======Urchin Tracking======

UTM variables (Urchins) are qualifiers you can add to the end of a URL to help you track in Google Analytics where traffic to a page is coming from. UTM stands for Urchin Traffic Monitor and is meant to create the most accurate measurements of unique website visitors. In Google Analytics,this information appears as source/medium.

To see our recently created urchins, go to the Urchin Tracking Sheet [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TGGn7kJ47FD8wLJcITJbdacUkm6Hjc17ZP4QI-7XgFc/edit#gid=0 Google Doc]]

[[https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/]] - This is where you go to urchin a link

====Examples====

Our"Please Help Us" top banner on our website:
https://votesmart.org/donate?utm_source=votesmart&utm_medium=helpusbanner&utm_campaign=donate

A link to a the donate page from within an IContact Email:
votesmart.org/donate?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Membership%20&utm_content=AMB%3A+Not+in+Iowa%3F+Not+a+problem

Link from a Google AdWords ad focusing on President Trump:
http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/15723/donald-trump?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=donald-trump&gclid=CPe5nIyjotMCFQYJaQodpWwHSQ

====Sources (utm_source)====

A source tag is used to signify the source of where the link is coming from. For instance, if sharing link on Facebook, you would use utm_source=facebook in the URL.

- **votesmart** - users coming from inside a Vote Smart site.
- **voteeasy** - users coming from the Vote Easy application.
- **facebook** - users from our Facebook page.
- **youtube** - users coming from YouTube
- **twitter** - users from Twitter.
- **Google** - user coming from a Google search
- **direct** - When someone types in "votesmart.org" or clicks in a link from a PDF, bookmark, etc.
- **IContact** - When someone gets to our website from a recent email message via IContact
- **Ad Square** - When user is directed to a page from the Ad Square

====Mediums (utm_medium)====

Mediums are used to signify the type of medium used(email, web, etc) and sometimes something more specific, like a specific part of navigation, or a specific part of our facebook page if necessary.

- **help-us-banner** - users coming from red top banner on votesmart.org
- **email** - users usually coming from IContact
- **cpc** - users coming from Google Ad Words (CPC stands for 'Cost Per Click')
- **organic** - users coming from a search engine
- **bottomnav** - users coming from footer of votesmart.org
- **ad** - users coming from Google AdWords campaigns
- **Political Poo** - users coming from political poo ad square
- **donatenowbutton** - users who clicked the "donate now" button on our Facebook page
- **referral** - users who were referred from any website without an urchin.

Old VoteEasy:
- **category_tab** - The "Help us if you can" tab at the top of Vote Easy
- **plane_btn** - The Plane that flies across the screen in Vote Easy
- **about_us** -The About Us module in the footer of Vote Easy

====Campaigns (utm_campaign)====

Campaign tag names the specific campaign that this traffic is a part of, e.g. Holiday Campaign, Donation Campaign, etc

- **flavourswitch** - campaign referring to the website on mobile
- **donate** - General donation campaign.
- **voteeasy** - Campaign to get views to VoteEasy
- **about** - Getting people to the /about page