It can be hard to know which tools are really necessary when setting up your website for success, but Google Tag Manager (aka GTM) is one of them. It makes managing all of your tech tools way easier than it even should be! Read on for details as well as why you need it.

What is Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager is a digital tool. It provides a space for one “container” to hold all of the pixels within your tech stack and digital tools. In addition to holding the pixels, it also helps you create goal conversions on your site to feed back into Google Analytics, and custom events (or behaviors that you want to track). It’s a necessary part of true, powerful digital marketing and data analytics.

What does it do?

It holds all of your digital pixels and breaks website behaviors down in a way that you can quantify them. Want to set certain behaviors/actions on your site into trackable goals and events? You can! It’s lets you be a powerful, data-driven digital marketer.

Is Google Tag Manager Free?

Yes, yes, and yes! It’s free, as are many of Google’s business and digital products!

Why should I use it?

It not only makes it easier to embed important tags into your website (such as the Facebook pixel), it also makes it easier to manage all of your tags and tool pixels in one location. You login, check your container, and you have a list ready to review/edit/delete.

Who uses it in their day-to-day?

Digital marketers, entrepreneurs, programmers, web developers, and both small and large companies alike use it for digital marketing tracking and analytics.

How does it actually work?

There are three main parts to it that allow it to function. Tags, triggers, and variables. Tags are fired when a predefined trigger is initiated. This is identified by a unique variable. These are all held together by the data layer that feeds the variables. More can be read on the Google site.

Before you create tags, make sure you know your website’s goals. Grab my free template to walk through your website’s micro and macro goals with intention!