Where is Your Web Traffic Coming From?
When you look at how a page on your website performed, have you ever wished you could understand exactly where traffic is coming from? Do you wish to see which medium drove the most traffic to your page? By using custom URLs (also known as UTM codes), you’ll be able to see specific traffic source information in Google Analytics.
What exactly is a custom URL?
A custom URL is used as a call to action link for social media, emails, and other mediums. The URL contains custom fields that Google Analytics is able to decipher for tracking source information.
How do I set up custom URLs?
- Visit the Google Analytics Campaign URL Builder website
- Fill in the URL to your webpage
- Fill in source, medium, and campaign name
Source examples - newsletter, facebook
Medium examples - email, social, blog
Campaign name examples - spring_recruitment, fall_sale - Copy the generated campaign URL
Example URL:https://university-relations.umn.edu/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=photo_video - Paste URL into a spreadsheet to keep track of your campaign URLs
- Use campaign URLs in social media, emails, and wherever else you plan to promote your webpage
How do I find source information from my custom URLs in Google Analytics?
Two of the best ways to find source information:
- Behavior > Site Content > All Pages > Search the page you want to view > Sort the secondary dimension dropdown by source
- Acquisition > Campaigns > All Campaigns > Click on name of the campaign to see source information
Taking the time to set up custom URLs will help when it comes time for you to pull reports and plan future promotions.
If you have questions or need additional information, contact Kelly Voigt.
For additional posts about analytics, visit the Killer analytics series.