UTM Tags: Tracking Your Google Business Results in Google Analytics

You have a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), people find you on the map, and some click through to your site. But when you open Google Analytics, you can't say for sure how many of those visitors actually came from there. Profile traffic often blends into "google / organic" or even "direct", leaving you without an answer to a simple question: does my Google profile actually bring in customers?

The good news is that one free change fixes it, and it takes a few minutes: you add UTM tags to the website link inside your profile. From that moment on, every visitor arriving from Google Business shows up separately in Analytics, and you can tie those visits to form submissions, calls, and bookings. Here's exactly how, step by step.

What UTM tags are and why they matter here

UTM tags are little labels you stick to the end of a link, after the question mark. They don't change the page — they just tell Google Analytics where the visitor came from. A link with UTM looks like this:

`https://your-site.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=google-profile`

Three tags matter most:

• `utm_source` — the source. Here you put `google`.
• `utm_medium` — the channel. For the profile, `organic` is the usual choice.
• `utm_campaign` — your campaign name, something you'll recognize easily, like `google-profile` or `gbp`.

The problem this solves: without UTM, profile clicks can get lost in the pile of "google / organic" alongside all your search traffic. With UTM, they become a separate group that's easy to count.

How to add UTM to your Google profile link, step by step

You don't need a developer. You do it all from your own account:

• Build the UTM link. The easiest way is Google's own "Campaign URL Builder" (search for it) — you fill in your site address, the source (`google`), the medium (`organic`), and the campaign (`google-profile`), and it generates the finished link for you.

• Open your Google Business Profile, from Search or Maps, in the editing section.

• In the "Website" field, replace the plain link with the one containing UTM.

• Save. Done.

One important note: some profile displays hide the parameters or use the short link, but attribution still works once the visitor lands on your site. Test it yourself: click the link in your profile and check the address bar for the `utm_` tags.

Where to see the results in Google Analytics 4

Once your UTMs are in place, data starts flowing in from the first visitors (with a short processing delay, usually a few hours).

Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition. Search by the "Session campaign" or "Session source / medium" dimension. Profile visitors will show up grouped as `google / organic` with the campaign `google-profile` — exactly the label you chose.

To see customers, not just visits, you need one more step: defined conversions (called "key events" in GA4) — for example a contact form submission or a click on your phone number. Once those exist, you can filter: from the `google-profile` campaign, how many forms came in? That's the number that actually counts.

Common mistakes and small traps

A few things that quietly ruin your data:

• Upper and lower case. `Google` and `google` are treated as different sources in Analytics. Write everything in lowercase, always the same way.

• Spaces in tags. Don't put spaces in `utm_campaign`; use hyphens: `google-profile`, not `google profile`.

• Confusing profile with site. Profile views, calls, and direction requests live in your Google Business dashboard, not in Analytics — those aren't website visits. UTM only shows you the people who clicked through to the site.

• Don't change UTMs often. If today you use `gbp` and tomorrow `google-profile`, you fragment your data and can no longer compare over the long term. Pick one format and stick with it.

What to do with the data next

Once you clearly see how many visitors and how many forms come from the profile, you can make real decisions instead of guessing. If the profile brings customers consistently, it's worth investing in: fresh photos, regular posts, replying to reviews. If it brings visits but zero forms, the problem isn't Google — it's the page people land on.

At MPO Web Studio we build sites for local businesses with this whole measurement system designed in from the start — UTM on the Google profile, Analytics 4 set up correctly, and conversions defined for forms and phone. We work fully remotely, with transparent pricing, and we prepare a free demo of your site before you pay anything.

If you'd like help setting this up for your business, message us on WhatsApp. We'll tell you honestly what's worth doing and what isn't.