How does utm_term work?
When running paid search campaigns, you can append utm_term to your destination URLs to record which keyword the user searched for. This makes it visible in your analytics alongside other UTM dimensions.
utm_term vs. gclid — what's the difference?
If you use Google Ads with auto-tagging enabled, gclid automatically captures keyword data and passes it to Google Analytics — making utm_term redundant for Google Ads specifically. However, utm_term is still useful when:
- Running paid search on platforms other than Google (Bing, DuckDuckGo)
- Using analytics tools that don't integrate with gclid
- Wanting keyword data visible alongside utm_source and utm_campaign in a unified report
How does utm_term fit with other UTM parameters?
The UTM parameters form a hierarchy from broad to specific:
- utm_source — the platform (google, bing)
- utm_medium — the channel type (cpc)
- utm_campaign — the campaign name
- utm_term — the keyword
- utm_content — the specific ad variation
While utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign are considered essential, utm_term and utm_content are optional and typically used only in paid search contexts.
utm_term and TTFB
Because utm_term values vary with every keyword, the URL space can expand dramatically for sites with large keyword portfolios. Combined with utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign, this creates many unique URLs — each potentially causing a cache miss and slower TTFB if your caching system uses the full URL as the cache key.
Test your site's performance with utm_term
Use the tool below to measure how the utm_term parameter affects your website's TTFB.
