Google Analytics 4

What it is

GA4 reads UTM parameters from the destination URL automatically. When a visitor clicks a linkutm link, the UTM values you set travel through the redirect and land on the destination page. GA4 picks them up as traffic source dimensions and attributes the session accordingly. No special setup is required for basic source/medium/campaign attribution. Custom dimensions are needed if you want utm_content and utm_term to appear in GA4 reports.

linkutm’s Pixel Tracking integration fires a GA4 PageView event on the short link click itself (at the redirect page). UTM attribution covers the destination page session. These are complementary, not the same thing.

Per-link GA4 analytics

Click any link in the GA4 Events dashboard to see its individual event breakdown, views, clicks, conversions, and event timeline.

GA4 per-link detail view - metric cards for page views, link clicks, conversions and conversion rate, GA4 events over time chart with Views/Clicks/Conversions tabs

GA4 per-link detail - browsers, devices, screen dimensions, countries, regions, cities, referrers, channels, custom events, age groups, domains and languages breakdown tables

How GA4 reads UTMs

GA4 captures five UTM parameters automatically on session start:

UTM parameter	GA4 dimension	Where it shows up
`utm_source`	Session source	Traffic acquisition, Explore
`utm_medium`	Session medium	Traffic acquisition, Explore
`utm_campaign`	Session campaign	Traffic acquisition, Explore
`utm_content`	Session manual ad content	Explore only (requires custom dimension)
`utm_term`	Session manual term	Explore only (requires custom dimension)

Source, medium, and campaign appear in the built-in Traffic Acquisition report out of the box. Content and term require a custom dimension to surface in standard reports.

Channel grouping

GA4 uses utm_medium to place sessions into channel groups in the Default Channel Grouping report. If your medium values don’t match GA4’s rules, sessions land in “Unassigned.”

linkutm medium value	GA4 Default Channel
`cpc`	Paid Search
`paid-social`	Paid Social
`email`	Email
`display`	Display
`video`	Paid Video
`affiliate`	Affiliates
`organic-social`	Organic Social
`referral`	Referral
`(none)` + `(direct)`	Direct
Anything else	Unassigned

Custom medium values like newsletter, podcast, or qr don’t match any GA4 default channel rule and will land in Unassigned. This is expected. You can create custom channel groups in GA4 Admin → Data Display → Channel Groups to handle them.

The UTM naming convention page lists the recommended medium vocab that maps cleanly to GA4’s default channels.

Set up custom dimensions for utm_content and utm_term

GA4 does not expose utm_content and utm_term in standard reports unless you register them as custom dimensions.

Open GA4 Admin

Go to Admin → Data display → Custom definitions.

Create dimension for utm_content

Click Create custom dimension and fill in:

Dimension name: Manual Ad Content
Scope: Session
Event parameter: manual_content

Save.

Create dimension for utm_term

Click Create custom dimension again:

Dimension name: Manual Term
Scope: Session
Event parameter: manual_term

Save.

Wait for data

Custom dimensions only collect data going forward. Allow 24-48 hours before they appear in reports. Historical sessions are not backfilled.

Use in Explore

In GA4 Explore, add Manual Ad Content or Manual Term as a dimension. These are now available across any exploration report.

Verify attribution is working

Use GA4 DebugView to confirm UTMs are being captured before you run a campaign.

Install GA4 DebugView extension

Install the Google Analytics Debugger Chrome extension and enable it.

Click a test linkutm link

Create a test link in linkutm with known UTM values. Click it.

Check DebugView

In GA4 Admin → DebugView, look for the session_start event. Expand it and confirm:

traffic_source.source matches your utm_source
traffic_source.medium matches your utm_medium
traffic_source.campaign matches your utm_campaign

Verify custom dimensions

Look for manual_content and manual_term parameters on the same event if you set those UTMs on the test link.

Real-world example

A marketing team runs three links for a Q2 campaign and wants to see clean channel splits in GA4.

Link 1 (Google Ads):
  utm_source=google
  utm_medium=cpc
  utm_campaign=q2-pricing-relaunch
  utm_content=headline-a
  utm_term=utm+tracking+tool
  → GA4: Paid Search | q2-pricing-relaunch

Link 2 (Newsletter):
  utm_source=newsletter
  utm_medium=email
  utm_campaign=q2-pricing-relaunch
  utm_content=hero-cta
  → GA4: Email | q2-pricing-relaunch

Link 3 (LinkedIn Ads):
  utm_source=linkedin
  utm_medium=paid-social
  utm_campaign=q2-pricing-relaunch
  utm_content=cta-book-demo
  → GA4: Paid Social | q2-pricing-relaunch

In GA4 Traffic Acquisition, filter by campaign = q2-pricing-relaunch to see all three channels side by side. In Explore, add Manual Ad Content to compare headline-a vs hero-cta vs cta-book-demo on conversions.

Common mistakes

Sessions showing as Direct instead of the expected channel

Three causes: the UTMs were stripped from the URL before GA4 loaded (check for URL rewrites or redirects that drop query params), the visitor’s browser blocked the GA4 tag, or cookie consent blocked the tag from firing. Use DebugView to rule out the first cause.

Source showing as the short link domain instead of utm_source

If a visitor clicks go.yourdomain.com/xyz and GA4 fires on the destination page, GA4 may record the short link domain as the referrer instead of reading the UTM. This happens when linkutm’s redirect passes the referrer header. Fix: add your short link domain to the Referral exclusion list in GA4 Admin → Data streams → Configure tag settings → List unwanted referrals.

utm_campaign shows as (not set) in reports

The UTM was missing from the link or was stripped during redirect. Check the actual destination URL in browser dev tools → Network tab → look at the final URL after redirect to confirm utm_campaign is present.

Channel grouping shows Unassigned for paid traffic

Your utm_medium value doesn’t match GA4’s channel rules. paid-social and cpc are correct. PaidSocial, paid_social, or social are not. See the channel grouping table above.

utm_content not appearing in Explore

The custom dimension for manual_content has not been created yet, or was created after the sessions you’re looking at (no backfill). Create the dimension and wait 24-48 hours for new data.

Edge cases

Internal traffic. If you or your team click linkutm links during testing, those sessions will appear in GA4. Define an internal traffic rule in GA4 Admin → Data streams → Configure tag settings → Define internal traffic to exclude your IP ranges.

Cross-domain tracking. If your destination page is on a different domain from your short link (e.g. go.yourdomain.com redirects to app.yourproduct.com), GA4 may count the visit as a new session and lose the UTM. Add the short link domain to the cross-domain list in GA4 Admin → Data streams → Configure tag settings → Configure your domains.

UTM parameters persist for the session only. GA4 attributes UTMs to the session in which the user first arrived. If the same user returns later without UTMs, GA4 does not re-attribute that session. This is standard GA4 behavior, not a linkutm issue.

Documentation Index

​What it is

​Per-link GA4 analytics

​How GA4 reads UTMs

​Channel grouping

​Set up custom dimensions for utm_content and utm_term

​Verify attribution is working

​Real-world example

​Common mistakes

​Edge cases

What it is

Per-link GA4 analytics

How GA4 reads UTMs

Channel grouping

Set up custom dimensions for utm_content and utm_term

Verify attribution is working

Real-world example

Common mistakes

Edge cases