UTM Tags for Small Business Campaigns: A Naming System
Short answer: Tag every link you control outside your website with at least utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, write every value in lowercase, and keep a shared sheet of the exact values you're allowed to use. Choose medium values that match Google Analytics' default channel rules (for example email, social, paid_social, cpc), so GA4 files the visits under the right channel. Never put UTM tags on links between pages of your own site.
What the tags are and how GA4 reads them
UTM parameters are labels added to the end of a link. When someone clicks, Google Analytics reads the labels and records where the visit came from. Google's help page on custom URLs lists the parameters you can use:
| Parameter | What it records | Use it? |
|---|---|---|
utm_source |
The referrer: a site, newsletter or place (google, newsletter, billboard) | Always |
utm_medium |
The marketing medium (email, cpc, banner) | Always |
utm_campaign |
The campaign, product or promo name | Always |
utm_content |
Which creative or link was clicked | When one campaign has several links or ads |
utm_term |
The paid keyword | Paid search only, if your ad platform doesn't do it automatically |
utm_id |
A campaign ID | If you upload campaign data or want a stable ID |
utm_source_platform |
The platform that bought or manages the traffic | Rarely for small businesses |
Google says you "should always use" source, medium and campaign, and recommends setting all relevant parameters, since missing ones show up as "(not set)" in reports. Two newer parameters, utm_creative_format and utm_marketing_tactic, are listed but, according to the same page, aren't currently reported in Google Analytics properties as of November 2026.
Why medium matters more than you think
GA4 puts every visit into a default channel group, such as Email, Organic Social or Paid Search, using rules based mostly on source and medium. Google's channel definitions page spells them out. A few that matter for small businesses:
- Email: source or medium is
email,e-mail,e_mailore mail. - Organic Social: source is a known social site, or medium is one of
social,social-network,social-media,sm. - Paid Social / Paid Search: a known social or search source plus a medium matching patterns like
cpc,ppc,retargetingor anything starting withpaid. - SMS: source or medium is exactly
sms. - Referral: medium is
referral,apporlink.
Make up your own medium, like newsletter-blast or flyer, and GA4 often can't match it, so the visit lands in "Unassigned". Your source can be descriptive; your medium should stick to the words the rules recognize.
The naming convention
Write this once, put it in a shared spreadsheet, and only use values from it.
| Field | Rule | Allowed values (example set) |
|---|---|---|
| source | Where the link physically lives; one value per platform | facebook, instagram, linkedin, newsletter, google_business_profile, flyer, bus_shelter |
| medium | Must match a GA4 channel rule | email, social, paid_social, cpc, sms, referral, qr (see below), display |
| campaign | yyyy-mm_short-name |
2026-11_winter-tune-up, 2026-12_gift-cards |
| content | What was clicked | header-button, footer-link, video-ad, carousel-2, en, fr |
Rules that keep this tidy:
- Lowercase only. Google's best practices note that values are case sensitive:
Metaandmetaare different values, and so areSpringSaleandSpring_Sale. Channel definitions themselves aren't case sensitive, but your reports are. - Hyphens inside values, underscores only where your sheet says so. Pick one and don't mix.
- Dates at the start of campaign names so they sort chronologically in reports.
- No spaces. They turn into
%20and get mistyped.
What to do with QR codes and print
GA4 has no built-in "print" or "QR" channel. You have two honest options. Use a recognized medium (for example referral) and put the detail in source (flyer, bus_shelter). Or use qr as the medium and accept that those visits fall into "Unassigned" unless you create a custom channel group for them. The second gives cleaner reporting for businesses that print a lot; just decide once and record it in the sheet.
Worked examples by channel
All examples are for a hypothetical bakery in Halifax running a holiday pre-order campaign.
Monthly email newsletter, main button:
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders&utm_content=main-button
Same newsletter, French edition:
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders&utm_content=fr
Organic Instagram bio link:
?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders
Paid Facebook ad (if the ad platform doesn't add its own tags):
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders&utm_content=video-ad
Counter flyer with a QR code:
?utm_source=counter-flyer&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders
Text message to past customers:
?utm_source=sms&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=2026-12_holiday-preorders
Notice that the campaign value is identical everywhere. That lets you see the whole campaign in one row, then break it down by source and medium.
Building the links
Google points to its Campaign URL Builder for website links (and a separate Play builder for Android app ads). It fills in the parameters and gives you a finished URL. You can also build them in a spreadsheet with a formula that joins your base URL to the values from your naming sheet, which has the bonus of only allowing approved values. Shorten long tagged links for print, and test each one before it goes to the printer.
Common mistakes
- UTMs on internal links. Adding tags to a banner on your own homepage relabels a visitor who came from Google as if they came from your banner. Use events for internal clicks instead.
- Tagging Google Ads links by hand when auto-tagging is on. Let the ad platform's own tracking do it unless you have a specific reason.
- One-off spellings.
Facebook,facebook,fbandfacebook.combecome four rows. - Forgetting the medium. Source alone produces "(not set)" and messy channel data.
- Personal information in tags. Never put names or email addresses in UTM values.
FAQ
Where do I see UTM data in GA4?
In the Traffic acquisition report, change the primary dimension to Session campaign, or Session source / medium. Google's help page says the parameter values are visible there.
Do UTM tags affect SEO?
Tags on links from other sites to yours don't help or hurt rankings, but avoid them on your own internal links and in your sitemap so you aren't creating extra URLs for the same page.
Should I tag my Google Business Profile website link?
Many businesses do, so profile visits are separated from other Google search traffic. If you do, use a recognized organic medium so it still lands in a sensible channel, and record the choice in your sheet.
If your campaign data is already split across a dozen spellings and you'd like a naming sheet plus a clean-up plan, we're happy to set that up with you.