UTM may refer to any of the following:

  1. Short for Unified Threat Management, a UTM is a networking device or software program that helps reduce the complexity of securing a network. It accomplishes this by including an anti-malware, content filter, firewall, intrusion detection, and spam protection into a single package. Usually, a UTM is used in a corporate environment. It may also feature application awareness, identity-based access control, QoS, load balancing, SSL inspection, and SSH inspection.

The picture shows an example of the SOPHOS XG-750, a data center firewall and UTM.

  1. With Urchin Tracking Module, a UTM code or UTM parameter is a unique identifier added to any URL. It is used by Urchin, a web statistics analysis program developed at Google. Using UTM codes enables enhanced tracking of advertising campaigns in Google Analytics.

Example of a URL with UTM codes

http://www.comptuerhope.com/?utm_source=BestBuy&utm_campaign=BestBuy%2BCPC

Below is a listing of available UTM codes that can be included in a URL. In general, if a URL has a question mark ("?"), everything after that is a parameter. Generally, individual parameters after the question mark are delimited by an ampersand ("&").

  • Example of a URL with UTM codes.
  • Sharing a URL with UTM codes.
  • Tracking a URL with UTM codes.

The order that the individual parameters appear in the URL does not matter. However, note that because spaces (" “) are not allowed in a URL, spaces must be represented by the %2B escape code or replaced with a plus sign ("+”).

  • utm_campaign - The campaign name to group a campaign with multiple variables into one section in Google Analytics.
  • utm_content - Describe the location of the link in the content. Often describing a link on the same page as another link pointing to the same source. For example, you could have a utm_content that is a sidebar, footer, etc., depending on the link’s location on the page.
  • utm_medium - The link marketing type and values could include advertisement, radio, social media, tv, etc.
  • utm_source - The referring source who is sending you the traffic.
  • utm_term - The keywords used in the campaign or search.

Sharing a URL with UTM codes

After you have built a URL with UTM codes, you can use a URL shortener to make the link easier to share.

You can also use the Google URL builder to build these links if needed.

Tracking a URL with UTM codes

Finally, once a URL with UTM codes is created and shared or used, you can begin to track the progress through Google Analytics. All campaigns are found under “Acquisition and Campaigns.”

  1. Short for Universal Turing Machine, see our universal machine page for further information on this term.

Computer acronyms, Security terms, SEO terms