Google Tag Manager (GTM) is one of the most powerful and underappreciated web analytics tools in existence. The importance of Tag Manager lies not only in its ease of use but also in its ability to exponentially improve the effectiveness of your analytics. 

You can save time and resources on the development. You’ll get more accurate insights into all the third-party tags. It will provide you with immediate feedback so you can make informed decisions and take immediate action. which is free to help other 3rd party services to publish and measure various data with the help of tags, variables and data layers. Multiple 3rd party tags will be placed in a google tag manager that helps to reduce the page load with just 1 javascript code.

In a simple way each 3rd party tracking codes into the tag within the container in a single javascript code.

For example analytics.js, facebook.js, adwords.js and hotjar.js INTO gtm.js

Google tag manager is broadly used for marketing and analytics purposes to enhance the user data by implementing the tags and based on the data layer. 

Implementation of the google tag manager is based on usage. For basic tracking, developers are no need but they need it when the advanced tracking is implemented.

What is a web API in GTM:

Web API is used to manage the tags to track and measure the user data by adding javascript and non-javascript code to your website. This method can be helpful to reduce errors and to deploy the 3rd party tags quickly.

What is a container, and It’s ID in GTM: 

Container:

 The container is a javascript or non-javascript code that should be pasted on a page to track the whole user information with the help of tags, triggers and variables. but based on the selection of the tags and their implementation.

ID:

Id is a unique identification for every domain which is a part of the container javascript code.

Example: ‘GTM–CPWTSCM’

Difference between tags, triggers and variables in GTM

Tags:

Tags are the 3rd party tracking codes. These tags will help Google tag manager to deploy each tag based on the tracking code.

Example: Google Analytics, Adwords remarketing, Adwords conversion, Facebook pixel, Microsoft clarity, Hotjar, and Crazy egg.

Triggers:

Triggers are used to fire the tag when the event happens on the page by deploying the trigger based on the importance of the variable selection.

Example: Page view, Link click, Scroll depth, Form submission, Timer, and Youtube video.

Variable:

Variables will be needed additionally for google tag manager based on the specific requirements to deploy the tag and trigger.

Example: Click classes, Click id, Click text, Click URL, Form classes, and Event.

What is event tracking in google tag manager:

Event tracking in Google Tag Manager is the ability to track actions that a user takes on a page, without having to modify the source code of the page. 

For example: If you want to track that a user has logged into your app, you can add an event tracking tag to the login page, and then create a new trigger in Google Tag Manager that listens to changes to the value of the event tracking tag.

Difference between preview mode and debug mode in GTM:

Preview Mode:

preview mode is helpful to see how your tag behaves on a real page and can be useful when you are testing different creatives, or if you want to check how your website will behave after adding new tags. 

When the Preview Mode option is enabled and a tag is added, Tag Manager automatically adds a snippet of code to the page header to enable preview mode for that tag. 

When preview mode is turned off via the GTM settings page, the code snippet is removed from the header and loading that tag will no longer reload the page.

Debug Mode:

Debug mode is an important tool when working with Google Tag Manager. You might have many tags on your page. So, it is useful for troubleshooting errors in your Google Analytics implementation. It allows you to easily test your tags, triggers, and rules.

What is a custom template in GTM:

Custom templates are used to build your own tracking system to reuse in any other domain and it can be shared with your organization or others. It is more efficient and safer when we use custom HTML and custom Javascript template.

What is server-side tagging in GTM:

Server-side tagging is used to track the data within the website without client side tracking with the help of the google cloud platform, azure and aws. Serve side tagging is more useful than client-side tagging in security, page speed and tracking.

What is a mobile API in GTM:

Mobile API is for both android and Ios developers to track the data by implementing various tags and pixels in your mobile applications. If you are using firebase analytics then it is easy to integrate with google tag manager to make changes and for implementation.

How to use google tag manager:

Google tag manager can be used in multiple ways to track the data on a page by using tags, triggers and variables with the support of 3rd party apps. 

How to set up and implement 3rd party apps in google tag manager:

3rd party apps will provide the codes to add to your page. But here we are doing with google tag manager. So, we need to add their codes in tags and we add triggers based on our requirement.

How to setup and implement google tag manager in CMS:

Google tag manager will provide a code to set up the header and body section of the page. Each CMS platform has its own system.

WordPress:

Install and activate header and footer plugin paste your header code in the header section and body code in the body section and verify.

Shopify:

In Shopify, Click on the theme – click on edit code and paste your entire code in the header section of the theme and verify.

Webflow:

Log in to your web flow account and go to project settings and click on the custom code tab paste your header code in the header section and body code in the body section.

Magento:

Login to Magento store go to store >> settings >> configuration. Open the left panel and expand sales to choose google API. Expand the google analytics section, enable it and select the google tag manager and verify.

In container ID  – You have to copy the container ID in GTM and paste it here. If you are using google analytics then set enable content experiments to yes. Use default values in the remaining fields and click on save the configuration and verify.

Prestashop:

Open file manager in Cpanel and navigate to public_html >> themes >> warehouse. look for header.tpl file and open in edit mode and verify.

 Add your tag manager container code just after the opening tag enclosed with {literal}{/literal} and verify.

Drupal:

First, we have to download the google_tag module from GitHub and login to your drupal account, navigate to the extend tab and click on install the new module and upload the zip file. Copy the container id in google tag manager and paste it on the container id section and verify.

Joomla:

Login in to your Joomla account, select the extension and install your GTM plugin zip file and configure the plugin with the container Id and publish your plugin.

What is event tracking in google tag manager:

Event tracking in Google Tag Manager is the ability to track actions that a user takes on a page, without having to modify the source code of the page. 

For example: If you want to track that a user has logged into your app, you can add an event tracking tag to the login page, and then create a new trigger in Google Tag Manager that listens to changes to the value of the event tracking tag.

Google tag manager vs Google analytics:

Google Analytics is a very popular analytics tool, but it is not the only option. Google Tag Manager can be used as an alternative while also providing many benefits over Google Analytics. 

Google Tag Manager is not as well known as Google Analytics, but it has a number of compelling benefits for marketers. First, Google Tag Manager is a JavaScript-based solution for tracking user interactions with the website. 

This is in contrast to Google Analytics, which is a server-based solution. This means that when a user visits a website, Google Tag Manager is downloaded to their browser instead of directly to the server. It is also simpler to use, making it easier for marketers to set up analytics for the websites they manage.

Google tag manager chrome extensions:

1. Tracking Code Sniffer: Helps in finding all the code that is not a part of your GTM container.
2. Google Analytics Debugger: Helps to debug the tagging implementation and find errors early on. 
3. Tags Explorer: Tag Explorer is a tool that shows which marketing tags are running on the page you are currently viewing and what beacons are firing.
4. Google Tag Assistant: It gives you all the information about the tags, such as their ID, type, and name
5. Datalayer Checker: The easiest way to debug and check the dataLayer implementations without having to use the browser console!