Overview

EdgeURL includes a built-in UTM parameter builder that automatically appends campaign tracking tags to your shortened links. When visitors click these links, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) picks up the UTM data and attributes traffic to the correct campaign, source, and medium.

What Are UTM Parameters?

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are query string tags appended to a URL. Google Analytics reads them to tell you where traffic came from, which campaign drove it, and what content or term the visitor clicked.

1. Go to Dashboard → Links and click Create New Link.
2. Enter your destination URL (e.g.,https://yoursite.com/landing).
3. Expand the UTM Parameters section in the link creation form.
4. Fill in the fields: utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign at minimum.
5. Click Create Link. EdgeURL appends the UTM parameters to your destination URL and creates a clean short link.

When someone clicks your EdgeURL short link, the following happens:

1. Visitor clicks 0gr.me/spring24
2. EdgeURL logs the click in your analytics dashboard (device, location, referrer)
3. EdgeURL issues a 301/302 redirect to your full destination URL with UTM parameters intact
4. The browser loads your destination page. GA4 reads the UTM query parameters from the URL.
5. GA4 records a new session attributed to source=twitter, medium=social, campaign=spring-sale

If you already have GA4 installed on your website, UTM tracking works automatically. Here is how to verify and view the data:

1. Verify GA4 is installed:Open your website, right-click, select "View Page Source," and search for gtag or G-XXXXXXXXXX. If present, GA4 is active.
2. View campaign data: In GA4, go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition. You will see sessions grouped by source, medium, and campaign name.
3. Filter by campaign:Use the search bar or add a secondary dimension for "Session campaign" to filter by specific EdgeURL campaigns.
4. Set up conversions: Mark key events (sign-up, purchase, form submission) as conversions in GA4 under Configure → Events. Then view conversion rates per campaign in the Acquisition report.

Here is a complete example of tracking a product launch campaign across multiple channels.

UTM Best Practices

• Be consistent with naming. Use lowercase and hyphens (e.g., spring-salenot Spring Sale). GA4 treats these as different campaigns.
• Always set source, medium, and campaign. These three are required for proper GA4 attribution. Term and content are optional.
• Do not use UTM on internal links. Only tag links from external sources pointing to your site. UTM on internal links will overwrite the original session source in GA4.
• Use EdgeURL analytics + GA4 together. EdgeURL shows you click volume and geographic data instantly. GA4 shows you what those visitors did after landing on your site. The combination gives you full-funnel insight.