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Track visitors with UTM codes

UTM tags (also called UTM codes or UTM parameters) are labels you add to the end of a URL to record where visitors came from. When someone opens a Maglr publication through a tagged URL, Maglr statistics record the Source, Medium and Campaign tags, and you can see them on the Statistics page. You don't need Google Analytics for this. For more background, read the blog post on tagging your publication URLs with UTM codes.


Example of a tagged URL:


https://www.magazine.maglr.com/issue-number-one?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=promotion


UTM tags you can use


There are five UTM tags. Maglr statistics show the first three:


  • Source (utm_source): the site or platform that sends the visitor, such as linkedin, newsletter or google.
  • Medium (utm_medium): the type of channel, such as cpc (paid ads), socialmedia, email, affiliate or qr-code.
  • Campaign (utm_campaign): the name of the campaign, promotion or publication that the link belongs to, such as spring-sale.


The other two tags are not shown in Maglr statistics. You can still add them for other analytics tools, such as Google Analytics:


  • Term (utm_term): the keyword of a paid search campaign, such as a Google Ads campaign.
  • Content (utm_content): the exact element or version that was clicked, for example to tell apart two links in the same post, or links to different pages of the same publication.


Creating a URL with UTM tags


To add UTM tags to a URL:


  1. Copy the URL of your published project, or of the page you want to link to.
  2. Add ? to the end of the URL, followed by the tags, separated by &: utm_source=…&utm_medium=…&utm_campaign=…. If the URL already contains a ?, start with & instead.
  3. Write the values in lowercase, with dashes between words.
  4. Use the tagged URL in your post, newsletter or ad.


Instead of typing the tags by hand, you can use a URL builder, such as Google's Campaign URL Builder. Anyone can use it; it doesn't require a Google Analytics connection.


Example: this URL tells you that a visitor opened your publication through a promoted LinkedIn video:


https://www.magazine.maglr.com/issue-number-one?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=promotion&utm_content=video


In Maglr statistics, this visit shows up under source linkedin, medium socialmedia and campaign promotion. The utm_content=video tag is only visible in other analytics tools.


Viewing UTM results in Maglr statistics


The Visitor info section of the Statistics page shows the values of the Source, Medium and Campaign tags your visitors arrived with. To view them:


  1. In the top navigation, open Settings and click Statistics. To see the statistics of one project only, go to Projects, hover over the ... button on the project's tile and click Statistics.
  2. Scroll down to Visitor info.
  3. In the box with the Referrers, Source, Medium and Campaign tabs, click the tab of the tag you want to see.
  4. Click a value, for example linkedin, to filter all statistics on the page by that value.
  5. Click the expand icon in the top-right corner of the box to see more values (up to 100).


The Referrers tab is not a UTM tag. It shows the website visitors came from, as detected by their browser, and is filled even when a URL has no UTM tags. The Source, Medium and Campaign tabs show only the values you set in your UTM tags.


If you don't see Statistics in the Settings menu, your plan doesn't include it.



You can also add UTM tags to links inside your publication that point to another website, such as your own site's demo or newsletter sign-up page. The visits these links bring are measured by the analytics on the destination website, for example your website's Google Analytics, not by Maglr statistics.


Example: this link on a button in your publication tells your website's analytics that a visitor came from your online magazine, clicked the call-to-action button on page 4, and went to the demo sign-up page:


https://www.companywebsite.com/demo-trial?utm_source=maglr&utm_medium=online-magazine&utm_campaign=demo&utm_content=button-page-4


For links like these, use maglr or the name of your publication as the source, and the type of publication, such as online-magazine, brochure or sales-presentation, as the medium.


Best practices for UTM tags


  • Use lowercase throughout. Tags are case-sensitive: Spring and spring are counted as two different campaigns.
  • Use dashes between words, not underscores, percent signs or plus signs.
  • Shorten long tagged URLs with a link shortener, such as bit.ly, so they look clean when you share them.
  • Keep a record of the UTM tags you use, for example in a spreadsheet, so you reuse the same values every time.


Frequently asked questions


Do I need Google Analytics to track UTM tags in Maglr?


No. By default, Maglr statistics record the Source, Medium and Campaign UTM tags of your visitors without a Google Analytics connection. If you have connected Google Analytics to your Maglr account, Google Analytics records the same tags as well.


Why don't I see utm_term or utm_content in my Maglr statistics?


Maglr statistics show only the Source, Medium and Campaign UTM tags. The utm_term and utm_content tags are not shown in the Maglr dashboard. To see them, use another analytics tool, such as Google Analytics.


What is the difference between Referrers and Source in Maglr statistics?


In the Visitor info section of the Statistics page, Referrers shows the website a visitor came from, as detected by their browser, even without UTM tags. Source shows the value of the utm_source tag in the URL the visitor opened, so it only shows visits through tagged URLs.


Why are my UTM visitor numbers lower than the clicks in my ad platform?


If Cookie Consent is set to Strict mode or Manual mode, Maglr statistics only measure visitors after they accept the cookie terms. Visitors who don't accept are not counted, so the numbers in Maglr statistics can be lower than the clicks reported by platforms such as LinkedIn.



UTM tags on links that lead from your publication to another website are measured by the analytics on that website, such as your website's Google Analytics. They don't appear in Maglr statistics.

Updated on: 16/10/2026