How to Use Google Analytics URL Builder

Adding UTM parameters to your URLs is the single best way to know which marketing efforts are actually working. Without them, you’re flying blind. This tutorial shows you exactly how to use Google’s free Campaign URL Builder to create trackable links, a simple step that will bring massive clarity to your analytics.

What Are UTM Parameters and Why Should You Care?

Ever look at your Google Analytics reports and see a ton of "Direct" traffic? You probably know that not all those visitors just typed your website address straight into their browser. Many of them likely came from your email newsletters, social media posts, or PDF guides, but Google Analytics couldn't figure out the source, so it lumped them into the "Direct" bucket.

UTM parameters solve this problem. They are simple tags, or bits of text, that you add to the end of a URL. These tags don't change the destination page, but they give Google Analytics specific information about where the user came from.

Think of it like putting name tags on guests at a huge party. Without them, you have a room full of people but no idea who came with whom. With them, you can instantly see which friend brought the most guests. UTM codes are the name tags for your website traffic.

There are five standard UTM parameters you can use:

• utm_source: This identifies the specific source that is sending you traffic, like "google," "facebook," or "mailchimp."
• utm_medium: This describes the general channel or type of marketing, such as "cpc" (cost-per-click), "email," or "social."
• utm_campaign: This identifies the specific promotion, sale, or marketing initiative, like "summer_sale_2024" or "q3_newsletter."
• utm_content: This is used to differentiate links or ads within the same campaign. For example, if you have two call-to-action buttons in an email, you could tag them "header_link" and "footer_link" to see which one performs better.
• utm_term: This is typically used to track paid search keywords. For non-search campaigns, it’s often left blank.

By regularly using these tags, you replace guesswork with clear data, allowing you to accurately measure the return on investment (ROI) of every campaign you run.

How to Use the Google Campaign URL Builder: A Step-by-Step Guide

You don't need to manually type out these long, complicated URLs. Google provides a free, user-friendly tool called the Campaign URL Builder that does all the work for you. It's essentially a form that pieces together your final URL based on your inputs.

Let's walk through an example. Imagine you’re running a Facebook advertising campaign to promote a 20% off summer sale for your online shoe store. Here’s how you’d fill out the builder.

1. Enter the Website URL

This is the first and most crucial field. It's the destination page where you want to send your traffic. For our example, this would be the landing page for the sale.

• Website URL: https://www.yourcoolshoestore.com/summer-sale

2. Add Your Campaign Parameters

Next, you’ll fill in the UTM parameters. At a minimum, you must include source, medium, and campaign name.

Campaign Source (Required)

This is the platform or referrer sending the traffic. Since we are running ads on Facebook, that’s our source.

• utm_source: facebook

Campaign Medium (Required)

This is the marketing channel. Because this is a paid ad campaign, a common convention is to use "cpc" (cost-per-click) or simply "paid_social."

• utm_medium: cpc

Campaign Name (Required)

This identifies your specific marketing effort. Make it descriptive so you'll immediately know what it is when you see it in your reports later.

• utm_campaign: summer_sale_20

Campaign Term (Optional)

This is most useful for identifying keywords in Google Ads. Since our Facebook ad is targeted by interest and not keywords, we can leave this blank. If you were targeting an audience interested in "running shoes," you could potentially enter that here to add another layer of tracking.

Campaign Content (Optional)

This is perfect for A/B testing. Let's say we're testing a video ad against an image ad within our summer_sale_20 campaign. We can use this tag to track them separately.

• utm_content: video_ad_blue_sneaker

3. Generate and Use Your URL

As you fill out the fields, the tool automatically generates the final URL at the bottom of the page. Based on our inputs, it will look like this:

https://www.yourcoolshoestore.com/summer-sale?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=summer_sale_20&utm_content=video_ad_blue_sneaker

Now, you simply copy this full URL and use it as the destination link in your Facebook ad. When someone clicks it, Google Analytics will record the visit and perfectly attribute it to your summer_sale_20 campaign, from Facebook, as a CPC click, and specifically from the video_ad_blue_sneaker creative.

Best Practices for Clean and Consistent UTM Tagging

Using the URL Builder is easy. The hard part is ensuring your entire team uses it the same way. Inconsistent tagging can quickly turn your analytics into a mess. For example, Google Analytics will see Facebook, facebook, and FB as three completely separate sources. Here are some rules to live by:

1. Establish a Naming Convention and Stick to It

Create a shared document (a simple Google Sheet works perfectly) that defines how your team should name sources, mediums, and campaigns. This is the single most important step for maintaining clean data.

For example, for Social Media:

• Consistent Source Names: always facebook, not Facebook, fb.com, or FB.
• Consistent Medium Names: always social_organic for regular posts and social_paid for ads.

2. Always Use Lowercase

As mentioned, UTM parameters are case-sensitive. The easiest way to avoid problems is to make a simple rule: always use lowercase letters for all tags. This tiny habit prevents countless reporting headaches down the line.

3. Use Underscores or Hyphens instead of Spaces

Spaces in URLs can be problematic and often get converted into messy characters like %20. Instead of naming a campaign "summer sale 2024," use "summer_sale_2024" or "summer-sale-2024". An underscore is the more common convention.

4. Keep It Simple and Descriptive

Make your tags easy for a human to understand at a glance. email_promo_wk4_q3 might seem logical now, but will you remember what it means in six months? Something more descriptive like july_newsletter_new_arrivals is much more useful over the long term.

Where to See Your Campaign Data in Google Analytics 4

So, you’ve tagged your URLs and launched your campaigns. Where is the payoff? You can easily see the results right inside your GA4 property.

1. In the left-hand navigation menu, go to Reports.
2. Under the "Life cycle" collection, click on Acquisition.
3. Select the Traffic acquisition report.

By default, this report groups your traffic by "Session default channel group." To see your UTM data, click the dropdown arrow on that main dimension and select one of the "Session" scoped dimensions:

• Session source: Shows data for your utm_source tags.
• Session medium: Shows data for your utm_medium tags.
• Session source / medium: Combines both in a very useful standard view (e.g., facebook / cpc).
• Session campaign: Shows data for your utm_campaign tags.

Once you select one of these, the report will display all the key metrics — like users, sessions, engaged sessions, and conversions — neatly organized by the exact tags you created. This allows you to definitively answer questions like, "Which email campaign drove the most revenue last month?" or "How did our Instagram campaign compare to our Facebook campaign?"

Final Thoughts

Mastering campaign tracking with Google's URL Builder is a foundational skill for any marketer. By consistently applying UTM parameters to your links — from social media, email, ads, or even QR codes — you transform messy, vague analytics into a clear and powerful tool for making smarter marketing decisions.

Of course, UTM tracking in Google Analytics is just one piece of the puzzle. Understanding a customer's full journey often means trying to connect data from GA with performance stats from Facebook Ads, purchase data in Shopify, or lead information in HubSpot. This is where manually pulling reports gets old, fast. With Graphed, we make that part easy. You can connect all your data sources in a few clicks and build real-time dashboards using simple, natural language — no more bouncing between a dozen tabs to stitch reports together.