Google Tag Manager Guide for Beginners Everything You Need to Know

What exactly is a Tag Manager?

Consider a Tag Management System (TMS) to be comparable in function to a Content Management System (CMS). Both may make changes to the whole site using a single interface gateway, eliminating the need for a developer to alter the code for each tag. The first installation of the GTM container code snippet requires the assistance of a developer.

A tag management system's objective is to manage the deployment of analytics platforms in tracking user interactions through a user-friendly interface.

Many prominent analytics solutions, such as Adobe Analytics' Launch, include their own tag manager. These tag managers, like their analytics platform equivalents, employ different languages yet perform quite similarly.

Most TMS systems are compatible with common platforms and apps and are designed to connect seamlessly without the need for additional programming (at least, that's what they claim).GTM works with a variety of analytics systems.

Setting Up a Google Tag Manager Account

To begin using Tag Manager, you must first create an account with the service. Unlike many of Google's products, Tag Manager will not automatically log you in with an existing Google Account. Instead, go to the Tag Manager website and select one of the 'Create Account' options, as seen below:

You must then enter a number of pieces of information. First, you must give your Tag Manager account a name. Google recommended that each business only create one account. As a result, your company name might also act as your account name.

You must also select a 'Container Name.' The container is the code that must be included to your web pages in order for Tag Manager to function. The container name should be the name of the site or sites where the container will be embedded. Then, just select the appropriate platform from the selection and click 'Create.'

After you've completed that easy page, you'll see two popups. The first is the Google terms of service agreement, which you must accept. The next section contains all of the information about the container snippet that you must include on your site's pages.

The container snippet is divided into two sections. The first line of code extracts information using JavaScript. You should put that snippet as high up in your page's' Head> section as possible. The second piece of code is an HTML iframe. That code must be placed right after the opening Body> element of each page.

The container's HTML iframe element is only used in certain conditions. When a site visitor disables JavaScript, this occurs. The presence of that snippet guarantees that tags continue to fire even in the absence of JavaScript.

You're ready to use Tag Manager once you've created your account and your first container. You may now begin to learn more about the interface and the pieces contained inside it.

Variables, Triggers, and Tags

Every analytics platform has its own lexicon. They all employ unusual terms and phrases that you would not have heard if you hadn't used the tool previously. Google Tag Manager is no different.

The TMS employs three labels in particular, which you must comprehend. Knowing what they're all about can help you get started with the tool. Tags, triggers, and variables are the three labels. Each is an important component of Tag Manager and has its own area in the UI. The connections to those sections are underlined in the image above.

But what exactly are a tag, a trigger, and a variable?

Tags

Tags are essential in Tag Manager. Tags are code snippets. Analytics and marketing platforms utilize them to interface with websites and applications.

Google Analytics, for example, uses tags to aid in the collection of data about users of various websites. Tag Manager exists to facilitate the creation and implementation of these tags easier for you. The system functions as an interface. It allows you to generate and publish tags without needing to code them yourself.

It's worth noting that these tags are not the same as the ones commonly discussed by web developers. Websites are coded using standard HTML tags by developers. Tags that fall under this category include tags, and so on. We also refer to analytics and marketing code snippets as tags because they are often used.

Tag Manager supports a wide range of tag setups natively. Tags from Google products, as well as several from third-party platforms, are among them. If GTM does not support the tag configuration you want to use, you can build custom tags.

Custom tags are not recommended by Google. They recommend that you approach a tag supplier to join their Tag Vendor Program. If you do wish to employ custom versions, you may do so by using HTML, image, or function tags. You may find detailed instructions for making them here.

Triggers

In reaction to a specific event, tags in a website's code will fire. That event is detected by a trigger. Triggers 'listen' to your website or app for specified events to occur. Pageviews, form submissions, and link clicks are examples of such occurrences. Triggers instruct tags to fire when they detect the event they're searching for.

When you create a new tag in GTM, one of the first steps is to specify its trigger. You can select from a variety of trigger kinds. Each one corresponds to the specific type of event for which you want the tag to trigger.

By default, a trigger you build causes a tag to be fired whenever the appropriate event occurs. You may, however, attach filters to a trigger to further determine when tags should fire and when they should not.

For example, you might include a filter that ensures that a tag is only activated when the URL on which an event happens contains a specific suffix. This may be '/products,' '/blog,' or anything else. This allows you to concentrate more carefully on occurrences occurring in certain regions of your website.

Variables

Tag Manager variables are associated with both tags and triggers. They are values that aid in properly defining what the tag or trigger is designed to perform. The easiest approach to understand variables is to look at how they function for triggers and tags in turn.

Variables, in the case of triggers, determine when the trigger should instruct its linked tag to fire. For example, you might set up a trigger to fire its tag when the URL variable contains 'website.com/products.'

When it comes to tags, their variables indicate what information the tag should gather. You may, for example, define a tag to retrieve a product ID and the monetary value associated with a transaction. Tag Manager comes with a plethora of Built-In Variables. They address the majority of the fundamental requirements for trigger and tag sets.

You can also define your own variables. You can define those variables to account for any special needs you may have. That is presuming that the Built-In Variables do not meet those criteria. We'll go through the two types of variables in more detail later.

GTM; Assisting You in Organising, Implementing, and Inventorying Your Tags

If you operate a website or work as a webmaster, you understand how critical it is to collect reliable data. Every area of your business is influenced by data. The insights provided by reliable data assist you in making the best marketing decisions. These insights also aid in ensuring that your site is functioning properly.

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