Long-term management of Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a very good helper. It is a free tool from Google. It lets you manage and update analytics scripts, remarketing and conversion codes (collectively called tags) on websites without developers having to intervene directly in the code. The tool makes it easy to add new codes to the website and to keep the existing ones up to date, without needing a web developer. In this article we will look in more detail at our product devoted to the setup and long-term management of Google Tag Manager.
What Is Google Tag Manager and How Does It Work?
Besides easy maintenance and management of measurement codes without developers having to intervene, Google Tag Manager allows simple management in one place, offers the option of debugging the settings that have been made, and lets you work with versions. If some setting causes something to stop working, the website can be rolled back to the previous version and the implementation fixed.
Setting Up Google Tag Manager
Setting up the tool requires a Google account. If you do not have one, the complete management can take place directly with us. Individual domains (called containers), in which the specific settings are then made, can be placed under a single account. The most common rule is 1 domain = 1 container.
Once you have the right access and the initial audit has been carried out, a web analyst comes to the project and sets everything up according to the client's wishes. The most common cooperation needed from the client is providing the identifiers of the conversion and remarketing tags.
Advantages of Using Google Tag Manager
Long-term management of GTM has many advantages for managing websites. Some of them are listed below:
Simpler management of tracking codes
One of the biggest benefits of Google Tag Manager is the simplification of managing tracking codes. Because all tracking codes are stored in one container, it is easy to manage their activation and deactivation without having to change the page code.
Faster deployment of code
Thanks to Google Tag Manager, deploying new tracking codes to a website is faster and easier. Users do not have to wait for a web developer to intervene, but can insert the new code themselves and publish it immediately.
Flexibility and customisation options
Google Tag Manager gives users great flexibility and customisation options. Users can create their own tracking codes, edit existing ones, define triggering conditions and much more.
Conclusion:
We have been offering long-term management of Google Tag Manager to our clients for years and we definitely want to keep going this way. GTM is a tool for storing all scripts (for Facebook, Google Ads, Sklik). We set everything up for clients, test it and then manage it over the long term. The reason why long-term management of GTM is so important is that tags become outdated. It is also the changing shape of websites (a website is expanded, the client wants to measure new data and so on). At the same time this overlaps with the advantages of the tool. That is, once GTM has been placed in the website, all these things can be changed, updated and new measurements set up without developers having to intervene. Thanks to this the whole process is sped up, everything is in one place and everything is user-friendly. It also has a data layer, which allows debugging (= checking the settings). At the same time it lets the project and the marketing team work with the website more effectively.
We Can Illustrate This with Two Example Extremes:
- Websites often run on technologies that are becoming outdated, and anything older than 3 years is "past its prime". So if we have a company that has worked on the same platform for, say, 10 years, that platform is becoming outdated, ageing technologically, and it is difficult to maintain everything. We come across a phenomenon that many of our clients often describe. Even developers are afraid to touch this platform, under the motto "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". If a new technology then arrives (for example TikTok, Bing Ads), developers have a problem setting these technologies up in the website. Their work is often not done with the necessary quality. It usually happens that it breaks something on the website. So if a client wants to carry out current marketing strategies and needs to implement these tools in the website, a negative attitude from developers is very common. And this is exactly what GTM, which is inserted into the website and into which scripts are inserted through the administration, makes easier.
- The second example is a situation where in the GTM account many external people have shared access. There are users there who have no business being there with quite high rights and who can endanger the whole website. Because clients do not sufficiently understand these applications and are helpless, they give access to various agencies. In the case where GTM already exists on the website, it happens that these very people set it up wrongly. There are also errors in it, or the website uses a mix (part of the codes is in the website and part in GTM). And we also take care that only relevant people have access to GTM. People who understand it and know what they are doing.
What Is Our Recommendation?
It is therefore advisable to approach data collection for the long term and to use GTM managed for you by professionals. Anyone who does not have this is working against themselves and is only postponing the crash of their website to a later time. If developers are worried about security risks, we have a solution for that too – we can set up GTM so that most of these risks are eliminated.
We offer full implementation and care of Google Tag Manager. We will maintain it for the long term, handle access, carry out further settings, keep the naming conventions and documentation in order, so that when a new person arrives they can find their way around everything.
You can fill in our contact form without obligation. We will then arrange a meeting with you, at which you can explain your situation to us. We will then prepare everything exactly according to your needs.