GA4 Channel Audit Guide
Half of all 'why is everything Direct?' mysteries are UTM inconsistencies. This guide maps source/medium values to GA4's default channel groups and gives your team a convention that keeps rows clean. Audit with the builder below.
1 · Destination
2 · Required tags
e.g. spring-launch, black-friday, ebook-download
3 · Optional tags
Result
106 charshttps://slugy.co/pricing?utm_source=audit&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=channel-audit&utm_content=row-aLong links look spammy in public. Shorten with Slugy to keep the tags but hide the clutter — then track which links convert.
01
Paste & pick
Drop in any URL, then tap a preset or type your own tags.
02
Validated live
Missing tags, uppercase and spaces are flagged before you copy.
03
Copy & measure
Paste into ads or email — attribution flows straight into GA4.
Platform guides: Google Ads · Meta Ads · TikTok · LinkedIn · Email · GA4 Audit
UTM cheat sheet
The five tags GA4 understands — and what to put in each.
| Parameter | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where traffic comes from | newsletter · google · linkedin |
| utm_medium | How it reaches you | email · cpc · social · qr |
| utm_campaign | Which campaign | spring-launch · black-friday |
| utm_term | Paid keyword / audience | url-shortener |
| utm_content | Variant / placement | header-cta · ad-variant-b |
FAQ
UTM questions
GA4 UTM conventions
What to put in each parameter for this platform.
| Parameter | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | audit | In real use this is the referrer or platform (google, newsletter, linkedin). Audit by listing every distinct source in your last 30 days of traffic. |
| utm_medium | referral | Medium drives channel grouping: organic→Organic Search, cpc→Paid Search, email→Email, social/paid_social→Organic/Paid Social. Unknown mediums fall to Unassigned or Direct. |
| utm_campaign | channel-audit | Group the audit itself as one campaign so the test clicks stay findable — then delete or filter them after. |
| utm_term | Empty unless auditing paid search; term only matters for keyword-level rows. | |
| utm_content | row-a | Tag each audited row distinctly so you can verify every variant lands in the intended channel. |
GA4 campaign URL examples
Paid social audit row
https://example.com/pricing?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=channel-audit&utm_content=row-aEmail audit row
https://example.com/pricing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=channel-audit&utm_content=row-bGA4 tracking notes
Case sensitivity splits rows
GA4 treats Email and email as different mediums in different channels. Standardize on lowercase everywhere — this builder enforces it automatically.
Redirects eat UTMs
Every hop must forward the query string or GA4 sees an untagged landing and files it under Direct. Test each short-link and redirect chain with the redirect checker before blaming the channel model.
Document the convention once
Agree on a short list of sources (newsletter, linkedin, google) and mediums (email, social, cpc) and pin it where the team writes links. Consistency beats cleverness in campaign reporting.