Know what your card brings to your website.
Your bloo.Cards card sends visitors to your website, your online shop or your booking page. With UTM parameters, these visits arrive labelled in Google Analytics 4, Matomo or Plausible. The back-office adds these parameters for you in a few clicks.
Two measurements, two questions
bloo.Cards statistics and your website's analytics tool do not replace each other: they look at two different moments of your visitors' journey.
bloo.Cards statistics: who opens your card?
Views, unique visitors, QR scans, shares, saved contact files and Wallet additions: these figures describe the visits to your card. They cover 7 days, or 30, 90 and 365 days with Signature and Premium, which add the breakdown by source (QR Code, NFC, direct link, social share, external link), device and country.
UTMs and GA4: what happens next on your website?
When a visitor taps a link from your card to your website, your website's analytics tool takes over. The UTMs tell it that the visit comes from your bloo.Cards card, and from which spot on the card. bloo.Cards does not count these clicks: your analytics tool measures them on your website.
Your GA4 property measures your website, not the card itself, which is hosted by bloo.Cards. The two sets of figures complement each other but cannot be compared one to one: a visitor may view the card without clicking through to your website, or decline audience measurement on your website.
What is a UTM parameter?
A UTM parameter is a label added to the end of an address, after the question mark. It does not change the page displayed: the analytics tool of the destination website reads it and classifies the visit by source, medium and campaign.
https://www.example.com/?utm_source=bloocards&utm_medium=carte-digitale&utm_campaign=studio-nova&utm_content=sites-web| Parameter | What it indicates | “Recommended bloo.Cards” template |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Where the visit comes from. | bloocards |
utm_medium | The type of channel, called the “medium”. | carte-digitale |
utm_campaign | The name of the action or campaign. | your card's address, for example studio-nova |
utm_term | A keyword, optional. | left empty |
utm_content | The variant or placement, optional. | where the link sits on the card: site-web, sites-web, liens, promotion, offre-emploi, partenaire or distinction |
In GA4, “LinkedIn” and “linkedin” are two different rows. The back-office therefore suggests lowercase values, replaces spaces with hyphens and removes characters reserved in addresses, such as the equals sign or the hash. Each value is limited to 100 characters, and the full address to 500.
In the back-office: four steps
The UTM button appears to the right of every website address: in the Websites module, but also in Links, Promotions, Job offers, Partners, Awards and the Website field of the extended content.
Enter your website address.
Enter the full address of the target page, with https://. Without a valid address, the UTM button first asks you to enter one.
Click UTM and choose a template.
The “Link UTM tracking” window opens. The “Recommended bloo.Cards” template fills in the source, medium, campaign and content; “Last used” reuses your latest values. Every field remains editable.
Check the preview.
Leave the “Lowercase and no spaces (recommended)” option ticked. The address preview follows what you type and the Copy button copies it. A message warns you if the source, medium or campaign is missing.
Apply, then save.
Apply writes the UTMs into the field's address; then save the module as you would for any change. The UTM button turns blue when UTMs are active, and “Remove UTMs” restores the original address.
Your card's address can carry UTMs too
In Share › Card link, the “Campaign tracking (UTM)” block adds a set of UTMs to the address you copy or share from the back-office. Available templates: Email signature, LinkedIn, Newsletter, WhatsApp, Flyer or paper card, Trade show or event. One set per card; the source, medium and campaign are recorded with each visit to the card.
| Address | Who reads the UTMs | Where to set them |
|---|---|---|
| Links from the card to your website | Your website's analytics tool: GA4, Matomo, Plausible… | UTM button next to the address, “Recommended bloo.Cards” template |
| Card address copied or shared | bloo.Cards, which records them with each visit to the card | Share › Card link › Campaign tracking (UTM) |
| QR code and NFC chip | No UTMs: each opening is already counted as QR Code or NFC | Nothing to set |
QR codes and the NFC chip keep your card's short address: your bloo.Cards statistics already tell them apart, without any extra parameter.
Finding these visits in Google Analytics 4
Open Reports › Acquisition › Traffic acquisition and display the Session source / medium dimension. Your card links appear there as bloocards / carte-digitale.
- Session campaign: one row per card, or per operation if you renamed the campaign. Handy for comparing a team's cards, or two trade shows.
- Content: add Session manual ad content (
utm_content) as a secondary dimension to see which spot on the card is used most: websites, promotion, job offer… - Explorations: a free-form exploration combining campaign, content, landing page and key events shows what these visits lead to: getting in touch, booking, purchase.
- Channel group: a medium such as
carte-digitaledoes not match any standard GA4 channel. These visits may therefore appear as “Unassigned” in the default channel group. Analyse them by source / medium, or create a custom channel group. - Delays: the Realtime report shows a test visit within moments; standard reports can take up to 48 hours.
Matomo, Plausible and most analytics tools also read UTM parameters: you will find the same source, medium and campaign in their campaign or source reports.
A simple naming convention
- Lowercase, no spaces or accents: hyphens between words, for example
expo-2027rather than “Expo 2027”. - A stable source and medium:
bloocardsandcarte-digitalefor all your card links, with no variation from one card to another. - One campaign per card, per event or per year: the card's address by default, an operation name for the duration of a trade show or a season.
- Content for the placement: keep the suggested values (
sites-web,promotion…) to tell apart the links on the same card. - A written rule for the team: if several people manage cards, record the convention in a shared document.
- No personal data: never a customer name, an email address or a phone number in a UTM.
Three practical examples
A trade show
For the duration of the show, your Promotions module offers a deal reserved for visitors. Give its link a campaign of its own for the event:
https://www.example.com/expo?utm_source=bloocards&utm_medium=carte-digitale&utm_campaign=expo-2027&utm_content=promotionIn GA4, the expo-2027 campaign isolates the visits and enquiries generated by the show, during and after the event.
Your email signature
In Share › Card link › Campaign tracking (UTM), choose the “Email signature” template. The copied address becomes:
https://mybloo.cards/studio-nova?utm_source=email&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=studio-novaPaste it into your signature: each visit to the card from your emails is recorded with this source. The links from the card to your website keep their own UTMs.
A printed NFC card
The chip keeps your card's short address: each opening is counted as NFC in your bloo.Cards statistics, with nothing to set up. If that visitor then taps the link to your website, GA4 receives:
bloocards / carte-digitale · utm_content=sites-webCompare QR, NFC and shared links in your bloo.Cards statistics; measure the rest of the journey in GA4.
studio-nova and example.com are illustrative addresses.
Privacy: what a UTM contains, and what it does not
A UTM describes a channel, not a person: it contains no personal data and sets no cookie. It remains visible in the address, like any other parameter.
Audience measurement on your website remains your responsibility: consent banner, privacy policy, retention period. If a visitor declines measurement on your website, their visit may not appear in GA4, and that is normal.
On the bloo.Cards side, card visits are deduplicated and the IP address is never stored in clear text.
Frequently asked questions
Do UTMs work with Matomo, Plausible or a tool other than GA4?
Yes. utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content are standard parameters read by most analytics tools. They are written into the address itself: nothing extra needs to be installed on the card.
Should I add UTMs to the QR code or the NFC chip?
No. QR codes and the NFC chip keep your card's short address, already counted as a QR scan or NFC opening in your bloo.Cards statistics. UTMs are for the links from the card to your website, and for the address you share from the back-office.
Why don't GA4 and bloo.Cards show the same figures?
They do not measure the same thing. bloo.Cards counts visits to the card; GA4 counts visits to your website coming from the card, and only those of visitors who accept audience measurement on your website. Not every card visitor clicks through to your website.
My visits do not appear in GA4: what should I check?
Open the link from the card and look at the final address: the utm_ parameters must be there. A redirect on your website that removes them erases the source. Then check the Realtime report; standard reports can take up to 48 hours.
Can I change or remove the UTMs later?
Yes. The UTM button reopens the window with the current values, and “Remove UTMs” restores the original address. Visits already recorded keep their old values in your reports.
Do UTMs contain personal data?
No, as long as they only describe channels and campaigns. Never enter a customer name, an email address or a phone number. Consent for audience measurement on your website remains your responsibility.
Read also: Features · Modules · How it works · Pricing
Your links can now speak.
Open the back-office, click UTM next to your website address and apply the recommended template. Your next visits will arrive labelled in your analytics tool.