There’s a reason more and more companies are starting to make a switch to a Tag Management System. Aside from being the easiest option that’s readily available, Google Tag Manager also has a number of perks. For one, ever since its release, it has made the lives of online marketers easier through one tracking code at a time, and it doesn’t stop to that. In this article, we’re going to give you a better idea of what you can expect with the tag management system, as well as the drawbacks that would help you decide if you’ll really benefit from it or not.
Benefits of Using Google Tag Manager
For starters, using GTM is a great way to maximize time, improve scalability, and have enough creative space to come up with complex, customized tags. Aside from that, here’s what you can expect:
Easy to Use
Google Tag Manager is easy to use that team members can easily make updates and add new tags whenever it’s needed. Even those without a background in coding would be able to test each modification and enable them even without the assistance of a web developer. That means not only will you be able to save a good amount of cash, it also speeds time to launch, allowing the IT department to concentrate on bigger and more important projects, such as improving the website.
User Experience Has Never Been This Simple
Just like what has been mentioned earlier, a tag management system is capable of improving the user experience in a number of ways– both directly and indirectly. For example, there are several tags on your website, and this could definitely affect the loading speed. However, with a tag management system, only the tag container snippet would be loaded and the rest would be stored within the snippet. The user will be able to manage all tags from a single location, and this would definitely have a positive impact on the overall speed of the website. Aside from that, due to the fact that Google Tag Manager comes with every tracking– better known as auto-even tracking, you’ll be able to easily create custom events that record things, such as scroll depth.
Troubleshooting Becomes Less Complicated
With GTM, a new archived version is created every time a modification within the system takes place– that means you can easily return to the former version when needed. This can be very helpful as the tags are kept organized, which makes troubleshooting simple and easy to apply. Through this, you can easily handle similar installations on new GTM containers.
Users and Permissions Management
Through Google Tags Manager, you can easily set permissions for each user and control internally who is allowed to make modifications to the website, and assist with tag creations, rule modifications, and macros.
Extremely Flexible
The data layer, which is described as an object coded on the website that transmits information to Google Tags Manager is highly flexible. That means you have the benefit of sending information, such as order value, page category, and even even actions as variables that can be utilized when updating pixels.
Upgrades Are Much Simpler
With the help of GTM, future updates and enhancements wouldn’t be as complicated as they used to be. Due to the fact that modifications can be done through the interface, instead of having it manually made on the website, you’ll be able to perform these modifications with less hassle. Aside from that, for those who are thinking of switching to Universal Analytics, GTM makes the transition much easier.
Drawbacks of Using Google Tag Manager
Despite that Google Tag Manager has a number of benefits, we cannot ignore the fact that it also comes with flaws, and here are some of these:
The Turn Key Tags Are Limited
For those who are not aware what “turn-key” tags are, they are the tags created through forms instead of copy-pasting JavaScript codes. Since the turn-key tags for Google Tag Manager is quite limited, it would be difficult to implement web analytics if it’s not Google Analytics. Likewise, in order to make your tags work you’ll have to paste JavaScript code into a “custom HTML” tag in GTM. This requires some expertise.
No Dedicated Support Team
Although Google offers guidance when creating the data layer, and initial setup, it ends with that. You cannot expect much assistance for other tag management systems that would help you with the set up and other issues that might arise. Although GTM is flexible, a simpler tag management system would be more ideal because of this.
Security Risks
Any tag management system can offer security risks if not treated properly. Luna Metrics’ posts offers great insight on how to properly manage tag management systems to avoid risks.
Alternatives To Using Google Tag Manager
Analytics.js
Analytics.js is an open source library: https://github.com/segmentio/analytics.js Analytics.js makes it simple to gather client information and send it to a wide range of devices utilizing a single, unified API.
You can read more about analytics.js here: https://segment.com/docs/sources/website/analytics.js/quickstart/
Enterprise Tag Managers
Tag managers like Tealium and Ensighten offer the same basic thing as Google Tag Manager, but are targeted at large enterprises and are paid.
Segment
Segment.com is similar in concept to analytics.js, but quite a bit larger in scope and capabilities. Segment let’s you track user data once from your website, mobile app, and servers. Segment has free and self-service plans for small sites & apps, developers and agencies… as well as enterprise-level plans for data retention, historical replay, new integrations, etc.
Please feel free to suggest other alternatives, issues or advantages on the comments below, that you’ve found when using tag management systems.
