Google My Business and the Power of UTM Tagging

Google My Business and the Power of UTM Tagging

If you are wondering where your web traffic is coming from so that you can further target your demographic properly, then you will for sure want to look at Google Analytics. But without certain factors being taken into account, then Google Analytics will only tell you so much. Enter the world of UM tagging, which stands for Urchin Tracking Module tagging.

Simply put, a UTM tag is a tracking code added to the end of external links. This reveals more about the traffic that is clicking those links, such as where it came from and how it got to your website. This added step really helps you break down exactly where and why your traffic found you, which is better than simply having all that traffic fall into the “organic” category.

Adding UTM tagging to Google My Business is a sure-fire way to figure out certain things about the demographics of your website traffic. By doing so, you’ll be able to see traffic coming directly from Google My Business and/or Google Maps. This unique traffic is important to separate from organic traffic, and adding UTM tagging will ensure the separation. Add to this that many mobile apps and browsers don’t give the necessary info to Google so that it can be included into the analytics and UTM tagging becomes a clear-cut addition.

The best part is there are a lot of opportunities to use UTM tagging with Google My Business. This will, of course, depend on the business’s primary category, but most will have an actual business URL, and many will have other features that present an opportunity to tag. Things like an appointment setting link or even a menu with various options; all potential spots for UTM tagging. The more, the better, as you really don’t want the information on these clicks going into the general organic bucket.

So, whether you get those clicks from a potential client or customer wanting to email you or from them downloading a file or simply just clicking a call to action…it is all-important, and you want to know about it all. This is now possible and probable by using UTM tagging, And the more you understand your traffic demographic, the better you will be able to serve them.