Mastering Google Tag Manager: An Overview
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free Google utility that means users can handle, insert, and launch marketing tags without their site’s or app’s needing code changes. A data-driven digital marketing campaign is the main factor that leads to the success of any marketing campaign, and GTM is the tool that fits perfectly to a website’s marketing potential.
This post is basically a deep dive into Google Tag Manager and how it is of help to businesses and marketers. You want more input on online marketing? Here is my view of digital marketing fundamentals.
Digital marketing is very much dependent on data. The type of websites you operate, whether it’s a large e-commerce store, a personal blog, or a site of a small business, knowledge of user interaction with your website is a must. Google Analytics offers a broad range of insightful data, however, it does have its own set of limitations. By placing tags on your website and employing Google Tag Manager along with Google Analytics, you are able to collect quite in-depth data.
Tags are little pieces of code that are implemented on a website for the purpose of gathering data and sharing it with third-party services. In light of the above, tags are used for a variety of purposes, for instance, scroll tracking, form submission tracking, surveys, heatmaps, remarketing, or tracking the sources of traffic to your website. Also, these tags that can be used to track file downloads, clicks on specific links, or abandoned shopping cart items.
Many sites utilize a multiplicity of tags, and handling all the necessary codes may very well turn into a nightmare for you unless you are doing it in the site’s source code. The process of managing tags has been made very easy and uncomplicated by Google Tag Manager, which is an online-based tool. With GTM, you can efficiently perform all tracking operations on your website in terms of adding, editing, or disabling tags without the need to work on the code.
Why Google Tag Manager Is Such a Powerful Tool
One of the main reasons why Google Tag Manager (GTM) is such a vital tool for marketers is its connection with data which is the lifeblood of any digital marketing campaign in today’s digital domain. Digital marketing can be considered as data-driven marketing. Irrespective of whether you operate a small business website or a large e-commerce platform, data is what enables you to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Programs like Google Ads are used for running campaigns whereas Google Analytics is leveraged for measuring their effectiveness—all these are based on data.
So, Google Tag Manager is the tool that takes things beyond this point. It enables you to have even more accurate and detailed data than if you were using just individual tools. The reason for this is the use of tags—small pieces of code that gather data and send it to the third-party services. Here, the “third party” is you, the marketer.
With Google Tag Manager, you are able to monitor a plethora of user actions on your website. GTM tracks users in a far more complete way, as it understands what people do on the site through clicks, form submissions, downloads, or shopping cart behavior. It then provides those insights to the marketer who thus gets the data necessary to make the right marketing decisions.
Type of information Google Tag Manager can collect
| Data kind | Possible? |
| Scroll monitoring | ✔ |
| Form submissions | ✔ |
| File downloads | ✔ |
| Remarketing | ✔ |
| How customers arrive | ✔ |
| Collecting survey knowledge | ✔ |
And many other types.
How Google Tag Manager works
An Easy Illustration of Google Tag Manager Operations
An easy-to-understand example can come from Google Analytics. If a person comes to your site and does something—such as scrolling, clicking, typing, or submitting a form—the data related to that action is what we call an interaction. This data is transferred from your site to your analytics account through Google Tag Manager.
Website owners want to track as many user interactions as possible, which usually means that they have to put multiple tags and a lot of code in various parts of the site. Handling all this manually can literally mess up your mind in a very short time, especially if you change the website’s source code directly. Google Tag Manager takes away all this trouble by enabling you to put and change all your tags through its web interface without the need to change the code of your site.
In other words, all the information about tags is stored in one single container and is still easily accessible by the system. For people who are not programmers, this is like a huge weight taken off their shoulders.
One more feature that makes Google Tag Manager great is its adaptability. Although GTM is a Google product, it can handle the tags of other platforms such as Twitter, Bing, Hotjar, etc. Most tags are compatible, but a few may not be fully supported, nonetheless, GTM is a great, efficient and flexible way to accommodate all your website tracking needs.
The Pros and Cons of Google Tag Manager
1. Less Reliance on Web Developers
Google Tag Manager is a major tool that helps marketers in the way they don’t have to rely heavily on developers to implement tags. Developers typically take care of the main parts of the website, and tagging might be an additional task. By using GTM, marketers only require developers to install a small piece of container code on the site. From that moment on, one can independently add or remove tags via the friendly interface of GTM. In case, for instance, you want a tag for a limited time, GTM enables you to do so and remove it quickly without the need for manual site code editing which therefore saves you a lot of time over the long period.
2. Still Requires Some Technical Knowledge
GTM lessens the task load of developers however it is not a complete removal. The default GTM container has to be added to your website and the pages you want to track have to be set up. Developers may be required for complicated or customized tags. Furthermore, in case you have manually added tags, you will have to remove them to avoid duplicate tracking or conflicts.
3. Useful for Businesses of All Sizes
Google Tag Manager is a great tool, very adaptable and it can help any kind of business regardless of the company’s size or the industry they operate in. Small startups with no development team can manage their tags well while big companies can quickly do complex tracking across multiple tags. GTM makes tagging management easier and as a result, companies can efficiently run and evaluate their marketing campaigns.
4. Can Impact Website Speed if Mismanaged
When several tags are loaded at the same time, your site may get slower which is not good for the user experience and ultimately your conversions. With GTM you can arrange your tags in the order they will be executed and thus they will only fire when necessary and at the same time you can stop performance problems by setting the tag order accordingly. Sadly, if everything is not in the right place, it can still result in affecting your website speed.
5. Compatible with Mobile and AMP Sites
Google Tag Manager is also available for mobile and AMP websites apart from the discussion here which is centered around the web version. You can make tag changes without having to update your mobile app, and everything is done in real-time when it comes to data collecting. This feature makes GTM a beneficiary for mobile marketing as well, in addition to the convenience on the web.
Understanding the primary parts of Google Tag Manager
Key Concepts to Understand Before Using Google Tag Manager
If you want to use Google Tag Manager (GTM), understanding a few basic concepts is essential, especially if you are new to marketing tags.
1. Containers
The first concept is the container, which is where all your website tags are stored. When you set up a GTM account for your site, you will receive a code snippet to add to the <head> and <body> sections of your website. While plugins can help, it’s best to have a developer install it properly. Once the container is ready, you can add, edit, or remove tags directly from GTM’s interface without further assistance.
2. Triggers
Tags need a trigger to function—a trigger defines the condition that makes a tag fire. For example, you can track app downloads, form submissions, or clicks on outbound links. A simple trigger is a “Page View,” which fires whenever someone visits a specific page.
Triggers are made up of two key elements: events and filters.
- Events: The action that activates a tag, such as visiting a page, clicking a link, or submitting a form.
- Filters: Define the conditions under which a tag should fire. Filters include:
- Variables: The specific value involved in the tag’s condition.
- Operators: Define if the event must equal, exceed, or be less than a certain value.
- Value: The condition the tag must meet to fire.
Example
To measure how many users scroll through your blog post up to 75%, assign a “Scroll Depth” trigger at 75% to a tag. Filter the URLs to include only those containing /blog. You can also exclude certain pages using blocking triggers, which take priority over other triggers. Proper setup ensures there are no conflicts and tags work as intended.
Understanding Variables and Data Layers in Google Tag Manager
Variables
When talking about Google Tag Manager, it is important to know that variables are the elements that provide the values for the triggers that operate the tags. For example, a tag can be set to fire when a user adds a certain number of items to their shopping cart. The variable describes the quantity or the type of items. There is no limit to the number of times a variable can be used across different tags, such as your Google Analytics ID, hence tags can be set up in less time and more in a uniform manner. Variables are categorized into two types: Built-in: These are the variables that are pre-built in GTM and can be used after minor configurations. User-defined: These are custom variables that help you collect data in the exact manner you want, in case the built-in ones are not appropriate.
Data Layers
Data layers refer to the JavaScript objects that hold the information meant for your tags, thus, the data for the tags is separated from the primary code of your site. This change guarantees that tags may now get the data without having to go through the whole HTML, thus, the speed is enhanced, and the number of errors that occur when changing the site structure is reduced. It is possible for very simple tags to operate without a data layer, but the latter is indispensable for complex tracking. For the data layer to work, it has to be located above the GTM container code. It is also possible to push data into the data layer dynamically, e.g., file downloads or shopping cart actions so that the events can be tracked accurately.
FAQ: Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Google Tag Manager FAQ’s – These are the most typical questions regarding GTM headlined by topics.
The Basics
Is Google Tag Manager a paid service?
Definitely, the usual version is free of charge and is capable of meeting the needs of 99% of companies. There is a paid enterprise version (GTM 360) for big corporations that require SLAs and advanced administrative controls.
Is it true that GTM substitutes Google Analytics?
Absolutely not. GTM and GA are complementary tools. GTM is the courier that delivers data, whereas GA is the warehouse that stores and displays it. Through GTM you place the Google Analytics code on your site.
Could I use GTM for non-Google products?
By all means. GTM works as a container for any type of tracking script that you want to put inside. It is very convenient with Google Ads and Analytics, but at the same time, you can put the Meta (Facebook) Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Hotjar, Pinterest Tag, and a vast number of 3rd-party tracking codes into your site.
Technical & Performance
Is Google Tag Manager the reason for my website slow?
Might not be the case in most situations. GTM that is set up correctly usually speeds up loading because it loads tags asynchronously, thus the visible part of the page loads first, while the tracking scripts are running in the background. Nevertheless, if you load 30 heavy, not well-optimized scripts, your website’s performance will be affected. The point is to be with the scripts, not with GTM.
Is programming knowledge required in order to operate GTM?
Typically, NO. Routine operations such as button click tracking or the Facebook Pixel installation can be achieved by utilizing the visual interface of GTM. For complicated data capture scenarios like fetching transaction amounts for Google Ads, the help of a developer to set up the Data Layer might be necessary.
What does the term “Data Layer” stand for?
The Data Layer points to a kind of digital container on your webpage where very important things (such as Purchase Value, User ID, Product Name, etc.) are put aside. GTM then takes this data from the container and forwards it to your analytical tools.
It is the most dependable method to track online store data.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
The tag that I put in didn’t show up. What is the reason for that?
Perhaps you forgot to press the “Submit” button. Just like in GTM, when you finish working on a tag, you cannot go live directly by saving it alone—you have to click the blue “Submit” button and then “Publish” to push changes to the live site.
How can I be sure that it’s functioning?
GTM includes a Preview Mode. By clicking the “Preview” button, a debugging window is opened together with your site, indicating the fired and non-fired tags while you interact with the site.
Conclusion
Google Tag Manager is an amazing tool that can be used by big business marketers, but small and mid-sized business marketers can also benefit from it. This tool allows you to create an efficient tag management system that can be coordinated and handled with minimal effort, while at the same time, generating detailed and illuminating data that you can use to evaluate the success of your marketing activities.
Simply by being aware of and utilizing the essential elements, that is, triggers, variables, and data layers, you have the power to significantly change the way you track and optimize your site.
