Overview of Google Tag Manager
What is Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free online tool with a user-friendly, web-based interface that simplifies the process of working with tags. Tags are snippets of code that are added to a site to collect information and send it to first and third parties.
You can use tags for all kinds of purposes; however, the most common tags are used to track how people arrive at your site and what they do when they arrive. For example, tags allow for scroll tracking, monitoring form submissions, and generating heat maps*. Tags are also used to monitor specific events like PDF file downloads, video plays and when users click on specific links, like “Apply” or “Register”.
With GTM, one can add, edit, and disable tags without having to touch the source code. Websites commonly use several different tags and the amount of code needed to create and maintain them all can be overwhelming, to say the least.
While GTM is a Google product, it’s not limited to just working with tags for Google services like Analytics or Adwords. It’s designed to work with a variety of third-party tags (like Facebook, Crazy Egg, and Hotjar). And if you’re using a tag which doesn’t already have a built-in template in GTM, you can add your own custom code.
Additional reading about Google Tag Manager
- What is Google Tag Manager and why use it by Orbit Media
- Beginners Guide to Google Tag Manager by SEM Rush
- Analytics Academy: Google Tag Manager Fundamentals
- Tag Manger Overview by Google Support
*Website heat maps show where users click, how far they scroll, what they look at and what they ignore.
Understanding the Data
Once you get the information, the next big breakthrough is figuring out exactly what you should be looking at. The firehose of information Google Analytics spews out is vast - and if you are new to GA, it can be overwhelming. Our next guide will give you the resources to help understand the data coming in.