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glossary term

UTM parameters

Tags added to a link so Analytics knows exactly where a click came from.

What it means

UTM parameters are short tags appended to a URL — source, medium, campaign, and a few others — that tell Google Analytics exactly which link someone clicked, rather than just guessing from the referring domain.

Why it matters

Without them, a link shared in an email newsletter and a link shared in a social post can both show up as vague 'referral' traffic. With them, you can ask specifically how that one newsletter performed.

ask datanephew

Do I need to add these to every link I share?

Only the ones you want to measure individually — a link in a paid ad or an email campaign is worth tagging; a casual mention does not need one.

Can datanephew set these up for me?

It can generate the tagged URL for a campaign you describe and explain what to put in each field — ask it to build one for your next email send.