Free tool
UTM Builder
Paste your destination, fill in the parameters, and copy a campaign URL your analytics can actually read. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is sent to a server, no account needed.
The page the link should land on — query strings are kept.
What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are five small labels you append to a URL — ?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=spring-desk-setup — that tell the analytics tool on the destination page where the visit came from. Without them, a click from your video description, your Instagram bio and your newsletter all look identical: anonymous referral traffic.
They change nothing for the viewer. The page loads exactly the same; the labels are read once by analytics and that's it. What changes is your side of the story: instead of “traffic went up last week”, you can say this video sent this many people to this product page — which is the difference between guessing what to make next and knowing.
The five parameters, with creator examples
| Parameter | What it answers | Creator example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where did the click come from?The platform itself: youtube, instagram, tiktok, newsletter. | utm_source=youtube |
| utm_medium | What kind of traffic is it?The channel type: video, social, email, description. | utm_medium=video |
| utm_campaign | Which video or push sent it?One name per video or launch, so sales map back to content. | utm_campaign=spring-desk-setup |
| utm_term | Which topic or keyword?Optional. Born for paid search keywords; creators rarely need it. | utm_term=standing-desk |
| utm_content | Which of several links?Optional. Separates the description link from the pinned comment. | utm_content=pinned-comment |
Naming conventions that survive
The tool encodes whatever you type, but analytics tools take your values literally — a messy convention today is a messy report for as long as the links live.
Lowercase everything.
Most analytics tools treat YouTube, youtube and YOUTUBE as three different sources, splitting one channel's traffic into three rows.
Hyphens, never spaces.
A space becomes %20 in the URL and makes reports ugly and links fragile. spring-desk-setup reads fine in both places.
Pick one word per idea and stick to it.
If some links say video and others say yt-video, your medium report is split forever. Keep a short list of allowed values.
Name campaigns after the content, not the date alone.
In a year, 2025-03-links tells you nothing; spring-desk-setup still tells you which video did the selling.
Frequently asked questions
Do UTM parameters change where the link goes?
No. The destination page ignores them; they exist only so the analytics tool on that page can label the visit. Your viewer lands exactly where they would have landed without them.
Which parameters should I always fill in?
Source, medium and campaign — the essential three. Without source and medium most analytics tools file the visit under a generic bucket, and without campaign you can't tell which video drove the sale. Term and content are refinements you can add later.
Do UTMs work on Amazon affiliate links?
They won't break the link, but Amazon's own reporting ignores them — Associates attribution runs on your tag and tracking IDs instead. UTMs shine on destinations you measure yourself: your shop, your site, your newsletter signup page.
Are UTM values case-sensitive?
Yes, in practice: analytics tools report utm_source=YouTube and utm_source=youtube as two different sources. That's why the first naming rule is to lowercase everything, always.
Keep reading
- Read the full guide: UTM Parameters for Creators: Know Which Video Actually Sells
UTMs are five query parameters that tell you where a click came from. Learn what each one does, a naming convention that survives two years, and why Amazon needs tracking IDs instead.
- CreatorLink.bio — smart short links for creators
Short links with automatic affiliate tags, app deep links and per-link click analytics.
Want these links shortened and tracked automatically?
CreatorLink turns your campaign URLs into short links with click analytics built in — no spreadsheet of UTMs to maintain.
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