How to Create UTM Links for Email Newsletters

A newsletter can contain a header button, a text link and a footer reminder that all lead to the same page. If each uses the same untagged address, it becomes harder to distinguish those placements in your campaign reporting. A useful UTM naming plan gives the links a common campaign name and a separate label for each placement.

This guide builds a worked example with the UTM Campaign URL Builder. The example addresses use example.com; replace them with your real landing page before sending anything.

Choose what each newsletter tag means

For this example, a design studio is sending an October workshop announcement. Use the following plan for every link in that email:

• Source: studio-newsletter, identifying this newsletter.
• Medium: email, identifying the delivery channel.
• Campaign: autumn-workshop, grouping the announcement’s links.
• Content: header-button, identifying this particular placement.

Keep the first three values unchanged for the footer link, and change content to footer-reminder. This separates placement from campaign instead of creating a different campaign for every button.

Google’s campaign URL guidance explains source, medium, campaign and content, and notes that parameter values are case-sensitive. Pick one spelling convention and document it. For this example, lowercase words separated by hyphens make the values easy to review. A tag such as AutumnWorkshop is not the same value as autumn-workshop.

Build a URL that already has a query and fragment

Start with this demonstration destination:

https://example.com/guides?format=pdf&utm_source=old#checklist

Here, format=pdf is an existing page parameter, utm_source=old is a stale campaign tag, and #checklist identifies an in-page location. They need different treatment.

1. Paste the complete address into Website URL.
2. Enter Studio Newsletter as the campaign source, email as the medium and Autumn Workshop as the campaign name.
3. Enter Header Button in campaign content. Leave term and campaign ID empty for this example.
4. Keep Lowercase all parameter values and Replace spaces with hyphens selected.
5. Select Build URL and inspect both the result and parameter breakdown.

The resulting link is:

https://example.com/guides?format=pdf&utm_source=studio-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=autumn-workshop&utm_content=header-button#checklist

This exact example preserves the format parameter, replaces the old source tag and keeps the fragment at the end. The builder reports which existing parameters it retained or replaced. Review that message before copying the result.

Rebuilding removes existing UTM fields

The tool removes existing query fields whose names begin with utm_ before adding the values you entered. Do not assume an old campaign ID, term or source-platform tag will survive. Re-enter the supported fields you need. If your tracking plan requires a field the form does not offer, check the final URL against that plan before using it.

The lowercase and hyphen settings apply to the new campaign values. They are not a general cleanup operation for every existing page parameter.

Avoid encoding the same value twice

Enter readable text into the builder, rather than manually changing spaces to %20. It encodes the values for you. If you paste an already encoded value into a field, the percent sign can itself be encoded, producing an unintended result.

When assembling links in JavaScript, use a URL-aware API instead of joining arbitrary strings. MDN’s URLSearchParams documentation explains that individual values should be supplied unencoded and that serialization handles their encoding. Different serializers can represent spaces differently; inspect the decoded value, not just the link’s appearance.

Check the link before the email goes out

1. Compare the labels. Keep a small record of destination, source, medium, campaign, content and final URL. Check the header and footer versions side by side.
2. Open your real destination. Confirm the intended page and section load. If a redirect occurs, inspect the final address for missing parameters.
3. Test the actual email link. A correct link in your notes is not enough if the email editor contains an older version.
4. Check measurement separately. A URL builder does not install Analytics, send events or confirm attribution. The destination needs a functioning measurement setup. Review the appropriate acquisition report once test data has been collected and processed.

Do not put a recipient’s email address, phone number or other personal information into campaign fields. Those values become part of a shareable URL. Google’s guidance on avoiding PII in Analytics specifically covers page URLs and campaign parameters.

Keep tracking labels separate from page copy

The campaign name is a reporting label, not the landing page’s headline or search title. Use a stable label that your team recognizes, then write the page title for the reader. Our practical title-tag examples cover that separate task.

For the next newsletter, reuse the naming worksheet and change only the fields that represent a real change. Consistency makes a collection of campaign links easier to inspect, reuse and troubleshoot.