A Google Tag Manager Overview

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a tag management system that allows you to deploy and manage tags across your websites and apps. Tags consist of snippets of code or tracking pixels that enable a variety of use cases, such as utilizing analytics tools and for marketing purposes. Google Tag Manager allows for user and engagement data to be sent back to Google owned platforms (like Google Analytics and Google Marketing Platform), as well as third party party platforms (like Meta, Salesforce, Hotjar, etc.).

GTM provides a centralized location for tag management, which allows users to forego the need to add code snippets for each individual desired endpoint destination of your website’s data directly within their website’s code. Instead, GTM can be deployed with relative ease by installing a couple of code snippets on each page of your website and endpoint tags are created in the GTM platform. Using GTM increases efficiency by allowing new code to be deployed with ease and reducing dependence on developer resources to add tracking codes to your website.

Hierarchy: Google Tag Manager has a defined hierarchy that allows for the management of multiple websites and apps within an organization:

• Account - The Account represents the highest level within GTM. There is typically one Account for the websites and apps in a given organization.

• Container - Containers are typically deployed for each website and app within an organization. The Container houses the coinciding tags, triggers, and variables for a given website or app. Each Container in an Account has a unique ID that uses the following format: “GTM-XXXXXX” with randomly assigned alphanumeric values to identify a specific Container.

There are a few key components that ladder up to tags within a Google Tag Manager container:

• Tags - The actual code snippet that collects and sends data to an endpoint destination when a trigger is fired

• Triggers - Are a series of specified variable-based conditions that define when and where a tag should “fire”

• Variables - These are values that coincide with the users (user ID, browser, etc.) or the elements (page URL, click text, etc.) of your website that are stored as interactions, or events, with your website occur

Google Tag Manager has the ability to integrate with consent management platforms (CMPs), like OneTrust and Cookiebot, to allow tag behavior to adhere to website users’ expressed preferences for data collection and adhere to user privacy.

While Google Tag Manager processes data within a website user’s browser, GTM also has the option for a more advanced deployment of server-side GTM (sGTM) that allows for data to be sent and processed on a server rather than the browser, providing improved data security, tracking accuracy, and improved site performance.

Lawless Data Works is here for all of your GTM questions and needs - contact us below!