UTM Tracking Guide

UTMUTM tracking tags show where traffic comes from and which campaigns lead to real conversions. (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags you add to your URLs to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. When someone clicks a link with UTM parameters, Conversion Bridge captures this data and attributes conversions to the right sources, giving you clear insights into what's driving results.

What Are UTM Parameters?

UTM parameters are simple text snippets added to the end of a URL that tell you where your traffic comes from. They look like this: https://example.com/landing-page?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_sale

When a visitor clicks this link and later converts (makes a purchase, submits a form, signs up, etc.), Conversion Bridge attributes that conversion to the newsletter email from your spring sale campaign.

Why UTM Tracking Matters

Without UTM tracking, you might know that you had 50 conversions last month, but you wouldn't know:

• Which email campaigns drove the most sales
• Whether Facebook or Google ads perform better
• Which specific ad creative resonates with your audience
• Whether your partner referrals are worth the investment

UTM parameters answer these questions by connecting every conversion back to its original source.

The Five UTM Parameters

1. utm_source (Required)

What it tracks: The platform or website sending the traffic.

Examples:

• utm_source=newsletter — Traffic from your email newsletter
• utm_source=facebook — Traffic from Facebook
• utm_source=partner_site — Traffic from a partner website

2. utm_medium

What it tracks: The marketing channel or type of link.

Examples:

• utm_medium=cpc — Cost-per-click advertising
• utm_medium=email — Email marketing
• utm_medium=social — Social media posts
• utm_medium=referral — Referral links
• utm_medium=banner — Banner advertisements

3. utm_campaign

What it tracks: The specific campaign, promotion, or initiative.

Examples:

• utm_campaign=spring_sale — Your spring sale promotion
• utm_campaign=product_launch — A product launch campaign
• utm_campaign=black_friday — Black Friday promotion
• utm_campaign=welcome_series — Your email welcome sequence

4. utm_term

What it tracks: Paid search keywords (primarily used for PPC campaigns).

Examples:

• utm_term=running+shoes — Keyword "running shoes"
• utm_term=best+wordpress+plugins — Keyword phrase
• utm_term=brand+name — Brand-related search term

5. utm_content

What it tracks: Differentiates similar content or links within the same campaign. Useful for A/B testingA method of comparing two versions of a webpage, email, or element to see which one performs better based on user behavior or conversion rates..

Examples:

• utm_content=logo_link — Click on logo
• utm_content=text_link — Click on text link
• utm_content=blue_button — Blue CTAA prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as clicking a button, submitting a form, or making a purchase. button variant
• utm_content=header_banner — Banner in header position

How Conversion Bridge Captures UTM Data

Most visitors don't convert on the page they land on. They click your link, browse a few pages, maybe leave and come back another day. By the time they convert, the UTM parameters are long gone from the URL.

Conversion Bridge captures UTM parameters the moment a visitor arrives and stores them server-side in your WordPress database, tied to that visitor's conversion journey. When the conversion happens, even weeks later, the original campaign data is still attached. UTM data is kept for 365 days by default (adjustable in the data retention settings).

With marketing consent, ad click IDs like gclid (Google Ads) and fbclid (Meta) are captured alongside the UTM parameters.

Creating UTM Links

Using the UTM Link Builder

Conversion Bridge includes a built-in UTM Link Builder tool. Access it via:

• Settings → Conversion Bridge → Reports & Tools
• Tools → UTM Link Builder (WordPress Tools menu)
• The UTM Link button in the admin bar while viewing any page on your site
• The UTM Link quick action on any post or page in the admin list

The builder provides:

1. Base URL field — Enter the destination page URL (pre-filled when you use a quick link)
2. UTM parameter fields — Fill in the parameters you need
3. Generated URL — Copy the complete UTM-tagged URL with one click

For details, see the UTM Link Builder Tool doc.

Manual UTM Creation

You can also create UTM links manually by appending parameters to your URL:

https://yoursite.com/page?utm_source=SOURCE&utm_medium=MEDIUM&utm_campaign=CAMPAIGN

Rules:

• Use ? before the first parameter
• Use & between additional parameters
• Use + or %20 for spaces
• Keep values lowercase for consistency

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Establish consistent naming conventions across your team:

Do's and Don'ts

Do:

• ✅ Be consistent with naming
• ✅ Use lowercase for everything
• ✅ Use underscores instead of spaces
• ✅ Keep names descriptive but concise
• ✅ Document your naming conventions

Don't:

• ❌ Use special characters (except underscores)
• ❌ Change naming conventions mid-campaign
• ❌ Use UTM parameters on internal links
• ❌ Include sensitive or personal information
• ❌ Make names too long or cryptic

When to Use UTM Parameters

Use UTM parameters for:

• Email marketing campaigns
• Social media posts and ads
• Paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.)
• Partner and affiliate links
• QR codes on print materials
• Links in PDFs or documents

Don't use UTM parameters for:

• Internal site navigation
• Links within your own website
• Organic search (Google adds these automatically)

Understanding Attribution Models

First Touch Attribution

First touch attributionThe process of determining which channels, campaigns, or actions contributed to a conversion, helping you understand what influenced a visitor’s decision to take action. gives 100% credit to the first marketing touchpoint that brought a visitor to your site.

Example: A visitor first arrives via a Facebook ad (utm_source=facebook), browses your site, leaves, then returns directly a week later and makes a purchase. First touch attribution credits Facebook for the sale.

Best for:

• Understanding which channels drive initial awareness
• Evaluating top-of-funnel marketing efforts
• Measuring brand discovery campaigns

Last Touch Attribution

Last touch attribution gives 100% credit to the last marketing touchpoint before conversion.

Example: Same scenario as above, but the visitor's return visit came through an email link (utm_source=newsletter). Last touch attribution credits the newsletter for the sale.

Best for:

• Understanding which channels close sales
• Evaluating bottom-of-funnel marketing
• Measuring retargeting effectiveness

Which Should You Use?

Most marketers benefit from reviewing both:

• Use First Touch to understand what brings people to your site initially
• Use Last Touch to understand what drives them to convert

The UTM Attribution Setting

Conversion Bridge has a site-wide UTM Attribution setting that controls which campaign's UTMs get saved with each conversion: the values stored on your form entries and orders, and pulled into hidden form fields for your CRM.

You'll find it under Settings → Conversion Bridge → Conversion Tracking:

• First Touch (default): saves the UTMs from the campaign the visitor first arrived from
• Last Touch: saves the UTMs from the most recent campaign before they converted

The UTM Reports tool has its own separate First Touch / Last Touch filter. The report filter only changes how a report displays data after the fact. The site-wide setting decides which UTM values are permanently written to your entries, orders, and CRM feeds, so if you rely on UTM data flowing into your CRM, this is the one that governs what your CRM receives.

UTM Reports

The UTM Reports tool shows sessions, conversions, and total value for your UTM-tagged traffic, broken down by source, medium, campaign, term, and content. You can view trends over time, see which source and medium combinations convert, filter by conversion event type, switch between first touch and last touch, and export any report to CSV. Each row links to the matching conversion journeys so you can see the actual visits behind the numbers.

Access it via:

• Settings → Conversion Bridge → Reports & Tools
• Tools → UTM Reports (WordPress Tools menu)

The full walkthrough of every report tab lives in the UTM Reports Tool doc.

Your weekly report email also includes your top UTM sources by conversions, compared to the previous period.

Carrying UTMs into Your Forms and CRM

UTM Reports show you the campaign data inside Conversion Bridge. You can also carry that data out, onto your form entries and into your CRM.

Conversion Bridge can save a visitor's UTM parameters (and, with marketing consent, ad click IDs like gclid and fbclid) directly to your form submissions, notification emails, and any connected CRM or webhook feed. It remembers the campaign for the whole session, so the data still lands on the entry even when the visitor converts on a page whose URL no longer has UTM parameters. The same data is also saved to orders and transactions in ecommerce, membership, and donation plugins like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and GiveWP.

Once the source is on the record, your CRM can segment follow-up by campaign, route leads by source, and tie revenue back to the campaign that earned it.

For the available tags and step-by-step setup for each supported form plugin, see Pass UTM Parameters and Ad Click IDs into Forms.

Forwarding UTMs to Your Other Domains

If you run more than one site, Conversion Bridge can append a visitor's UTM parameters and ad click IDs to links pointing at your other domains, so the campaign data survives the hop between sites. See Cross-Domain Forwarding.

Troubleshooting

No Data Showing

• Ensure UTM parameters are correctly formatted in your links
• Verify Conversion Bridge tracking is enabled
• Check that conversions are being tracked (Journeys tab)
• Allow time for data to accumulate

Unexpected "(none)" Values

"(none)" appears when:

• The session had no UTM parameters
• UTM data wasn't captured on the attributed pageview
• Direct traffic or organic search (use GA4 for organic data)

Data Discrepancies

• First touch and last touch will show different numbers
• Compare date ranges carefully
• Caching: report data is cached for 15 minutes; add ?refresh=1 to the report URL to force a refresh

Next Steps

1. Create your first UTM link using the UTM Link Builder
2. Add UTM parameters to your next email campaign or social post
3. Check back in a week to see your first UTM Reports data
4. Establish naming conventions for your team
5. Compare attribution models to understand your customer journey

For more help, visit conversionbridgewp.com/docs or contact support.