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Google Tag Manager: A Beginner’s Guide

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is an easy way to stay on top of data coming from your website by easily implementing your own snippets of code to interpret and manage information that you deem of a higher importance to you.

In this post, we will be looking at the common terminology you will find while using Google Tag Manager (GTM), what exactly a tag manager platform is, benefits of GTM and linking up your other Google accounts.

What is Google Tag Manager?

A tag management system, such as Google Tag Manager, allows tracking reporting and analysis for a website using snippets of code. Code easily placed in the <head> or <body> of a webpage’s mark-up. Such tags could include conversion tracking, site analytics, remarketing, and more.

The user-friendly interface of Google Tag Manager means that you can input your own snippets of code (tags) onto webpages without the help of a developer.

GTM allows you to monitor, create and decide when tags should be fired. Much like many Google platforms, varied levels of permission can be given.

Common Terms within Google Tag Manager

  • Tags – Snippets of code that send information to third parties. With tag manager, it removes the need to add the snippet of code directly to each file on a website.
  • Container – What holds all the tags. Is also classed as ‘Site-wide Tag’ that then fires individual tags.
  • Triggers – The brains of GTM. Tells what tag to fire and when.
  • Variables – (Used to be Macros). Can be used in GTM for adding repetitive pieces of code of operations that need to be performed multiple times.
  • Data Layer – JavaScript object on a page that holds customer data that will pass from your site to GTM.
  • Events – Any action of interest that takes place on a site.

Benefits of Google Tag Manager

  • Speed – Without the need for a developer it cuts down the time needed to implement a tag.
  • Debugging – GTM includes a “preview” tool to enable you to debug before making live updates. This can prevent any last mistakes and ensures that data doesn’t suddenly stop tracking.
  • Version Control – GTM can quickly roll back to previous tag manager implementations if something doesn’t work out quite as expected.
  • Flexibility – Create event tracking and other tracking, such as call to click, with the online interface.

Tag Manager Structure

Like within Google Analytics, each campaign in GTM has a structure, and depending on how much access a given person has is to how much of a campaign they can access. Account level means that a person has full access to everything within that GTM campaign. Each account will have a container which will hold tags, triggers and variables.

Connecting other Google Products

GTM allows you the ability to link your other Google accounts together, such as Analytics and AdWords, giving you all the data in one place.

If you want to learn more about Analytics and how to set up Google Tag Manager, contact us today!

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