I spend most of my day answering questions on various platforms. Places such as Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, Spiceworks, Slack etc. And I wanted a quick and easy way to include UTM Codes or tracking tags/parameters to each link I post in a public place. This helps me understand if the answers and resources I am providing are helping people in the long term, or just in that specific instance.

Creating UTM codes can be a challenge and especially if you’re replying to a post you don’t want to have to go create the UTM code and then paste your URL. I wanted an easy to use “generator” that I could quickly deploy to paste my UTM tagged URL’s.

What is a UTM?

Won’t keep this long, since UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes are pretty popular, and a quick Google search will show you what they are. Essentially, they are parameters that assist your traffic tracking software to capture where users are clicking on the link. This is helpful to gauge how successful an ad campaign is. But it can be very helpful in tracking your “impact” as a Technical Champion

Hubspot has a great article on it. So instead of writing what’s already on the internet, go check out their article. Way more informative than what I would do!

AutoHotKey

AutoHotkey is a free and open-source custom scripting language for Microsoft Windows, initially aimed at providing easy keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys, fast macro-creation and software automation that allows users of most levels of computer skill to automate repetitive tasks in any Windows application. –Wikipedia

We are going to use this to create a very simple script that will capture the parameters to generate the UTM code and then paste the final product into your post. Just copy the script below, load it and have fun with those sweet UTMs!

• how-to