Why Google Tag Manager is the best way to track the activity on your website
In our previous post, we covered the basics of Ecommerce Analytics, popular tools like Google Analytics, and the three main metric categories every small-medium eCommerce should be measuring.
Digital marketing is all about the data, not just the analysis of it, but also the collection of it. This is why today we’re talking about Google Tag Manager.
When used alongside Google Analytics, you have a powerful and effective duo that collects large amounts of data from your site to be analyzed and used in your marketing and advertising activities.
You don’t have to be an analytics and code specialist to benefit from GTM. With a bit of time, study, patience, and maybe a stiff drink or two, you’ll be able to understand its potential and start managing your analytics the right way.
By the end of this blog, you should know:
- What tags are
- Why you need them
- How Google Tag Manager fits into your eCommerce success
- Where to get started
First of all, what are Tags?
Before getting into the tools, let’s get into the tags!
Tags are little chunks of JavaScript code that act like tiny minions working behind the scenes to perform specific tasks on your website.
Haven’t you been asking for little robot slaves to do your heavy lifting business tasks? ;)
Your tag minions can be incredibly diverse, and all depend on what job they have. Still, their primary function is to track the behavior of your site users and report this data back to its host program to generate those yummy analytic reports we all adore! This allows you and your team to make significant, informed moves that yield high returns!
Why do you even need to mess with tags in the first place?
In marketing and advertising, your goal is to get people on your site and then to complete a specific action — subscribing to an offer, purchasing a product or service, etc., but how do you know if your website and/or campaign is effective in converting?
Yup, you guessed it. Tags!
Remember those metrics we mentioned in the previous blog post? Adding tags to those actions will collect and send that data so you can see where your processes may be needing some TLC.
Here are a few powerful ways tags can help you:
- Get advanced insight into user behavior
- Validate your KPIs with proven metrics instead of guessing
- Identify specific behaviors to target in future campaigns
- Clarify areas where retargeting will be most beneficial
- Personalize your site functions to better suit your users and increase conversions
If you’ve been missing key information such as the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” factors in your campaigns, marketing planning, and delivery, tag utilization can help you fill in those blanks and stop wasting time, money, and other valuable resources on hit-and-miss efforts.
*Pro Tip: Collect, analyze, analyze some more, then plan and take action. Repeat often.
So how does Google Tag Manager (GTM) fit in?
Marketing and advertising often require the use of third-party systems and tech tools, like Google Analytics, AdWords, and Facebook, to name a few. All need tracking codes (tags) to be installed on your page to generate their analytic reports.
Without a tag manager, you’re left to manually open your website source code and cut/paste these code chunks yourself.
When the brain-boggling screen of long and confusing source text pops up, it typically makes coders smile, and most other people break out in hives.
Wanna see how your source code makes you feel? Right-click on your website and click “View Page Source” on the menu. Boom!
Manual tag management may not be a big deal if you’re pretty tech and data-savvy, but if not, having to handle all these code sources and tag texts can be pretty nerve-wracking.
Especially if you worry about accidentally deleting and breaking parts of your source code.
That’s where GTM comes into play! Once you’ve installed and set up GTM, you can add, edit, and manage all your future tags through GTMs console without cracking into your own site’s source code.
Your web code is now safe! But what about your site getting bogged down with all those tag minions running about?
Slow site loads can cost you in sales. That’s a fact.
In our last article, we recommended you keep track of your site load times to make sure you aren’t running sluggishly. If you are, you risk losing potential sales with short attention spans and also risk having your site crash during high traffic times (like you’re gunning for with those sexy campaigns).
When you add tags manually, you’re adding processes that can make your site load even slower, especially if they have a specific sequence they need to load in. If one tag takes longer to load and trigger an action, it delays each tag action after that.
Imagine a factory assembly line that only performs as well as its slowest worker, and no manager is present to fix the issue and get productivity back up to speed.
You’d hire one, right? Google Tag Manager is exactly that!
GTM will organize and streamline these added processes to make your load times shorter and smoother while still getting the tag functions you need.
Like a good tag minion manager should!
Getting Started:
Now that we understand the value of tags and the most accessible tool you can get started with let’s explore WHERE to get started. Here are a few areas you should be utilizing tags in your business:
- eCommerce home page
- Shopping page
- Product page
- Cart page
- Checkout page
- and Confirmation page
By utilizing tags in these areas you can track things like PDF downloads, page visits, product popularity, video views, and even form submission and abandonment — just to name a few.
Getting into the deep How-To’s goes well beyond the space and function of this specific post, but I’m sharing a few additional resources for those ready and raring to get started on their own.
The first is a comprehensive and detailed Google Tag Manager Introduction from Moz. This mini manual takes you into the specifics on how to use GTM to start tagging and tracking immediately.
The second is a visually stunning and information-packed PDF with 100 useful Tags eCommerce sites should deploy. Don’t go crazy and think you have to do them all overnight, but DO check them out and see if any present an immediate solution to some of your current struggles with data collection and analysis.
A few final thoughts!
Whether you’re feeling the drive to take your tag game on yourself, or plan to delegate this off to an agency, tags play a decisive role in your online sales success.
You may still need tech help, though.
Even though GTM eliminates the direct need for web developers in some ways, it’s still an incredibly meaty and complex system that may require a more skillful touch at times.
GTM has basic templates that an inexperienced person can use for general processes, and if you need customized tags with complex functions, you’d be best served to get some pro help.
Also, if you currently have tags installed directly in your source code, having a pro go in and remove these is ideal, so 1) you don’t have duplicate data, and 2) you don’t mess your code up.
Businesses with limited resources can still enjoy big benefits.
Small/medium businesses often have to pick and choose where they invest their marketing dollars, and tag tech often isn’t top of mind! But it should be, and with GTM, it CAN be.
You don’t have to have complex and crazy tags to generate substantial data insights that will hugely accelerate the success and longevity of your traffic, conversion, and retention campaigns.
Hopefully, this post has given you some great insight and resources to take your online sales success to the next level!
If it all feels a little intimidating and overwhelming, feel free to visit our website to schedule a chat with our data professionals and see how you can still get all the benefits of tag use without all the stress of doing it yourself.
Until next time, happy tagging!
