Google Tag Manager (GTM) – A Comprehensive Guide

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a specialized service that helps users create and manage tags for websites or mobile applications. It allows for the integration of third-party codes, system testing, and independent analytics setup without requiring external specialists.

Who Needs Google Tag Manager?

GTM is useful for anyone working with analytics, contextual advertising, and forecasting. Marketers can use it to implement analytics systems on websites and track key performance indicators (KPIs). This ultimately helps in evaluating the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and streamlining customer profile management.

Advantages of Google Tag Manager

1. Pre-built templates for integrating Google Analytics and other metrics.
2. Convenient tag implementation and editing.
3. Ability to use custom tags.
4. Text replacement for quick selection of the required tag.
5. Staged tag loading to improve website performance.

Key Components of Google Tag Manager

To master GTM, it is essential to understand a few key concepts: container, tag, trigger, and variable.

• Container: A repository that stores all the tags for a resource. It provides the code needed to activate tags on a website.
• Tag: A snippet of code used to track traffic, user behavior, and analyze advertising campaigns, targeting, and remarketing.
• Trigger: Determines when a tag is fired or blocked. It contains specific events such as external link clicks, page views, etc., ensuring that a tag activates only on designated pages.
• Variable: A parameter assigned specific values that a trigger can use.

The workflow is as follows: Each Google Tag Manager account contains at least one container, which holds one or more tags (e.g., Google Analytics). A trigger is then assigned to the tag, defining its activation conditions and data reporting process. The trigger, in turn, reads a specific variable.

How to Set Up Google Tag Manager

To use GTM, you need to sign in with an existing Google account or create a new one. Once logged in, click "Start for Free".

1. Company Information: Enter your company name, website address, and choose the appropriate platform.
2. Accept Terms: After agreeing to the terms, a window with the GTM code will appear.
3. Insert the Code: This code must be added to your website's header section. The file containing the code may be named index.html, header.php, or another name, depending on your CMS.

Connecting Google Analytics to GTM

1. Navigate to "New Tag" and click "Create a New Tag".
2. In the tag configuration, select Google Analytics: Universal Analytics.
3. Enter the tracking ID and set the trigger to "All Pages".
4. Publish the container to activate the tag.
5. For real-time debugging and quick adjustments, use the Preview Mode. This allows you to test the tag in the same browser before publishing the container.

Setting Up Triggers in Google Tag Manager

To create a trigger in Google Tag Manager (GTM):

1. Click on the "Create" (New) button in the upper right corner of the panel.
2. From the list of options, select "Just Links".

To configure trigger activation, set the condition to track clicks on a specific URL and define the address of the links to be monitored.

Configuring Variables in Google Tag Manager

To configure variables:

1. Select the appropriate options in the menu.
2. Adjust existing templates or create new custom ones.
3. Choose the variable type from the available list. Once configured, the variable will be accessible within the trigger filter.

Types of Variables:

• Page Variables: Capture the full or relative URL, referrer source, and hostname.
• Utilities: Interact with events, workspaces, container IDs, and versions.
• Errors: Report and log errors, debug containers, and track error URLs.
• Clicks: Capture HTML elements, URLs, element text, target attributes, and element IDs.
• Forms: Store form attributes, input values, classes, and text.
• History: Track changes in browser history or hash-based URL modifications.

Tracking Clicks on Social Media Buttons

Capabilities of Google Tag Manager

GTM enables tracking and implementing various analytics and marketing strategies. Some key use cases include:

• Create a custom tag.
• Copy the button’s code from the relevant platform.
• Set the trigger to fire either on all pages or a specific page.