UTM Parameters for Link in Bio: A Simple Setup

UTM parameters for link in bio pages look technical, but they’re really just labels on a web address. They tell your analytics where a visitor came from. Without them, traffic from your bio can land in a vague bucket, and you can’t tell Instagram from a newsletter. Setting them up takes about ten minutes, and you only need to make a few decisions.

What UTMs do

A UTM is a small piece of text added to the end of an address. It doesn’t change where the link goes. It just passes along a label that analytics tools can read.

Without tags: https://example.com/spring-sale

With tags: https://example.com/spring-sale?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring-sale

Both lead to the same page. The second tells your analytics that the visitor came from Instagram, through social media, for the spring sale. It’s a label you’re applying yourself, so it’s only as accurate as you make it.

The five parameters

Google’s guidance says to always use source, medium and campaign, and warns that missing values appear as “(not set)”. It also notes that the values are case sensitive, so Instagram and instagram show up as different sources. You’ll usually only need to add utm_content when comparing placements, and you can often skip utm_term altogether.

Two places to tag

This is the part that catches people out. There are two separate addresses you might tag, and they do different jobs.

The bio page URL

This is the address you put in your Instagram profile, leading to your page:

https://www.commentlink.co/@yourname?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=profile-link

It tells your page analytics where the visitor came from. It’s useful if you’re using the same page on Instagram, TikTok and in email.

Destination links

These are the addresses behind the buttons on your page, leading to your store or website:

https://yourstore.com/candles?utm_source=bio-page&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=spring-sale

They tell the analytics on your destination site that the visitor came from your page. Without them, your store’s GA4 might show your page’s domain as a referrer, or a less useful label.

You can do one without the other. Start with whichever answers your current question.

A small naming scheme

Keep your scheme small, and write it down. Here’s a starter (with made-up campaign names):

Use lowercase everywhere, with hyphens in place of spaces. Keep your campaign names short and meaningful, such as diwali-offer-2026. For small teams, our guide to naming conventions goes further.

If you’re also using comment-to-DM links, use the same scheme there, so that your reports are comparable. We cover that in UTM attribution for DMs and tracking leads by post.

Setting up named campaigns in BioFlow

In BioFlow, you don’t need to build these addresses by hand for your page.

1. Open Link in Bio, then your campaigns.
2. Create a campaign with a clear name.
3. Fill in source, medium and campaign. You can add term and content, too.
4. Check the Final URL preview.
5. Assign it to a page.
6. Copy the final address, and paste it into your profile or use its QR code.

BioFlow keeps source, medium, campaign, term and content. It doesn’t store utm_id, so don’t rely on that parameter. A visit then appears under the campaign in Campaign performance, with views, clicks and Lead conversions, alongside anything unattributed. Your Leads inbox also keeps the UTM values on a lead, so you can see where an enquiry came from.

Named campaigns tag the address of your page. For destination links, add tags to the URL yourself in the Link block. See the features page for what else campaigns can do.

Checking the results in GA4

If you’ve tagged links to your own site, confirm they’re working before you rely on them.

1. Open the tagged link on your phone.
2. In GA4, go to the Realtime report, and look for your visit.
3. A few days later, check the Traffic acquisition report.
4. Change the primary dimension to something like Session source / medium or Session campaign.

GA4’s menus do change, so check Google’s help if you can’t find them. Standard reports can take some time to fill in, so don’t panic if nothing’s there on the first day.

For how these reports fit with your other data, read link in bio analytics.

Common errors

If the destination address already has a ?, add your tags using &, as in ?color=red&utm_source=instagram.

Always test by opening the link. Some sites and link tools strip parameters, or break when an address is badly formed.

FAQ

Should I use UTMs on my bio link?

Yes, if you use the same page in more than one place, or if you want your destination site’s analytics to recognise the traffic. If Instagram is your only source, and you only look at your page’s data, you can skip it at first. It’s still useful to set up early, so your data stays consistent.

What should utm_source be?

The place the visitor came from, written the same way each time. Use instagram, tiktok, youtube or newsletter, for example. Keep it lowercase, and record your choices in a shared note. Use utm_medium for the kind of channel, such as social or email, and utm_content to separate placements such as bio and story.

Are UTMs case-sensitive?

Yes. Google’s help says so, which means Instagram and instagram appear as separate values in your reports. That’s the most common reason for messy data. Pick lowercase, and use it everywhere. If you’re working with a team, share a simple naming sheet, so that nobody has to guess.

Tag one link now

Take your profile link, add source, medium and campaign, and test it. That’s the whole method. You can then set up a BioFlow campaign, so your naming stays the same each time.