Affiliate Link UTM Naming Convention Guide

Help me draft a UTM naming convention for my Shopify affiliate program (Sidekick can produce this as reference text — actually configuring GA4 segments/reports is outside what it can do):

Setup Details:

  Affiliate app: [AFFILIATE_APP_NAME]
  Store domain: [STORE_DOMAIN]
  Analytics platform: [GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_4 / SHOPIFY_ANALYTICS / TRIPLE_WHALE / NORTHBEAM / OTHER]
  Number of active affiliates: [COUNT]
  Primary affiliate channels: [BLOG / YOUTUBE / INSTAGRAM / TIKTOK / EMAIL / PODCAST]


UTM Parameter Convention Design:

Define a consistent naming standard for all affiliate links:


  utm_source: identifies the affiliate
    
      Format options: affiliate-[ID], aff-[NAME], creator-[HANDLE]
      Recommended: lowercase, no spaces, hyphen-separated
      Example: affiliate-johndoe or aff-jane123
    
  
  utm_medium: identifies the content channel type
    
      Allowed values: blog, youtube, instagram, tiktok, email, podcast, twitter, pinterest
      Must be lowercase and consistent across all affiliates
    
  
  utm_campaign: identifies the product focus or promotion
    
      Format: [PRODUCT_SLUG] or [CAMPAIGN_NAME]-[YEAR]
      Example: hero-bag-2026 or summer-sale-2026
    
  
  utm_content: differentiates multiple links from the same affiliate in the same campaign
    
      Use for A/B testing placement positions
      Values: header-link, in-content, sidebar, cta-button, bio-link, description
    
  
  utm_term: optional, use for specific keyword or audience segment tracking


Example UTM Strings by Channel:

  Blog post in-content link: ?utm_source=affiliate-johndoe&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=[CAMPAIGN]&utm_content=in-content
  YouTube description link: ?utm_source=affiliate-jane&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=[CAMPAIGN]&utm_content=description
  Instagram bio link: ?utm_source=affiliate-mike&utm_medium=instagram&utm_campaign=[CAMPAIGN]&utm_content=bio-link
  Email newsletter mention: ?utm_source=affiliate-sara&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=[CAMPAIGN]&utm_content=newsletter


Short Link / Clean Link Options:

  Option A: Affiliate app default short links ([AFFILIATE_APP_NAME] generates unique codes)
  Option B: Custom subdomain go.[STORE_DOMAIN]/[AFFILIATE_CODE] for brand trust
  Option C: URL shortener (Bitly or similar) with UTM appended before shortening
  Recommendation based on my setup: [PROVIDE RECOMMENDATION]


Attribution Model Comparison:

  Last-click (default in most apps): credit goes to the last affiliate link clicked before purchase
  First-click: credit goes to the affiliate who first introduced the customer to the brand
  Multi-touch linear: credit split equally between all affiliate touchpoints
  Time-decay: more credit given to touchpoints closer to the purchase date
  Recommended model for my program and why: [PROVIDE RECOMMENDATION]


Testing Checklist Before Going Live (for me to run manually):

  Click a test affiliate link and confirm UTM parameters appear in analytics
  Complete a test purchase and verify the order is attributed to the correct affiliate
  Test on both mobile and desktop browsers


Spreadsheet Template:
Create a master UTM tracking spreadsheet layout with columns: Affiliate Name, Affiliate ID, UTM Source, UTM Medium, UTM Campaign, Link Created Date, Link URL, Status.

Provide the full UTM naming guide, example links for my store, and the spreadsheet template as text I can paste into my own tool. GA4 segment/report configuration is outside what Sidekick can set up — I’ll do that manually.