The Beginner’s Guide to Google Tag Manager

We all know that for understanding why a site is performing in a definite way, we require insight into its user activity. To do so, maximum people use Google Analytics, but what most may not know is that there is an additional tool which, when used in combination with Google Analytics, takes the procedure of gaining insight on user activity to the next level.

That tool is the Google Tag Manager, which besides Google Analytics, could be used with other Google otherwise third-party tags, and even custom tags.

Adding tags could often be a complex process that needs coding knowledge and easily goes wrong because of human error. Google Tag Manager throughout its user-friendly interface and ease of use simplifies the procedure of not just adding, however also debugging and managing tags on your website (or different type of apps like iOS, Android, AMP), making it essentially a codeless procedure that you could do on your own without needing the help of a web developer.

What is Google Tag Manager? 

 

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free tool that aids you to easily develop and organize the tracking infrastructure on your website. This permits you to see how users are interacting with your website as well as evaluate your overall site performance. With GTM, tracking can promptly be updated without manual hard-coding, growing the efficiency of the implementation procedure, and dropping the dependence on web-developers. 

GTM has a complete range of native links (e.g. Google Analytics) wherever custom data could be sent and analyzed so that you could measure your KPIs. 

You could track an important number of events in Google Tag Manager counting: Link clicks, PDF downloads as well as cart abandonment. 

Some reasons why you must be implementing Google Tag Manager today:

Future-proofing your website

You must be fairly well-known with the Google Tag Manager that you have been using to add analytics, conversion tracking code, Adwords remarketing, Facebook pixel for your sites. And, along with, you are moreover implementing the other 3rd party tracking pixel toward your website. If you still do not use these or are unusual with these names, then, it is still not too late beforehand you start utilizing their benefits.

If there are several pages to be customized otherwise updates are involved, counting code exchange, then, Analytics code updating might become a tough procedure. In such a situation, you could use the Google Tag Manager for conversion to Analytics.

The effort involved in implementing Google Tag Manager is approximately similar to that involved in updating the Analytics code toward your site each page. However, once you place GTM code on your site then for all your future improvisation, the procedure will be simple and easy. You do not have to create the update for each page on your website, when applied to a page – it would apply to all other pages.

Do not confuse Google Tag Manager with Google Analytics as either of them is not the substitute for the other, but Google Tag Manager brings about modification to how you execute Google Analytics on your site.

Speed for implementation

The Google Tag Manager is accountable for speeding up the diverse process. Without bringing about any change to the existing codes of your website, you could add changes and new tags with the aid of Google Tag Manager. Marketers would love the awesomeness of the tool as it helps in speeding up the set-up time, the testing plus deployment of each edit is done automatically once the set up is prepared. When you have a better idea of Google Tag Manager, you could set up this all by yourself, without aid from a developer.

Secure systems

Irrespective of whatever problems otherwise concerns affect a site; the security plus site’s failure are the two factors that affect the most. However, with Google Tag Manager, this concern is solved as it takes care to stop any kind of crashing of your website otherwise vulnerabilities from crack open for your site. For novices, you could decide who would access your Google Tag Manager, Analytics accounts as well as to annul who accesses the procedure at any given point of time. However, you are required to follow the regular security practices as emphasized through Google Tag Manager as you would do with content management systems otherwise web development tools – as required. Utilize the standardized templates for common tagging scenarios, to decrease mistakes and scripting errors that might occur on your site.

 The agility of Google Tag Manager

It offers you a huge amount of flexibility as you need a lesser amount of coding for any kind of complex tags – while permitting you to utilize most out of your tags, without having to write a single line of code. This means you could get away with a little otherwise no technical knowledge, however, train yourself.

Debugging options

It is always a vital part of your design procedure to make sure that all your tags are in a functioning state beforehand you get them published to the site plus the site goes live. With the aid of a built-in debug feature, Google Tag Manager offers you to manually test and debug the modification made in your browser on your site beforehand the site goes live. This would aid you to reconsider what you publish and prevent people from witnessing what you do not want them to see. Chrome extensions, counting Tag Manager Injector and Tag Assistant would help in making the debugging procedure much easier.

Version Control

It has become an impertinent element of every website, providing a built-in version control. When you happen to alter a container, a new version would be formed and archived. But, at a later point in time, if you want to recover the old version, you could do so with ease. With this, you could troubleshoot any tagging issue and keep the tags structured as well.

Workspace plus environment

If numerous people are working on a similar project, workspace plus environment helps to divide spaces for making tags. With this, you could organize your container plus separate test tags that you do not desire to exhibit whereas your site goes live. This is especially important when you want several teams to change your website, along with stakeholders from outside the association, who can change and edit your site as well.

How do I get started?

To get started with Google Tag Manager (GTM), you must first create an account. Once you set up your account, you will be given a code snippet to add to your website pages. When this snippet is in place, you could then add and manage multiple tracking services inside the GTM interface as opposed to inside your website code. This removes the need to update your website each time you add or eliminate tracking codes.

Google Tag Manager supports a diversity of tracking services out of the box for fast execution. For all other services, custom tags could be formed, allowing marketers to add any tracking code essential. Some common services that you may set up within GTM are Google Analytics, HubSpot, or AdWords.

How do I use Google Tag Manager?

To understand how to use Google Tag Manager, you will need to understand its elements and how they work together. It could be broken down into five pieces: tags, triggers, containers, variables, and the data layer.

Containers 

The first phase to setting up GTM on your website is to generate a container, which is the top-level element that would hold all of your tags. Once your container is formed, the snippet of code that you will add to your website would be generated. The container code snippet must replace any tracking codes presently on your website that you would be moving into Google Tag Manager.

Tags

 A tag is what contains the snippet of code that would execute on your website. For each tracking code, you want to add, you will create a new tag. This takes the place of adding code straight to your website every time a new tracking code requires implementation.

Triggers

 You could create triggers to control precisely when your tags are implemented on your website. Triggers could be used to initiate tags merely at a specified time or afterward a specific event, as well as every tag needing at least one trigger. For instance, you might have a trigger that will merely initiate a tag while a button is clicked. Or, you may just use the basic “all pages” trigger, which would implement your tag on all pages while the page is loaded.

Variables

 Variables could be defined inside GTM for use in triggers or otherwise tags as needed. There are quantities of predefined variables that are produced by default, for example, page URL or container ID; however, you can make your variables besides these. How you use GTM variables will depend on factors for example what data you are tracking as well as the triggers required for your website.

Data Layer

 A data layer could be used to collect data from your website plus pass it to Google Tag Manager. This needs adding additional code to your website together with your container code snippet. A data layer is useful if you are making more advanced variables that need access to info from your website.

Overall, Google Tag Manager makes it simple plus more manageable to track data and pass it to a diversity of services. It’s a precious addition to any digital marketing strategy and can be useful in streamlining your workflow. Give it a try!

Tag Migration

If you are moving a current website to Google Tag Manager, you possibly have existing code that requires migrating otherwise. If you do not do this, there is a danger of having both the Tag Manager plus code trigger running at the same time, reasoning data to duplicate.

For a successful migration, numerous steps must be taken to audit your website.

Categorize plus log all of your current website tags. You should note precisely where each of them is plus what action they complete.

Start remaking those tags in Google Tag Manager one by one

Each new tag you set up must be tested and previewed beforehand you move on to the next one

Remove present code as you set up the novel Google Tag Manager tags

Publish your Google Tag Manager container with all the novel tags when everything above has been accomplished.

It is significant to migrate your tags in the most competent way possible to avoid any loss of data. If you have plenty to migrate, there is a trigger suppression method that you could use to avoid gaps in tracking. It is recommended if you have 100’s of tags setup already.

Here are some of the most common mistakes while using Google Tag Manager:

Not previewing containers beforehand publishing. Even if you are very confident that you have set up your triggers properly, they can fail for diverse reasons, and checking failures is basic to success.

Publishing too much will merely clog up your Google Tag Manager account. If you have planned the data you want to collect, only publish once you have accomplished the necessary tracking steps.

Conclusion:

As far, we have discussed Google Tag Manager as well as its working. GTM plays a significant role in coding for your WebPages. Before, you needed a developer to make your work easy however now GTM will do it for you. GTM is snippets of JavaScript/HTML. Coding for a non-developer is way too compound. With the development of GTM, you don’t need to be concerned about coding. Just paste snippets of HTML on every page of your website as well as let the rest of the work be done by GTM itself.

So, we could finally conclude that GTM not only aids in coding but it saves your hard-earned cash also, which you required to pay to the developer previously for coding purposes.