This lesson is written by a guest author, George Wakerley, who is an expert in all things analytics.
All screenshots are taken from analytics.google.com
Summary
In this lesson, we will look at how to set up Google Tag Manager and how to create the necessary tags you might want to use. We will show you how to use Google Tag Manager to set up Google Analytics.
What is Google Tag Manager?
If you read our previous article on how to set up HotJar, you may have read how to install it onto your website via Google Tag Manager. This is a free and useful tool for installing new tracking codes and tags onto your website with ease.
Before the days of Tag Manager, you would have had to rely on a webmaster or friend who knows a bit of coding to install individual pieces of code, known as Scripts, onto your website.
The immediate drawback of this means that you would have to rely upon the other person actually getting round to doing it. Sometimes you just want something done right now and Google Tag Manager can help you to achieve this.
You install just one script, then the rest is in your hands. This is much more efficient than installing individual products as separate scripts, as everything will be in one place. You also won’t have to rely on your webmaster installing each of them individually.
Google Tag Manager isn’t limited to only installing Google scripts, such as Google Analytics or AdWords tracking. You can also use it to set up tracking codes for HotJar, Facebook and, well, anything you want!
How Can I Set Up Google Tag Manager?
To start, you need to be signed into the correct Google account. Always check this before starting the setup process, just for tidiness reasons.
- Go to https://tagmanager.google.com/
- Click on Create Account
- Enter your company name as the Account Name
- Make sure your selected Country is United Kingdom
- For the Container, enter your company name again – If your business has multiple websites, enter a unique name for the website you will be adding these codes to
- Select Web for Where to use the container
- Click on Create
After agreeing to the Terms & Conditions, you will see a popup with your Google Tag Manager code and some instructions. Give this to your webmaster to install.
If you have any other tracking codes, such as Google Analytics or Google Ads Conversions, make sure they delete those tags as well. This is to avoid having two of the same tags on your website.
You can access the Google Tag Manager code at any time, in case you decide to install it later. When you’re in your Container, simply click on Admin towards the top of the page and click on Install Google Tag Manager from the third list on the right. This will show you the code and instructions again.
Once that code has been placed on your website, we can start creating tags. As said before, we will show you how to install Google Analytics with the Tag Manager platform.
First, you should start by going to your Google Analytics account and making a note of your Tracking ID. You can find this in the Admin section of Google Analytics, under the Property column.
Click on Admin in Google Analytics and look for the Tracking Code option under Property
You’ll see your Tracking ID in the top-left
After you’ve made a note of your Google Analytics Tracking ID, just follow these steps to create a Google Analytics tag in Google Tag Manager:
- Go to Google Tag Manager and head over to the relevant Container
- Click on Tags on the far left of the page
- Click on the New button, which should be towards the top-right
- Change the Name of your tag to Google Analytics
- Click on Tag Configuration to bring up a list of tags that Google Tag Manager can install
- Choose Google Analytics – Universal Analytics from that list. It should be at the very top
- For the Settings Variable, click the drop-down menu and select New Variable
- Change the Name of your variable to Google Analytics ID
- Add your Google Analytics Tracking ID where prompted and click Save
- Select Triggering and set it to All Pages
- Click save and your tag is set up!
After setting this up, you’ll be able to add more tags for Facebook Pixel, HotJar, Google Ads and more without needing to contacting your webmaster again. As you add more and more tools to your website via Google Tag Manager, you’ll really start to see the benefit of it and feel relaxed knowing that everything is in one place.
No more messy website code!
If you have any questions about Google Tag Manager, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
