UTM questions people actually ask
Are UTM parameters case sensitive?
Yes. Most analytics tools treat Facebook and facebook as two different sources, which splits one channel across two rows. Use lowercase everywhere.
Do UTM parameters hurt SEO?
Not if you use them correctly. Tagged URLs can create duplicate versions of a page, which is why a canonical tag pointing to the clean URL matters. Never use UTMs on internal links, and never put them in your sitemap.
How many UTM parameters can I use?
There are five standard ones. Source and medium are required for attribution; campaign is required in practice. Term and content are optional.
Can I use UTM parameters with Google Ads?
You can, but you generally should not. Auto-tagging passes a gclid that carries more detail than UTMs, and manual tags can override it.
Why does my tagged traffic show as direct?
Usually a redirect dropped the query string, or an app stripped the parameters, or an internal link was tagged and overwrote the original source.
Should I use hyphens or underscores in campaign names?
Hyphens. They read better in URLs and are the more common convention. What matters most is picking one and never mixing them.
Can UTM parameters be seen by the visitor?
Yes, they are visible in the address bar. Never put anything private or identifying in them.
How long do UTM parameters last in a session?
The source is recorded when the visitor arrives and lasts for that session. In GA4 the default attribution window carries the touch forward for later conversions.
Last reviewed 2026-08-13