Setting Up Google Tag Manager
Setting up Google Tag Manager is actually pretty easy, and it doesn't require very much of technical skills to get started with your account and the new concept container tags.
This guide covers 4 simple steps to setting up Google Tag Manager on your site, and the only thing you need ...is a Google account. But, first things first!
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is yet another free tool from Google, and a solution for managing your websites tracking scripts. Most webmasters today use a number of different tracking tools for the purpose of measure Traffic, Advertising & Sales etc. and it's not unusual that multiple tools actually generates such amount of extra code that it shows an impact on your page load time and overall website performance.
The Tag Manager from Google lets you install a single snippet of JavaScript tag, where you then insert numerous tracking tags in a “Container Tag”. You can choose to add, configure and update e.g. AdWords, DoubleClick, Google Analytics and non-Google tags directly from the web interface instead of editing the site code each time. Google Tag Manager allows you to easily manage all tags from one place, without having to deal with frequent changes to the HTML.
What is Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is yet another free tool from Google, and a solution for managing your websites tracking scripts. Most webmasters today use a number of different tracking tools for the purpose of measure Traffic, Advertising & Sales etc. and it's not unusual that multiple tools actually generates such amount of extra code that it shows an impact on your page load time and overall website performance.
The Tag Manager from Google lets you install a single snippet of JavaScript tag, where you then insert numerous tracking tags in a “Container Tag”. You can choose to add, configure and update e.g. AdWords, DoubleClick, Google Analytics and non-Google tags directly from the web interface instead of editing the site code each time. Google Tag Manager allows you to easily manage all tags from one place, without having to deal with frequent changes to the HTML.
4 simple steps to setup Google Tag Manager
Create an account
- Visit www.google.com/tagmanager, and sign-up for a GTM-account using your Google account.
- Specify your preferred Account Name. (One account per company, and one container per website)
Create a Container
- Enter a Container Name. (Name the container after your domain name)
- Set your Time Zone.
- List your preferred sub/domains.
- Accept the terms of service agreement.
Add the Container Script to your site
- Copy and paste the snippet of code to every page on your site. (Directly after the opening <body> tag)
- If using Wordpress, there are a few good plug-ins available, making this somewhat extensive work, “silky smooth”.
- Check out WP Google Tag Manager, you only need to enter the “Container ID” to synch the CMS with GTM.
- Remove the previous tracking script from your site. (e.g. Google Analytics, AdWord etc)
Add, Configure and Publish the Container Tags
- Select to add a tracking tag
- Specify Tag Name & Tag Type
- Enter your Web Property ID (E.g. Google Analytics Tracking ID – UA-1234567-8)
- Configure and define rules for what pages to include. (You need to fire the Tag on “All Pages” if you're working on a site wide implementation).
- Navigate to “Versions” on your left-hand side menu.
- Preview the site for making sure it looks and behaves like you expected, and try debugging for verifying that pages are actually “firing” accordingly.
- Hit “Publish” and you’re done!