An Introduction to Google Tag Manager

Safalta expert Published by: Saumya Sahoo Updated Tue, 07 Feb 2023 06:09 PM IST

Highlights

A tag is a piece of code added to a website to collect information and send it to a third party.

Source: Safalta.com

Introduction

Digital marketing is built on data. Whether it's a large e-commerce site, an individual's website, or a website for a small business, understanding how people interact with your website is essential.
It is important. Google Analytics can provide many of the key insights you're looking for, but it's limited when used alone. But by tagging your website and using Google Tag Manager in combination with Google Analytics, you can collect more data than any other method. A tag is a piece of code added to a website to collect information and send it to a third party. You can use tags for all sorts of purposes, including scroll tracking, monitoring form submissions, conducting surveys, creating heat maps, remarketing, tracking how users come to your site, and more. They are also used to monitor certain events, such as downloading files, clicking certain links, and removing items from shopping carts.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager (GTM for short) is a simple and easy way to manage all the tags associated with your website without writing a single line of code. It has many unique advantages. Most notable is the fact that you can easily add and update your own website tags to better understand your conversions, website analytics, and other factors that matter most. In addition to supporting and integrating all Google and third-party tags, Google Tag Manager also includes error checking, security features, fast tag loading, and more to ensure your tags work correctly no matter what.

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Pros of Google Tag Manager


Speed up your website: Google Tag Manager makes it easy to manage your tags, so it's easy to remove tags you no longer need to speed up your website. Google Tag Manager also loads asynchronously. Websites don't have to wait for Google Tag Manager to load before loading content. You have the flexibility to customize the tags to your specific needs to track different behaviours. Simply select a tag, choose from preconfigured triggers, and decide when to fire. Or create your own. Google Tag Manager can be used on websites and AMP pages as well as mobile apps. Bug tracking and preview mode make it easy to find issues before they go live. Without these checks, it is prone to human error, which can lead to site downtime.

Cons of Google Tag Manager


Perhaps the biggest drawback of Google Tag Manager is that it doesn't have a dedicated support team to turn to when users need help. To its credit, Google helps create a data layer for Google Tag Manager, but that's it. Similarly, tag management systems (not just Google Tag Manager) also open the door to potential security risks if not properly maintained. All of this is a big part of why it's so important to work with an expert, expert, or agency partner when developing your strategy and setting up Google Tag Manager for the first time. Yes, it's so easy that you can set it up and run it by yourself without any technical expertise, but you'll need outside help to get it set up and running in the right way for your needs.

Why Use Google Tag Manager?

Software that integrates with your website needs its own space on the backend of your web page. It can also be used for remarketing, heatmaps and simple conversion tracking. JavaScript makes everything work. Also, the more data we collect, the more we need to revisit those tags to add, update, and delete them. Google Tag Manager simplifies the process.

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How to use google tag manager?

Tags


Markers are law particles or tracking pixels from third-party tools. These markers tell Google Tag Manager what to do.
 

Triggers


Every tag on your website should serve a specific purpose. Tags can send information when someone downloads a file, clicks an outbound link, or submits a form. These types of events are called triggers, and every tag must have at least one trigger associated with it. Otherwise, do nothing. Events and filters make up the two main parts of triggers. When setting up a trigger in GTM, you will be presented with a long list of trigger types to choose from. These are your events. After selecting an event, you can set filters. Variables, operators, and values are the three categories into which filters can be divided. We'll talk more about variables later, but in this case, we're talking about the type of variable involved. The operator tells the tag whether the events should be equal (or greater than or less than a certain value, contain a certain value, etc.). Of course, the value itself is the prerequisite. The word "value" is usually used in relation to numbers and prices, but in this case, it doesn't necessarily have to be numbered. Values are often things like URLs or keywords. 

Variables


Tags depend on triggers, but triggers depend on variables. Variables contain values that the trigger must evaluate to determine whether to fire the trigger. The tag compares the variable's value to the value defined in the trigger, and fires if the variable meets the trigger's condition. The tag also uses variables to gather the information that can be passed to the data layer as the user interacts with her website. A common example of this is when a tag is triggered when a user adds a certain amount of items to his shopping cart. Variables can often be reused across tags. One of the most common tips for using GTM is to create a constant variable containing your ID number or tracking code that you need to use multiple times. For example, if you need to use a Google Analytics property ID number in multiple tags, simply create a constant string variable whose value is the ID number. That way, instead of repeatedly searching for and entering the ID number, you can simply select the variable name.

Containers

Groups of tags, triggers, and variables are collectively called containers. A container sets rules for a specific domain. Once you've set up your tags and triggers and provided all your variables, the container is created. Containers allow you to manage (add, update, delete) tags for your domain without having to constantly return to the backend for each page.
 

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What is Google Tag Manager or GTM?

Google Tag Manager (GTM for short) is a simple and easy way to manage all the tags associated with your website without writing a single line of code. It has many unique advantages. Most notable is the fact that you can easily add and update your own website tags to better understand your conversions, website analytics, and other factors that matter most. In addition to supporting and integrating all Google and third-party tags, Google Tag Manager also includes error checking, security features, fast tag loading, and more to ensure your tags work correctly no matter what.

What are the pros of Google Tag Manager?

Speed up your website: Google Tag Manager makes it easy to manage your tags, so it's easy to remove tags you no longer need to speed up your website. Google Tag Manager also loads asynchronously. Websites don't have to wait for Google Tag Manager to load before loading content. You have the flexibility to customize the tags to your specific needs to track different behaviors. Simply select a tag, choose from preconfigured triggers, and decide when to fire. Or create your own. Google Tag Manager can be used on websites and AMP pages as well as mobile apps. Bug tracking and preview mode make it easy to find issues before they go live. Without these checks, it is prone to human error, which can lead to site downtime.

What are the cons of Google Tag Manager?

Perhaps the biggest drawback of Google Tag Manager is that it doesn't have a dedicated support team to turn to when users need help. To its credit, Google helps create a data layer for Google Tag Manager, but that's it. Similarly, tag management systems (not just Google Tag Manager) also open the door to potential security risks if not properly maintained. All of this is a big part of why it's so important to work with an expert, expert, or agency partner when developing your strategy and setting up Google Tag Manager for the first time. Yes, it's so easy that you can set it up and run it by yourself without any technical expertise, but you'll need outside help to get it set up and running in the right way for your needs.

How to use google tag manager?

Tags

Markers are law particles or tracking pixels from third-party tools. These markers tell Google Tag Manager what to do.

Triggers

Every tag on your website should serve a specific purpose. Tags can send information when someone downloads a file, clicks an outbound link, or submits a form. These types of events are called triggers, and every tag must have at least one trigger associated with it. Otherwise, do nothing. Events and filters make up the two main parts of triggers. When setting up a trigger in GTM, you will be presented with a long list of trigger types to choose from. These are your events. After selecting an event, you can set filters. Variables, operators, and values are the three categories into which filters can be divided. We'll talk more about variables later, but in this case, we're talking about the type of variable involved. The operator tells the tag whether the events should be equal (or greater than or less than a certain value, contain a certain value, etc.). Of course, the value itself is the prerequisite. The word "value" is usually used in relation to numbers and prices, but in this case, it doesn't necessarily have to be numbered. Values are often things like URLs or keywords.

Variables

Tags depend on triggers, but triggers depend on variables. Variables contain values that the trigger must evaluate to determine whether to fire the trigger. The tag compares the variable's value to the value defined in the trigger, and fires if the variable meets the trigger's condition. The tag also uses variables to gather the information that can be passed to the data layer as the user interacts with her website. A common example of this is when a tag is triggered when a user adds a certain amount of items to his shopping cart. Variables can often be reused across tags. One of the most common tips for using GTM is to create a constant variable containing your ID number or tracking code that you need to use multiple times. For example, if you need to use a Google Analytics property ID number in multiple tags, simply create a constant string variable whose value is the ID number. That way, instead of repeatedly searching for and entering the ID number, you can simply select the variable name.

Containers

Groups of tags, triggers, and variables are collectively called containers. A container sets rules for a specific domain. Once you've set up your tags and triggers and provided all your variables, the container is created. Containers allow you to manage (add, update, delete) tags for your domain without having to constantly return to the backend for each page.