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Tracking Source Traffic Using UTMs

Add parameters to URLs to identify the third-party websites and campaigns referring traffic

R
Written by Rebecca Lees
Updated over 2 weeks ago

UTMs, or Urchin Tracking Modules, provide specific data about the origins of your website traffic. By adding special codes to your URLs, you can track which sources are bringing you the most traffic. Think of it as a GPS for your website traffic.

When someone clicks on one of these links, the extra info you added is sent to Google Analytics, and you can see this data in your Circuit Analytics Dashboard report.

UTMs require 3 parameters to work the most efficiently, and can be added into your shared content directly from the CMS Share function.

Required Parameters

There are 3 parameters you must always use are:

  • utm_source: Helps you track which platform the traffic is coming from (e.g., Newsletter, ZeeMee, Instagram, etc.)

  • utm_medium: Helps you understand what type of traffic it is (e.g., paid, organic, referral, etc.)

  • utm_campaign: Helps you track the specific campaign that resulted in the traffic.(e.g., Apply for Residence, Free Trial, Virtual Tour, etc.)

Examples

Example #1: Referring visitors from other tools

  • utm_source = zeemee to identify traffic that is coming from the tool Zeemee

  • utm_medium = referral to identify that this traffic is from a referral source

  • utm_campaign = virtual-tour to identify the overall campaign

Your custom URL would be:

https://virtualtour.explorercollege.com/?utm_zeemee&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=virtual-tour

Example #2: Using your virtual tour to remind applicants to apply to residence

  • utm_source = admitted-newsletter to identify traffic that results from an Admitted Student Newsletter

  • utm_medium = email to identify that traffic is from an email campaign

  • utm_campaign = apply-to-residence to identify the overall campaign

Your custom URL would be:

https://virtualtour.explorercollege.com/?utm_source=admitted-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=apply-to-residence

Example #3: Promoting your virtual tour on social media via paid ads

  • utm_source = instagram to identify traffic that results from Instagram

  • utm_medium = paid to identify traffic from paid ad

  • utm_campaign = virtual-tour to identify the overall campaign

Your custom URL would be:

https://virtualtour.explorercollege.com/?utm_instagram&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=virtual-tour

Sharing your tour content with UTMs

Within the Circuit CMS, you can configure UTM-tracked links for Tour Groups, Tours, and Scenes. UTMs can be added to Banner Embeds, Interactive Embeds, and to Links when sharing your tour content.

To configure UTM parameters when sharing your tour:

  1. Click on the Tours or Scenes tab in the CMS

  2. Find the tour group, tour, or scene you want to share with a UTM and click on the three dots for more options

  3. Click Share

  4. Select how you want to share the content, either as a Banner Embed, an Interactive Embed, or as a Link

  5. Expand the Advanced Options and UTM parameters section

  6. Add in the required UTM Parameters (Source, Medium, and Campaign)

  7. Click the Copy button to copy your link or embed code with your new UTM Parameters added

The Advanced Options and UTM parameters section also includes the ability to add URL parameters to change the display of what you are sharing.

As an alternative to using this Share Modal in the Circuit CMS, you can add parameters and values to your URLs manually, or you can use the GA Campaign URL Builder to add the parameters to your URLs.

UTM Tracking Tips and Tricks

For manually creating UTMs, make sure you separate the parameters from the URL with a question mark. List the parameters and values as pairs separated by an equal sign. Separate each parameter-value pair with an ampersand.

You can add parameters to a URL in any order. Note that UTM fields are case sensitive, so utm_source=google is different from utm_source=Google. Case sensitivity applies for each value you define.

For tracking of your UTMs, it is recommended to add the UTMs you have created to a UTM Tracking Sheet, which will allow for historic tracking of which UTMs are being shared where, which embeds are on different webpages, and to help understand where your traffic is coming from when you review UTM traffic in your Google Analytics.

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