QR code UTM tags and Google Analytics

The tags ride in the destination link. A scan opens the code’s short link, the short link sends the phone to your page, and the tags arrive with it.

A scan has no page it came from. Without UTM tags, Google Analytics cannot tell a scan from a visitor who typed your address.

A dynamic code only holds its short link, so the tags never change the printed code. A static code holds the whole link, and in our test 4 tags grew it from 33 by 33 to 45 by 45 squares. Static or dynamic explains which code to pick.

Build the tagged link first, then paste it as the code’s destination.

1. Copy your page’s addressOpen the page, let it finish loading, and copy the address from the address bar.
2. Open Google’s Campaign URL BuilderPaste the address as the website URL.
3. Fill in 3 tagsCampaign source (where the code is, such as flyer), campaign medium (such as qr) and campaign name (such as spring).
4. Paste it into your codeIn your account, paste the campaign URL as the code’s destination.

• Always use utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. A missing tag shows as “(not set)” in reports.
• Spell each tag the same way every time. Values are case sensitive, so flyer and Flyer count as 2 sources. Keep them lowercase.
• Pick 1 utm_medium for your printed codes, such as qr, and keep it.

Give each placement its own code, or its own utm_content value, so the flyer, the poster and the table card can be compared. Before you print, scan the code with 2 phones and check the page opens with the tags in its address.

There is no UTM form in your account. The tags are part of the link you paste, and a dynamic code keeps any link you paste, tags included. Google’s Campaign URL Builder builds the tagged link for you.

In Google Analytics, open Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, and look at session source, medium and campaign.

The 2 reports answer different questions. Your QRplify account counts the scans. Google Analytics shows what those visitors did on your page.

Expect Google Analytics to show fewer visits than QRplify shows scans. It counts a visit only when its tag loads on your page, so a blocked or slow load is a scan with no visit.

QR code tracking shows what your account records for each scan, and How to track QR code scans has our test of what a scan sends.

Every plan, Free included, with unlimited dynamic codes. The plans differ in the QRplify screen: Free shows it on scans past 100 a month, Premium keeps it off 5 codes, and Unlimited keeps it off every code.

Every new account starts with 14 days of Premium, no card needed.