With the constant evolution of Google and ways to gain website statistics, as a business in the digital world, it is vital to stay one step ahead of the game and utilise all resources to your advantage. The latest, and we think most effective resource Google has kindly given us over the last year or so, is Google Tag Manager. There are several different benefits of Google Tag Manager, which makes it the best system yet.
Benefits of Google Tag Manager
If you’re working in just about any role within the digital industry, particularly if you run SEO campaigns, the name Google Tag Manager probably isn’t an unknown term to you, and by now, your tags should be in full swing.
Google Tag Manager is a management system that incorporates Google Analytics with specially created tags to track interactions on your website of choice. It is your choice to choose the complexity of the tags you set up to trigger when different events occur, many users start simple and then become more creative as they feel more comfortable.
There are numerous different benefits of setting up Google Tag Manager, one of the main being the independence you will gain without having to rely on a developer continuously. We’ve devised a list of the top seven benefits, so keep reading!
1. Conversion Statistics
One of the main benefits of Google Tag Manager is that it allows you to gain considerably more accurate website statistics, the main of which being leads and conversions. In the past, although Google’s tools allowed us to gather information on statistics, they tended to be rather vague.
Once Google Tag Manager is set up, various events can be added to Google Analytics to track conversions. This allows you to see exactly what pages conversions are coming from and whether these are the intended landing pages. If some pages are achieving more conversions than others, it’ll give you a starting point to investigate into why this particular page is more appealing for users and how you can replicate this throughout the website.
Google Tag Manager is ideal for tracking website statistics as once you have set up your initial variables and triggers, multiple different tags can be added all in one place. The tags you opt for adding to your container will depend on the type of website you have, the main call to actions and the leads you want to document.
Types of leads you can track are:
- Form Submissions
- Outbound Links Clicked
- Page Scroll Depth
- Telephone Links Clicked
- Email Links Clicked
2. Improves Speed and Processes
Google Tag Manager not only improves the physical speed of the website but also the speed of processes within your business, making projects more seamless. Rather than having to go back and forward from each department such as web development and marketing teams to make website changes, all updates can be done through Tag Manager.
You can add, change and make updates to tags within a matter of minutes meaning you can gather statistics and information for clients upon their request. All tags are controlled in one place, so you can quickly log in and grab the information yourself without having to wait around for the help of a team member with more technical knowledge.
3. Preview Tags
In the past, to the annoyance of many, there was simply no way to preview your events or spot errors on Google Analytics until after you had submitted the code to the website and made the changes live. This meant that unfortunately, even the smallest mistakes could cause backend errors on your website, potentially disrupting functionality for users.
On Google Tag Manager, you are able to switch your browser into preview mode to double check whether all of your variables, triggers and tags work in harmony and are being fired when they are supposed to. It is recommended to switch through various different pages to ensure that tags are thoroughly checked. Making sure that there are no faults initially means that you won’t have to worry about having to continuously go back and forth to developers to help solve the problem.
If it is your first time setting up Google Tag Manager, preview mode will also give you an insight into exactly what your triggers will look like when they fire once live, meaning you won’t be faced with a completely unknown set of statistics when you have to gather information when it’s live.
4. Multiple Tags
Once you have familiarised yourself with setting up the basics, it is time to start branching out to more specific tags. If the business uses Facebook, setting up Facebook Pixel Tracking is an absolute must-have. It allows you to drill down on the number of users who have filtered through to your website from links you have included in Facebook ads. The benefits of implementing a Facebook pixel is that not only can you track conversions, but you can also set up automatic bidding which will allow you to target people who are most likely to make a conversion through Facebook. After you have identified your ideal target audience, you can then start to consider which ads you may remarket in the future. As ads are paid, implementing a Facebook pixel will also track how well you are spending money and whether in the future, it would be more beneficial to opt for a smaller or larger budget.
Although LinkedIn paid posts are a little less popular, they are fantastic for reigning in new clients and customers if your company works on a B2B level. Due to the new Google Tag Manager updates, LinkedIn has set up a tool called LinkedIn Campaign Manager which uses your pixel to track various different ad statistics. Not only can you see the overall number of conversions, but also the conversion rate, cost per conversion, post-click conversions, conversion value and the return on ad spend – very similar to statistics shown on Google Adwords.
5. Ability to Export and Import Files
When setting up any new Google tool whether it may be Google Business, Analytics or Webmaster Tools, each factor must be set up one by one meaning if you have several different clients, this can be very tedious.
Google Tag Manager completely removes the tediousness of individual setups and instead gives you the option to both import and export files. All you will need to do is set up all variables, triggers and tags on one account and then save them as one file on a custom template. This template can be exported from one Google account and then export onto your next.
How to Export and Import
Below is a guide on how to export then import files on Google Tag Manager:
- Log into Google Tag Manager
- Go to the ‘Admin’ section in the top left-hand corner
- Under the container, there will be the option to ‘Export Container’
- Choose the container you want to export then click ‘Export’
- The exported file will save to your desktop downloads folder
- Log into the Google Tag Manager account you want to import the file to
- Again, go onto the ‘Admin’ section and onto the ‘Import File’ section
- Click ‘Choose Container File’ and select the exported file in your downloads folder
- You will then have the choice to either override your existing version or create a new version
6. Easier To Make Future Upgrades
Once you’ve got the hang of it, Google Tag Manager is, in fact, incredibly flexible and easy to use, and this is the same when it comes to making website updates.
All future website updates you will need to make can be created through a user-friendly interface, which makes upgrades a no-hassle operation. Rather than having to make enhancements on each web page one by one, it can instead be done all at once. All you’ll need to do is log into Google Tag Manager and make your modifications quickly; they will no longer have to be made manually.
Reverting Changes
There is also a time stamp section which allows all updates and newer container versions to be documented in one place. Each time a user adds new tags, triggers and variables or makes a change, it can be saved as a new version which overlaps the last. The great benefit of multiple versions is that you can revert the changes if you change your mind, or if the changes do not go according to plan.
As mentioned previously, Google Tag Manager does decrease the reliance on developers to make backend changes, so with practice, anyone will be able to make modifications and upgrades to a website simply.
7. Two-factor Authentication
Security is a massive threat to all websites on the world web, and keeping track of all confidential data can prove incredibly tricky if you are responsible for several different sites.
Google Tag Manager allows you to have full control over who can have access over the account, and if you want it just to be you, then it is easy to set up. Previously, all you needed to gain access to a Google account was the email address and password, however now you can add additional two-factor authentications. Two-factor authentication means that not only will you have to submit the login details, but a set of digits will then be sent to the personal device connected to the account over text or through a phone call, which will need to be typed in to gain access to the account. If you would like to set up two-factor authentication on Google Tag Manager, this can be done in the ‘Admin’ section and then ‘Account Settings’.
If you give another user access and change your mind, for example, an employee that then leaves the business, you can revoke access to accounts at any given time. You can set permission for different users to have different roles on a Google Tag Manager account including those who can only see the tags, those who can make edits and lastly those who can publish changes. Restrictions can also be set up to ensure that no user can override tags, triggers or variables without permission.
Different, separate workspaces can also be created and allocated to different people, departments or even other companies who may need access. This means that only members of the workspaces can access a particular section of Google Tag Manager, this means all changes must be approved and published separately.
Make The Most Out Of Google Tag Manager!
If you haven’t already, then spend some time teaching yourself how to set up, use and gather data from Google Tag Manager. There are numerous different helpful resources and tutorials online that will make the process considerably easier. The layout of Google Tag Manager is very different from all other Google resources, which means it may take a little extra time to get the hang of it, but we can guarantee that it will be worth the initial work!