How to find out if a UTM Builder Works Correctly?

There is no shortage of UTM builders that promise to help you generate UTM codes. Most of them are a Google search away. But should you rely on them to build your UTM tracking URLs?

Only if they pass these tests.

Query Parameters Test
Hash (#) Fragment Test
Combination Query/Hash Test
Space Test

1. Query Parameters Test

Specify these values in the builder

URL	`https://www.example.com?coupon=50percent`
utm_campaign	`sale`
utm_medium	`email`
utm_source	`newsletter`
utm_content	`buy`
utm_term	`shoes`

The generated URL should look like

https://www.example.com/?coupon=50percent&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale&utm_content=buy&utm_term=shoes

The actual URL could be different, but it should still have these properties:

Query Parameters test results

All UTM parameters should be present even if the order is different
The query parameter coupon=50percent should be present
There should be only one ? after https://www.example.com
All the other query parameters should be separated by &

2. Hash (#) Fragment Test

Specify these values in the builder

URL	`https://www.example.com?#section`
utm_campaign	`sale`
utm_medium	`email`
utm_source	`newsletter`
utm_content	`buy`
utm_term	`shoes`

The generated URL should look like

https://www.example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale&utm_content=buy&utm_term=shoes#section

As before, the actual generated URL could be slightly different.

Hash Fragment test results

All UTM parameters should be present even if the order is different
Hash fragment #section should be at the end

Many UTM builders fail this test. So definitely watch out.

3. Combination Query/Hash Test

Let's try a combination of Query Parameter and Hash Fragment tests

URL	`https://www.example.com?coupon=50percent#section`
utm_campaign	`sale`
utm_medium	`email`
utm_source	`newsletter`
utm_content	`buy`
utm_term	`shoes`

The generated URL should look like

https://www.example.com/?coupon=50percent&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale&utm_content=buy&utm_term=shoes#section

Again, the actual URL could be different, but it should still have these properties:

Combination Query/Hash test results

All UTM parameters should be present even if the order is different
The query parameter coupon=50percent should be present
There should be only one ? after https://www.example.com
All the other query parameters should be separated by &
Hash fragment #section should be at the end

4. Space Test

Most people don't check for this test though it is important. This test mostly requires you to add spaces before and after each value.

URL	`https://www.example.com`
utm_campaign	`sale`
utm_medium	`email`
utm_source	`newsletter`
utm_content	`buy`
utm_term	`shoes`

The generated URL should look like

https://www.example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale&utm_content=buy&utm_term=shoes

The actual URL could be different, but it should still have these properties:

Query Parameters test results

All UTM parameters should be present even if the order is different
Any spaces you added should be removed from the values
Spaces (before and after) should not be replaced by another character

Some UTM builders will replace the spaces with some character, say underscore _ . This feature is useful, but should only be applied to spaces between words, e.g. buy now can be converted to buy_now . It should not be applied to spaces that are before and after your UTM tag.

If you have already been using a UTM builder, go ahead and check it using these tests to make sure it works correctly.

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