FAQ - Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Collecting user behavior has become an important part of online marketing to develop and improve your company's online presence. Google Tag Manager (GTM) is Google's own tracking tool that allows you to evaluate your company's online campaigns, for example. However, the program can be a bit complex to get to grips with if you're not familiar with it beforehand. That's why I answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Google Tag Manager in this blog post!
If you are interested in reading more about the interaction between Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, read our other blog post 'Introduction to goal setting and conversions in Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager'.
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What is Google Tag Manager?
As mentioned, GTM is a tracking program developed by Google, which is essential if you want to know more about consumer behavior on your website. The program is particularly relevant in interaction with Google Analytics (GA) - You can set up tracking, among other things in connection with advertising on Google, simply in GTM to analyze data through GA.
GTM is an easy and efficient way to add and create objectives with just a few clicks. One of the great advantages of the tool is that you can automate and reuse variables. This also means that much of the manual work has been done automatically, making it both a more secure and time-saving tool - win win!
All you need to get started is a free Google account. In addition, you have the option to connect it to your GA account and customize settings such as custom dimension. This feature allows you to set up settings for your GA tags, ensuring that GA and GTM match.
What can I track in Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager makes it possible to track a wide range of different things - of course, what is relevant to track varies from website to website. For example, if your business sells products and uses Facebook advertising, it's relevant to measure the number of purchases and order value. You can also use it to quantify how many people sign up for your newsletter, click on a specific button or download something from your website.
GTM is particularly useful for tracking your users, as the tool makes it possible to automate the process. This means that you don't have to set up every goal individually.
How can I check that GTM is set up correctly?
Before you get started with GTM, it's a good idea to make sure that your tracking is set up correctly. For example, if there are errors under one of your tags, you risk losing or receiving misleading data on your users. Such errors can have major consequences for your future work, effectively rendering the data useless.
You can ensure that your tracking is set up correctly using a Google Chrome Extension called Google Tag Assistant. Once you have set up your tag with an associated trigger, you can use the GTM debug mode to check that everything is as it should be.
You do this by clicking preview in the top right corner of the GTM page. This will open a new tab in your browser where you open your website. Here you can see which tags have been fired. If everything looks as it should, you can go back to GTM and press submit or submit. The changes won't be live for anyone but yourself until you have submitted them.
Can I set up structured data through Google Tag Manager?
The answer is YES! Schema Markup is an incredibly useful tool for setting up structured data through GTM for your website without the need for extensive technical coding knowledge. In addition to being an easy way to set up structured data, Schema Markup is a great advantage in the battle for Google rankings and an easy way to make your pages attractive and manageable.
By using Schema Markup, you help Google read the connection between the content on your website and the search query. You also help Google decide what information should be displayed about your products in the search results.
How do I add other users to my account?
Google Tag Manager allows you to give other users access to your account. You can grant permission at either account or container level. For account permission, you can either set the user as an administrator or user.
You can add other users to your account by following the eight steps below:
- Click on Administrator.
- Select "User management" in the Account column.
- Click the "+" in the top right corner.
- Select "Add new users".
- Enter one or more email addresses.
- Set account permissions. User is selected by default and this level allows the user to view basic account information. Select Administrator if you want the user to be able to create new containers and edit user permissions for accounts and containers.
- Optional: Set container permissions for each container that the user should have access to.
- Click on "Invite". Each invited user will receive an invitation to use the container.
Good tip: Always make sure you have at least two active administrator accounts. If there is only one admin user, you risk not having access to the account if they move to a new job. It's therefore always a good idea to have a plan for how account ownership will be handled if a team member changes jobs.
Most common reasons for data collection failure
When you have finished setting up your Google Tag Manager account, it is important that you check that everything is set up correctly. In order to collect your data in Google Analytics, your GTM account must be set up correctly - if it is not, the data cannot be collected.
The most common reasons for data collection failures are:
- You are not using custom dimensions
- You have not set up a test ID
- You don't use lookup tables to handle multiple IDs
- You are not consolidating tags
- You are not using gaEvent to manage events
- You forgot the non-interaction hit on your events
- You are not using custom javascript
- You do not remove personally identifiable information through GTM
- The data layer loads in the wrong order
- You are going to type the hostname incorrectly
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