UTM link builder for email and SMS
Build tracked links for your emails and texts, and check them before you send.
Link details
The page people should land on. Copy it from your browser’s address bar.
The send or offer, like fall-sale. Use the same name in every email and text for it.
In the link: cleanser-restock
Your tracked link
https:/
Example address — paste your own page above.
In Google Analytics 4
Likely channel: Email
utm_medium is “email”.
OK: Has a source, medium and campaign
Google recommends all three on every tagged link, and Shopify attributes a visit to marketing when the link has utm_campaign.
Free. No signup. Your link is built in this browser and never opened or saved.
How UTM tags work ↓What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters, or UTM tags, are labels added to the end of a link, after a question mark. They don’t change the page. When someone clicks, the labels tell Google Analytics and Shopify to file the visit under that source, medium and campaign.
Emails and texts need those three. Add content when one message has several links, so you can see which one was clicked.
| Tag | What it records | Example |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Who sent it: your list or app | newsletter |
utm_medium | The channel | email, sms |
utm_campaign | The send or offer | fall-sale |
utm_content | Which link in the message Optional | header-image |
utm_term | A paid-search keyword Optional | — |
UTM parameters for email and SMS
Google Analytics 4 sorts visits into default channels with fixed rules. utm_medium=email lands in Email and utm_medium=sms in SMS. A medium such as newsletter or text matches no default rule, so those visits usually show as Unassigned.
The rules run in order, and some come before Email and SMS. A campaign name with the word “shop” or “shopping” in it lands in Organic Shopping, and so does a source Google lists as a shopping site, such as shopify. Sources like instagram or google go to Organic Social or Organic Search the same way.
Name tags the same way every time
Google treats tag values as case-sensitive: utm_source=google is different from utm_source=Google, so “Email” and “email” become two rows in your reports. Use lowercase words joined by hyphens, and reuse the same source and campaign names. Apps like Klaviyo and Mailchimp can add UTM tags for you, so pick one naming scheme and use it everywhere. Never put names, email addresses or phone numbers in tags.
Where to see the results
In Google Analytics 4, open Reports › Acquisition › Traffic acquisition and switch the table to Session source / medium or Session campaign. In Shopify, open Analytics › Reports and choose a marketing report, such as Performance by UTM campaign or Sessions attributed to marketing campaigns.
Each tool credits sales by its own rules, so their totals can differ. Here’s why Shopify and email reports disagree. Tags show which visits an email brought; to judge whether it paid for itself, count the orders that cover your email costs.
Don’t tag links on your own site
Links in pop-ups, banners and menus point to a store the shopper is already on. A tagged link there records a new campaign click partway through the visit, and reports that credit the last click then give the sale to the pop-up instead of the email, ad or search that brought the shopper. Leave those links plain. To count clicks on your own banners, Google Analytics has promotion events, view_promotion and select_promotion.
Test the link before you send
Open the finished link on your phone and check the page loads with the tags still in the address bar: Google notes that redirects can strip UTM parameters. For a text, count the whole message, including the link your app sends. Setting up a cart reminder? Check its link along with the other cart email tests.
Sources
Channel checks follow Google’s published default channel rules and its list of shopping, social, search and video sources, as of September 2026. Google says the definitions may change, so treat the channel as likely, not certain.
- Google Analytics Help: default channel group
- Google Analytics Help: collect campaign data with custom URLs
- Google Analytics Help: get started with attribution
- Google Analytics Help: understand (direct) / (none) traffic
- Google Analytics Help: avoid sending personal information
- Google for Developers: measure internal promotions
- Shopify Help Center: marketing reports
- Shopify Help Center: measuring marketing performance
UTM questions
Build a link ↑What UTM medium should I use for SMS?
Use sms, in lowercase. Google Analytics 4 puts a visit in its SMS channel when the source or the medium is exactly “sms”. A medium such as text or txt matches no default rule, so unless the source is sms, those visits show as Unassigned. For the source, use the same name every time, such as your texting app.
Should I add UTM tags to pop-up links?
Not when the pop-up links to your own store. The shopper is already there, so a tagged link records a new campaign click partway through the visit and takes the credit from the email, ad or search that brought them. Tag the links that bring people to your store from somewhere else: emails, texts, social posts and other websites.
Are UTM parameters case-sensitive?
Yes, both the names and the values. The names must be lowercase, like utm_source, which is how the builder writes them. For the values, Google’s example: utm_source=google is different from utm_source=Google, so the two show as separate rows. GA4’s channel rules ignore capitals, so “Email” still lands in the Email channel, but your source and medium reports split in two. Tidy values in the builder lowercases the values for you.
Why does GA4 show my email visits as Organic Shopping or Unassigned?
Organic Shopping: the campaign name includes the word “shop” or “shopping”, or the source is on Google’s list of shopping sites, as shopify is. GA4 checks those rules before Email. Unassigned: neither the medium nor the source is email, e-mail, e_mail or “e mail”. newsletter as a medium is a common cause. Clicks on links without tags in emails and texts often show up as Direct instead, because most mail and texting apps don’t say where a click came from. The builder shows the likely channel for your tags.
Does this tool save or open my link?
No. The link is built in your browser. This page doesn’t save it, send it anywhere or open it, so open the finished link once yourself to check it reaches the right page.