UTM parameters guide

What are UTM parameters?

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags added to the end of a URL to track marketing campaigns. Tools like Google Analytics read them to report where visitors came from.

The five standard parameters

• Source (utm_source): where the link is shared, such as facebook, google or newsletter.
• Medium (utm_medium): the marketing medium, such as social, cpc or email.
• Campaign (utm_campaign): the campaign name, such as summer_sale_2026.
• Term (utm_term): used for paid search keywords.
• Content (utm_content): tells two similar ads or links apart, such as banner_top and sidebar_link.

Adding UTM tags to a link

UTM parameters are available on every account. When you create or edit a link, Lox adds the tags to your destination URL for you.

1. Go to Links and click Create Link, or edit an existing link.
2. Enter your destination URL as usual.
3. Turn on UTM Parameters and fill in Source, Medium, Campaign, Term and Content.
4. Optionally, pick a saved UTM Template to fill the fields for you.
5. Click Create Link to save.

UTM templates

If you use the same tags on many links, create UTM Templates from their page in the sidebar. Save your usual source, medium and campaign once, then apply them to any link.

Examples

Email newsletter

• Source: newsletter
• Medium: email
• Campaign: weekly_digest_feb2026

Social media post

• Source: instagram
• Medium: social
• Campaign: product_launch
• Content: story_swipeup

Paid search ad

• Source: google
• Medium: cpc
• Campaign: brand_awareness
• Term: url_shortener

Good habits

• Be consistent: use lowercase and underscores for every value (summer_sale, not Summer Sale).
• Keep it descriptive: choose names you'll still understand months later when you read your reports.
• Don't over-tag: Source, Medium and Campaign are usually enough. Add Term and Content only when they help.
• Write your conventions down: a saved template is the easiest way to tag every campaign link the same way.

Where UTM data shows up

UTM tags travel to your destination, so campaign reports appear in the analytics tool on your site, such as Google Analytics. Lox's own reports show each link's clicks by referrer, device, browser and operating system.