> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.linkutm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# UTM builder

> The five fields, what they mean, and how linkutm cleans them before saving.

The UTM section of the link builder. Five standard fields plus optional custom UTMs. Values are cleaned by your [workspace UTM rules](/utm-rules/overview) on save.

## When to use it

Every link. UTMs are how Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, and most attribution tools tell campaigns apart.

## The five fields

<ParamField path="utm_campaign">
  Which initiative this belongs to.
  Examples: `q2-launch`, `black-friday-2025`, `weekly-digest`.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="utm_source">
  Where the click came from. Treat as a "platform name."
  Examples: `google`, `facebook`, `newsletter`, `partner-blog`.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="utm_medium">
  How the click was delivered. The "channel type."
  Examples: `cpc`, `email`, `social`, `display`, `affiliate`.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="utm_term">
  Optional. Paid search keyword or audience segment.
  Examples: `running-shoes`, `lookalike-us`.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="utm_content">
  Optional. Differentiator for A/B variants or creative pieces.
  Examples: `headline-a`, `carousel-3`, `cta-orange`.
</ParamField>

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/utm-e577acb5/_OFWyAVC_YtnhKc0/images/linkcreationutmparam.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_OFWyAVC_YtnhKc0&q=85&s=f6ca21ffa54c32cce1f96285bf45e489" alt="UTM Parameters modal - Quick Apply Template dropdown with Source, Medium, Campaign, Term, Content fields and live preview of the final UTM string" width="1920" height="991" data-path="images/linkcreationutmparam.png" />
</Frame>

## How it works

When you save a link, the entered values pass through your workspace's UTM Rules in this order:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Force lowercase">`Summer-Sale` → `summer-sale` (default ON).</Step>
  <Step title="Space replacement">`summer sale` → `summer_sale` using your configured space character (default `_`).</Step>
  <Step title="Max length">Truncated/rejected if over the workspace limit (default 100).</Step>
  <Step title="Prohibited terms">Hard fail if value contains any banned term you set ("test", "draft", etc).</Step>
  <Step title="Allowed characters">Hard fail if value contains characters outside the set you allow (lowercase, numbers, dots, hyphens). Skipped if you haven't restricted any.</Step>
</Steps>

The cleaned values are stored. See [UTM Rules](/utm-rules/overview) to configure each step.

## Custom UTM parameters

Beyond the five standards, you can attach additional custom parameters to a link. Add a name and value in the Custom UTM Parameters section, and they are appended to every redirect as extra URL parameters. For example, adding `audience` = `lookalike-3` appends `&utm_audience=lookalike-3` to the destination URL.

## Real-world examples

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Google Ads">
    ```
    utm_source=google
    utm_medium=cpc
    utm_campaign=q2-launch
    utm_term={keyword}        ← Google Ads dynamic insertion
    utm_content=headline-a
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Meta Ads">
    ```
    utm_source=facebook
    utm_medium=paid-social
    utm_campaign=q2-launch
    utm_content=video-carousel-v2
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Email">
    ```
    utm_source=newsletter
    utm_medium=email
    utm_campaign=weekly-digest-2025-w19
    utm_content=hero-cta
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Influencer / partner">
    ```
    utm_source=partner-jane-doe
    utm_medium=affiliate
    utm_campaign=q2-launch
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Common mistakes

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Source vs medium swapped">
    `source=email, medium=newsletter` is wrong. Source = *platform name*; medium = *channel type*. Right: `source=newsletter, medium=email`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Free-form campaign names">
    `Q2 Launch !!`, `q2 launch`, `Q2_Launch` become different rows in GA without rules. Use a [template](/utm-templates/overview) per campaign.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Using utm_term for non-search">
    `utm_term` is conventionally paid-search keyword. For audience segments use `utm_content` or a custom UTM.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="PII in UTMs">
    UTMs land in your destination URL and analytics. Don't include emails, names, anything personally identifiable.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Edge cases

<Note>
  **UTMs already on the destination URL** are preserved. linkutm appends its UTMs alongside them; if there's a key collision, linkutm's value wins.
</Note>