Published on 2025-06-29T19:36:13Z

What is a UTM Naming Convention? Examples for campaign tracking & analytics

A UTM Naming Convention is a standardized system for labeling URL parameters so that marketing campaigns can be tracked accurately across analytics platforms. In the context of campaign tracking & analytics, a robust naming convention:

  • Ensures consistent and comparable data across channels
  • Prevents fragmentation caused by typos or inconsistent formatting
  • Acts as a single source of truth for marketing, analytics, and product teams

By defining clear rules for each parameter—utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content—you maintain clean datasets and reliable attribution.

Integrating with tools like Plainsignal (cookie-free simple analytics) and UTMGuru (UTM builder and manager) makes it easy to enforce your conventions at scale.

Example Plainsignal tracking snippet:

<link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
<script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/plainsignal-min.js"></script>
Illustration of Utm naming convention
Illustration of Utm naming convention

Utm naming convention

Standardized guidelines for naming UTM parameters to ensure consistent, accurate campaign tracking across analytics tools.

Why UTM Naming Conventions Matter

A consistent UTM naming convention ensures that marketing data is accurate, comparable, and actionable. Without a standard approach, data can become fragmented, making it difficult to attribute conversions, compare channel performance, and generate reliable insights.

  • Accurate attribution

    Consistent naming ensures each campaign, medium, and source is tracked correctly, reducing the risk of misattribution in your analytics platforms.

  • Data consistency

    Standardized parameters prevent variations (like ‘Email’ vs ‘email’) that can fragment data across multiple entries.

  • Cross-team collaboration

    A shared naming convention acts as a single source of truth for marketing, analytics, and sales teams, improving communication.

Key Components of a UTM Naming Convention

A robust UTM naming convention defines rules for each parameter—utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content—to ensure clarity and consistency across all tracked links.

  • Utm_source

    Identifies the origin of traffic (e.g., google, newsletter, facebook). Should be concise and standardized (all lowercase).

  • Utm_medium

    Specifies the marketing medium (e.g., cpc, email, social). Use a predefined list to avoid typos.

  • Utm_campaign

    Names the specific campaign (e.g., summer_sale, black_friday). Include dates or version numbers if necessary.

  • Utm_term

    Optional parameter used to track paid search keywords. Only use for paid campaigns; keep terms lowercase and hyphen-separated.

    • Keyword example:

      winter_sale

  • Utm_content

    Optional parameter for A/B testing or differentiating creatives (e.g., banner, text_ad). Use a clear naming pattern to compare performance.

    • Creative example:

      hero_banner_v1

Best Practices for Creating UTM Naming Conventions

Following best practices ensures your UTM naming convention is scalable, easy to follow, and error-resistant.

  • Consistent formatting

    Use only lowercase letters, hyphens to separate words, and avoid spaces or special characters.

  • Use of standard delimiters

    Stick to hyphens or underscores; never mix both to prevent split entries in analytics.

  • Documentation and training

    Maintain a shared style guide or wiki for all team members, including examples and rules.

  • Automation where possible

    Leverage tools like UTMGuru to automatically generate UTM-compliant URLs and enforce conventions.

Examples of UTM Naming Conventions in Action

Practical examples using popular SaaS tools illustrate how to implement and manage naming conventions seamlessly.

  • Plainsignal integration

    With PlainSignal’s cookie-free analytics, append consistent UTM parameters to your links. Example tracking code:

    <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
<script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/plainsignal-min.js"></script>

    Use URLs like https://example.com?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer_sale to see campaign performance in PlainSignal.

  • Utmguru url builder

    UTMGuru simplifies building and managing UTM links. You can save naming rules, generate URLs via the web interface or Chrome extension, and maintain a library for future campaigns.

Tools and Platforms for Managing UTM Naming Conventions

Several tools help teams create, track, and govern UTM naming conventions efficiently.

  • Utmguru chrome extension

    Create and insert UTM URLs directly in your browser while composing campaigns.

  • Google analytics url builder

    Free tool that helps generate basic UTM-coded URLs, though without naming convention governance.

  • Internal spreadsheets

    Custom Google Sheets templates with data validation to enforce naming rules before link distribution.

  • Custom solutions and apis

    Build in-house scripts or use APIs (like UTMGuru’s) to integrate UTM generation into your workflow.

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