Google Tag Manager, or GTM for short, is a simple way to manage all your website tags without editing any code. Websites use tags, or JavaScript snippets, to deliver information to third parties, for example, Google Analytics, to track data across your site.
Before these had to be hard-coded, whereas now GTM makes it simpler to control how and what you track on your site, and other digital assets such as white papers, through tags. If used and managed properly, these tags can be utilized to collect valuable data to significantly help with conversion rate optimization (CRO) and increase online sales.
Sounds good right? Here are the two main ways to use GTM for increasing conversions.
Insert a tracking tool
Tracking user behavior on your site—how they navigate, how long they spend on each page, where they drop off—is essential knowledge for website owners who want to continuously improve their site’s conversion rate. Commonly, users use GTM to install Google Analytics (GA) or another popular tracking tool like Oribio. Similarly, GTM can also be used to create heat mapping tools, like Hotjar or Crazyegg.
Track events
Where GTM comes into its own is the ability to insert and manage tags that track more granular metrics such as events. Put simply, an event is something like a link click, PDF download, add to cart/remove from cart. This allows you to gain a deeper understanding of how users are interacting with your site—why are they leaving? What content are they interacting with? How far do they scroll down a page?
All this information can be used to add an extra layer of detail to improve the user journey and optimize the site for conversions.
Implementing Google Tag Manager
Whilst all the enhanced eCommerce functionality made doable through GTM is awesome, it does still require a level of technical understanding to implement and use properly.
If you’d like some more information on FTA and advice on how to get started, feel free to reach out to us!