Improve your analytics with URL tracking parameters

Properly attribute traffic sources and reduce Direct/None entries by appending URL parameters such as ?ref= or UTM tags to your links for clearer marketing insights.

Parameters that Flowsery Analytics detects automatically:

  • ref
  • source
  • via
  • utm_source
  • utm_medium
  • utm_campaign
  • utm_term
  • utm_content

When a visitor lands on your site via a URL like yourwebsite.com?via=affiliate, Flowsery Analytics captures the via parameter and logs it as the referral source.

Start simple: Campaign tracking

The quickest way to see where your traffic and revenue come from is by using the ref parameter. For instance, when sharing a link on Twitter, append ?ref=twitter to the URL:

yourwebsite.com?ref=twitter

When someone follows that link, Flowsery Analytics records "twitter" as the referral source.

What appears in Flowsery Analytics:

  • In the Campaign tab, "twitter" shows up as a referrer.
  • You can review visitor counts, pageviews, and conversions tied to links tagged with ?ref=twitter.
  • If you have revenue attribution configured, you will also see the revenue linked to that Twitter traffic.

Other simple parameters that Flowsery Analytics picks up automatically include:

  • source: Works similarly to ref and lets you label the traffic origin (e.g., ?source=google).
  • via: Handy when your link is distributed through another platform or publication (e.g., ?via=tech-news-digest).

Go deeper: Tracking campaigns with UTM parameters

For richer campaign analysis -- especially when running paid ads or coordinating multi-channel marketing -- UTM parameters provide a standardized way to capture more detail.

Flowsery Analytics recognizes the following UTM parameters:

  • utm_source: The advertiser, site, or publication driving traffic to your property (e.g., google, newsletter42, facebook).
  • utm_medium: The marketing or advertising medium (e.g., cpc, banner, email_newsletter).
  • utm_campaign: The specific campaign name, promo code, or slogan (e.g., summer_sale, product_launch_q3).
  • utm_term: Used to identify paid search keywords. If you manually tag paid keyword campaigns, include utm_term to specify the keyword.
  • utm_content: Distinguishes similar content or links within the same ad. For example, if an email contains two call-to-action links, set different utm_content values for each to determine which performs better.

Example of a UTM-tagged URL:

yourwebsite.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_promo&utm_content=video_ad

What appears in Flowsery Analytics:

  • Granular breakdowns in the UTM tab by campaign, source, medium, term, and content.
  • Clearer attribution of signups, purchases, and other goals to specific marketing activities.
  • A better picture of your advertising ROI.

Best practices for URL parameters

  • Tag all key links: Apply parameters to links from email campaigns, social media posts, advertisements, and even internal links when you want to monitor specific promotions within your site.
  • Use a URL builder for UTMs: Tools such as Google's Campaign URL Builder help you create consistently formatted URLs.