UTM parameters help distinguish visits from a newsletter or feed reader from other website traffic. They label the destination link so a compatible analytics tool can record its source, medium and campaign. They do not reveal how many people subscribe to a feed or guarantee that every click will be recorded.
Decide what you want to measure
A newsletter visit is an email visit even when RSS supplied the content. For a Mailchimp newsletter, a useful starting point is:
utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blog_updatesUse utm_source for the platform or publication source, utm_medium for the channel, and utm_campaign for the campaign name. Keep spelling and capitalization consistent. Do not put names, email addresses or other private identifiers into public feed links.
For GA4’s standard Email channel, utm_medium=email matches its published channel rules. A custom medium such as rss can be useful for feed-reader traffic, but it is not automatically classified as Email. You can define a custom channel group if needed. See Google’s channel definitions.
Enter one query string in RSS Chimp Pro
- For the default feed, open RSS Chimp → General → Default feed. For a custom feed, open its row under Feeds.
- Find URL parameter.
- Enter the parameters as a single string, for example the one above. Use
&between parameters and omit the full destination URL. - Click Save Changes and open the intended feed from Start.
RSS Chimp appends the parameters to post links supplied through its feed-link handling. It does not rewrite every link embedded in an article or every URL a newsletter template may create. The default feed and each custom feed have separate settings; follow the UTM parameter guide for the detailed checks.
Verify a visit from end to end
- Inspect an item’s
<link>in the raw feed. In XML, ampersands appear escaped as&. - Open the link and confirm the correct article loads with the intended query parameters.
- Preview the newsletter. Its service may rewrite links or add its own campaign tracking.
- Make a test visit and check the relevant source, medium and campaign dimensions in your analytics account.
Unlabelled clicks are not always Direct traffic: referrer information, provider tracking and the analytics setup also affect attribution. Conversely, adding UTM tags does not guarantee a recorded session. Consent choices, blockers, redirects and unavailable analytics scripts can prevent or change measurement.
Keep campaign labels useful
A fixed campaign name such as blog_updates groups ongoing newsletter traffic. If you need to distinguish individual sends, use the sending platform’s supported campaign tracking or update the feed parameters deliberately. Changing a feed setting affects newly fetched output, not links in emails already delivered.
Custom HTML is a separate Pro feature for adding a message around feed content. It does not improve attribution by itself, and receiving services may strip or omit it. Use the custom HTML guide when adding sponsor text or a call to action.
Frequently asked questions
Does UTM tracking count RSS subscribers?
No. It labels visits made through tagged links. It does not count subscriptions, feed downloads or every reader.
Should my newsletter use email or rss as its medium?
Use email if you want newsletter visits to match GA4’s standard Email channel rules. For feed-reader traffic, a distinct medium can be useful, but plan its reporting separately.
Are there separate fields for source, medium and campaign?
RSS Chimp 1.3.1 uses one URL parameter field. Enter the complete query string there.
Will these tags change old emails?
No. Already-delivered emails keep their existing links. A receiving service must fetch updated feed output to use new parameters.