URL: GA Tracking Parameters

URLs that contain Google Analytics tracking parameters.

In addition to creating duplicate pages that must be crawled, using tracking parameters on links internally can overwrite the original session data.

utm= parameters strip the original source of traffic and starts a new session with the specified attributes. _ga= and _gl= parameters are used for cross-domain linking and identify a specific user, including this on links prevents a unique user ID from being assigned.

How to Analyse in the SEO Spider

View URLs with this issue in the URL tab and ‘GA Tracking Parameters’ filter, and export all URLs using the ‘Export’ button. Use the lower ‘Inlinks’ tab to view pages that link to them.

What Triggers This Issue

This issue is triggered when a URL contains Google Analytics tracking parameters such as utm=, _ga=, or _gl=.

For example:

https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/page?utm_source=newsletter&_ga=exampleID

How To Fix

Remove the tracking parameters from links. Event Tracking is recommended in place of utm parameters for tracking additional interactions on a page such as downloads, link clicks, form submissions, and video plays.