Facebook ads can be a vital part of drawing traffic to your website and your company. Yet, when you’re looking through your Google Analytics, it’s not always clear where your visitors are coming from. UTM, or Urchin Tracking Module, parameters can be an invaluable tool for solving this issue. Read on to learn how UTM codes can help you navigate the impacts of your ads.
What are UTM Codes?
UTM codes are variants of a URL that can track your ads’ effectiveness. In short, they can help you identify where your visitors are mainly seeing your campaigns and where they aren’t as useful. There are five UTM parameters:
- utm_campaign:Tracks a particular campaign name to monitor its performance, such as “August launch” or “relaunch”
Example: &utm_campaign=relaunch
- utm_content: Tracks the link that was clicked, in case you have multiple links to the same destination, such as when you have both a text link and a banner ad pointing to the same destination.
Example: &utm_content=textlink
- utm_medium: Tracks which medium the visitor used to reach your website, such as pay-per-click or social.
Example: &utm_medium=social
- utm_source: Tracks the website that sent the traffic source, such as Facebook or Amazon.
Example: &utm_source=facebook
- utm_term: Tracks the search keyword the visitor typed, such as “dress shoes.”
Example: &utm_term=dress+shoes
Let’s say your normal URL is http://mywebsite.com. If you added UTM parameters to track traffic to your website, it would turn into something like this:
http://mywebsite.com/?utm_content=textlink&utm_source=facebook
With these parameters in place, when you view the traffic in analytics, you would know the visitors to your website came from a marketing campaign that had a text link on Facebook.
While these URLs can get lengthy, use Terminus’s URL shortener to shorten them. All UTM URLs are automatically shortened without any additional steps.
You can now copy and paste your link as you please.
Best Practices for UTM Codes to Remember
Knowing this information is vital for creating Facebook ads that will be beneficial to your company. Not only will you be able to track your information on Facebook itself, but it will help you create a broader picture of your ad campaigns through Google Analytics. You can now tailor future ads to achieve greater viewership and conversion rates.
There are a lot of best practices to keep in mind while utilizing UTM codes, but here are some to get you started on the basics:
- Keep your names simple, short, and lowercase.
- Don’t be repetitive, but do stay consistent in your style.
- Use dashes, not underscores, to separate your words.
- Shorten your links for a tidier page.
UTM codes are a great tool for both beginner and veteran digital marketers. Tracking the success of your ads gives you a better idea of where your efforts are paying off, and UTM codes make it quick and simple. Keep track of key elements for utilizing UTM codes by using our UTM guide. With features like this on Facebook Ads and Google Analytics.
Viewport meta tag has nothing to do with rankings directly but has a tone to do with the user experience.
It’s especially important considering the variety of devices that are being used nowadays and the noticeable shift to mobile browsing.
As with many of the tags and tweaks we’ve discussed in this article, taking care of the viewport meta tag will be something your users appreciate.
If you neglect this, your CTR and bounce rates could suffer.
Conclusion
To get most of your SEO strategy, don’t neglect the small tweaks that add up to the big picture.
Some meta tags remain must-have, as they make up the taxonomy of your page.
Others tags may not be vital, but they can let you be one rich snippet ahead of competitors who just didn’t bother.
Small changes that improve user experience and help search engines understand your site better will be appreciated by both sides, and will definitely pay off in the long run.
What is the difference between Facebook pixel and UTM parameters?
The Facebook Pixel is used for audience generation, re-targeting, and conversion tracking for FB ads.
UTM Parameters are added to URLs so Google Analytics can record and categorize sessions/users by these parameters. They can be placed in links from multiple places and aren’t tied to any specific referral source.