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UTM tagging for X, newsletters and YouTube

A simple, consistent UTM scheme for the links you share, so every post, issue and video shows up as its own campaign with its own revenue.

2 min read
CampaignsUTMAttribution

Some traffic labels itself: a click from x.com or a Google search arrives with a referrer. Plenty doesn't. Email clients, mobile apps and many video players send no referrer at all, so those visits land in Direct. UTM parameters fix that and let you tell one newsletter issue or video from another.

One scheme, used everywhere

Parameter
utm_source
Use it for
Where the link lives
Examples
x, newsletter, youtube, linkedin
Parameter
utm_medium
Use it for
The type of traffic
Examples
social, email, video, cpc (paid only)
Parameter
utm_campaign
Use it for
The specific post, issue or video
Examples
2026-10-launch, issue-42, onboarding-demo
  • Lowercase everything and keep one spelling per source. “Newsletter” and “newsletter” would be two rows.
  • Use utm_medium=email or newsletter for email: Trakily then puts the visit in the Email channel.
  • Reserve cpc, paid and similar mediums for paid placements. They move the visit into the Paid channel.
  • Never tag links between your own pages. A visit keeps the source of its first pageview, so internal tags add nothing.

X (Twitter)

X sends a referrer for most clicks, and Trakily's Mentions already ties each X post to its visitors through its unique t.co link. Tag links when you want posts grouped into a campaign, for example a launch thread:

https://example.com/?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026-10-launch

Newsletters

Email is where untagged links hurt most: most clicks arrive with no referrer and end up in Direct. Tag every link in an issue with the issue as the campaign:

https://example.com/pricing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=issue-42

Many newsletter tools can add UTM parameters to every link automatically; check that the values match your scheme. If you appear in someone else's newsletter, send them a tagged link with their newsletter's name as utm_source.

YouTube

Put a tagged link in the description and pinned comment, with the video as the campaign:

https://example.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=onboarding-demo

For a link you say out loud, a short path that redirects to the tagged URL is easier to remember than the full link.

Short ref links

For bios, directories and partner sites, ref is a shorter alternative to utm_source:

https://example.com/?ref=producthunt

Reading the results

In the Sources card, the Campaign tab lists each utm_campaign with its visitors and revenue, and Referrer lists sources. Click a campaign to filter the dashboard to it, then look at the Goals card and the Journey tab to see what those visitors did.

Full parameter and channel rules are in UTM and campaigns.

Try it on your site

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