Troubleshooting
Common UTM mistakes that quietly break campaign reporting.
Most UTM problems are not technical bugs. They are small naming choices that pile up over time until reports become fragmented and hard to trust. If campaign data looks messier than it should, start here.
Six mistakes that create messy reports
Mixing source with medium
Source describes where the click came from. Medium describes the channel type. Treating them as the same field makes reports harder to group.
Changing source labels every week
If the same newsletter becomes newsletter, email, and weekly_digest, your traffic splits into separate rows.
Using campaign for too many ideas
The campaign field should name the promotion, not the audience, placement, and creative all at once.
Overusing utm_content
Content is useful for variants, but not every link needs a deep creative taxonomy if nobody will read it later.
Mixing separators and casing
SpringLaunch, spring_launch, and spring-launch may all mean the same thing to humans, but they create separate values in reports.
Tagging internal navigation
UTM parameters are usually for external campaign links. Using them on internal site navigation can pollute attribution data.
Bad versus better examples
| Problem | Messy example | Cleaner example |
|---|---|---|
| Source changes too often | utm_source=may_newsletter |
utm_source=newsletter |
| Campaign overloaded with details | utm_campaign=launch_us_retarg_vid_a_feed |
utm_campaign=spring_launch |
| Creative detail in the wrong field | utm_campaign=video_a |
utm_content=video_a |
| Inconsistent formatting | utm_medium=Paid-Social |
utm_medium=paid_social |
A simple naming system that scales better
- Use source for the platform or partner name.
- Use medium for the broad channel type.
- Use campaign for the promotion or launch name.
- Use content only when you want to compare placements or creative variants.
If you need a practical starting point, the newsletter template and Facebook ad template are good examples of this system in action.
FAQ
Should I use UTM parameters on internal links?
Usually no. UTM tags are generally meant for external campaign links. Adding them to internal navigation can distort reporting.
Is lowercase with underscores required?
No. It is just a practical convention. Hyphens can also work well. Consistency matters more than the exact separator choice.
Do I need every UTM field on every link?
No. Most links only need source, medium, and campaign. Add term or content only when they answer a real reporting question.