writing code.

Download the PDF

Step 3: Build Your Report

Now, simply drag and drop your imported variables into the Tab Settings panel:

1. Drag Session manual term from the Dimensions list over to the Rows box.
2. You can also drag Session campaign into the Rows box for a further breakdown.
3. Drag your chosen metrics (like Sessions, Conversions, and Purchase revenue) over to the Values box.

Instantly, a table will populate on the right with all of your data organized exactly how you specified. You can name this report (e.g., "Keyword Performance Report") and come back to it whenever you need to check on your utm_term data without rebuilding it every time.

Best Practices for Tracking with utm_term

Finding the data is only half the battle. To get clean, useful insights, follow a few best practices when setting up your UTMs.

• Consistency is paramount. GA4 is case-sensitive. google and Google will show up as two different sources. Stick to a consistent format, like all lowercase, and use underscores or dashes instead of spaces. Document your naming conventions so your whole team stays on the same page.
• Use Google Ads auto-tagging. If you link your Google Ads account to GA4 and enable auto-tagging, Google will automatically add detailed campaign information to your URLs. This data appears in GA4 dimensions like Session Google Ads keyword text, so utm_term is best reserved for all your other paid search platforms, like Bing Ads or DuckDuckGo.
• Distinguish utm_term from utm_content. While both can seem similar, they have distinct purposes. Use utm_term to identify the keyword you're bidding on. Use utm_content to differentiate between ads pointing to the same URL, like "blue-image-ad" vs. "red-text-ad". This helps you optimize both your keywords and your ad creatives.

Final Thoughts

In GA4, analyzing your keyword performance means going one step deeper than the default settings. You can either customize a standard report by changing the primary dimension to "Session manual term" or build a long-lasting, flexible analysis from scratch in an Exploration report.

Mastering this simple process unlocks a deeper understanding of your marketing efforts, but we believe it should be even easier. Pulling the right data shouldn't involve navigating through configuration panels and picking dimensions every single time. Here at Graphed, we've automated this process to give you back your time. You can connect your Google Analytics account in seconds and simply ask in plain English: "Show me my top-performing utm_terms by conversions for the last 30 days," and instantly get the report you need, putting the insights without the busywork.