Manage Tags Like a Sys Admin: 5 Ways Google Tag Manager Will Change Your Life

March 10th, 2016 by Search Influence Alumni

Where would we be without Google? It seems like for every issue that comes up in the field of online marketing, Google is ready with a solution. Google Tag Manager is one such solution. But before we examine the benefits of using this savvy tool, let’s first clarify what a tag is.

What Is a Tag?

Simply put, a tag is a snippet of website code that tracks visitors on a website. It allows companies to collect data for affiliate marketing, retargeting, conversion tracking, personalization, and a plethora of other cool marketing techniques.

What Is Google Tag Manager?

Back in 2012, Google saw online marketing tools growing more and more sophisticated. But as their sophistication evolved, the need for tags increased to make these tools effective. Though tags provide online marketers with beneficial information, tags can also overburden your website and become too confusing to manage.

So Google developed Google Tag Manager, a tool that allows online marketers to consolidate all their tags into a single strand of code and gives them the ability to manage their tags through a user-friendly web interface.

Now that we know what a tag and Google Tag Manager are, why should you use Google’s tool?

1. Faster Website Load Times

Too many tags on your website can slow it to a halt. This has a negative impact on your Google ranking because load times are one of the parameters Google takes into account. With Google Tag Manager, you are allowed to specify when you want a tag to be triggered, which means not all your tags will load at the same time. This increases your website’s performance speed, which makes both your users and Google happy.

2. Easy-to-Use Tag Template

With Google Tag Manager, it’s no longer necessary to call up the IT guy every time you need to add a tag to your web interface. Tag Manager eliminates the need to add the code snippet to your website’s source code by introducing an easy-to-use template. This template allows users to quickly add tags for AdWords conversion tracking, Google analytics, GDN remarketing, and more. Tag Manager also supports custom tags.

3. Error Prevention

In the world of online marketing, there’s nothing worse than trying to add a feature to your website and causing the website to crash instead. Google Tag Manager prevents this by giving users a preview mode, a debug tool, and access to the version history. These tools show users how proposed changes will affect their sites before the changes go live.

4. Customizable Permissions

Another way Google Tag Manager adds to efficiency is by allowing the account admin to delegate access to the tool amongst a variety of users. This means that more than one person can add tags to your website. This feature is essential for projects that involve a lot of collaboration, since you no longer have to worry about giving a third party complete access to your website so they can update your source code. You can give or limit access to the main account as much as you want.

5. Reduced Costs

Of course, the best part about being able to manage your tags and increasing your efficiency is the amount of money you save by doing so. Google Tag Manager is a free tool, and by using the wealth of resources at your disposal to learn how it works, you’ll be able to add and customize your tags like a system administrator in no time. Instead of messing around with your source code and picking up the shambles when it all falls apart, you’ll be able to work on what draws people best to your website: creating fantastic and informative content.

Do you currently use Google Tag Manager? Let us know how it’s working for your website.