Skip to main content

Utm Passthrough

UTM Passthrough automatically forwards UTM parameters from incoming links to your destination URLs. This powerful feature lets you track campaigns without embedding UTM parameters in every short lin...

Normally you decide a link’s tracking when you create it, which means one link per channel. UTM passthrough turns that around: leave the destination plain, and any UTM parameters you add to the short URL are carried through to the destination on the way. One short link can then serve every channel with different tracking on each.

What it does

Your short link: yourstore.com/sale

Its destination: yourstore.com/collections/winter-sale

You share: yourstore.com/sale?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post

The visitor lands on: yourstore.com/collections/winter-sale?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post

The parameters travel through the redirect, so Google Analytics attributes the session to Facebook.

Which parameters are forwarded

Six, and only these six:

  • utm_source

  • utm_medium

  • utm_campaign

  • utm_term

  • utm_content

  • utm_id

Anything else you put on the short URL is ignored and does not reach the destination. Two more rules are worth knowing:

  • Existing parameters win - If the destination already carries utm_source, the one on the short URL is not applied. Passthrough only fills in what is missing.

  • Encoding is handled for you - Parameters are rebuilt properly onto the destination, whether or not it already had a query string.

Turning it on and off

  1. Open Short Links and go to Settings

  2. Open UTM Passthrough

  3. Use the toggle to switch it on or off

It is on by default, so there is normally nothing to do. Turning it off means UTM parameters on a short URL are ignored and visitors land on the plain destination.

That page also lists the exact parameters that get forwarded, so you can check it rather than guess.

On the free plan the toggle is disabled and the page offers an upgrade link instead — the feature needs a paid plan.

Where it earns its keep

  • One link across many channels - Share yourstore.com/shop?utm_source=instagram in a bio, ?utm_source=newsletter in an email and ?utm_source=facebook in a post, all pointing at the same link

  • Influencer and affiliate tracking - Give everyone the same short link with their own utm_source, and compare them in Google Analytics without creating a link each

  • Ad platforms - Let the platform append its own tagging to the URL you gave it; whatever it adds is carried through

  • A team sharing one link - Nobody has to come back to the app to get a new link for a new campaign

  • Print and packaging - This is the strongest case. A printed short URL cannot be changed, but the tagging on it can be decided per print run rather than being baked into the link forever.

Practical notes

  • Do not double-tag - Either keep destinations plain and rely on passthrough, or tag destinations and skip it. Doing both means the destination’s tags quietly win and your channel tagging disappears.

  • Keep naming consistent - Lowercase, one separator, the same vocabulary everywhere, or your reports fragment across near-identical sources

  • Test before a big send - Create a link with a plain destination, follow it with ?utm_source=test&utm_medium=test on the end, and check the address bar where you land

Next Steps

Related Articles
Did this answer your question?