December 30, 2019
Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics: What’s the difference?
Updated: December 30th, 2019. When I first heard about Google Tag Manager (GTM) in early 2013, I felt a bit confused. At that time I had no idea that tag management was a thing at all, so naturally, I found myself questioning what Google Tag Manager was anyway? What’s the difference between Google Analytics events and GTM events?
And nowadays I actually still notice this trend of confusion among many beginners. In this blog post, I’ll compare Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics and show you the main differences.
Spoiler alert: they do not replace each other. They are meant to be used together.
Google Analytics In a Nutshell
Google Analytics’ main purpose is tracking data, storing it and generating reports about your website, for example:
- how many people visited your website yesterday?
- what country are they from?
- how many pages did they visit per session?
- how many visitors bounced off your website (without performing any action)?
- which pages were the most popular, etc.?
The only way Google Analytics can track these user interactions is with the help of tracking code (also known as GA Javascript code snippet) that must be placed on every page of your website.
Once an interaction occurs on a site (e.g. pageview), a Javascript snippet sends the corresponding data to Google Analytics.
There’s no problem if you just want to put the GA tag on all websites and track general information like page views, bounce rate, session duration, referrals, etc. However, you’re limiting yourself big time.
You may want to track how many people use a specific feature on your website/app. Or maybe you are interested in tracking sales, huh? In this case, you’ll need to add custom tags – Google Analytics events that send the data only when a visitor completes a particular action on your website. A good example here could be a form submission.
So what do you do here? Ask the developer to add that form submission tracking tag to a website (directly in the code), right? But what happens when there are tens or hundreds of interactions you are willing to track with Google Analytics?
Unfortunately, it will require a lot of developer’s time (and they are always very busy!). It might take weeks or even months until you can get your marketing tags up and running, which is a real bummer.
Google Tag Manager to the Rescue!
Google Tag Manager makes it easier to manage this mess of tags by letting you define the rules of when certain tags should fire, but first, let’s take a quick overview of GTM.
Google Tag Manager is free software from Google that allows you to deploy various types of code (tags) to your website. Some good examples of a tag would be Google Analytics tracking code, Google Analytics event codes, Google Ads conversion script and remarketing tags. There are many more types of code that can be added to your website using GTM, including custom codes.
Google Tag Manager does not replace Google Analytics. Instead, it helps users to easily add Google Analytics tracking code (tag) to a website, deploy GA event code snippets and define rules when each code must fire.
Prior to GTM, GA tracking codes had to be hard-coded, usually by a web developer on each individual page. Having hundreds of events is very difficult when it comes to maintaining/updating them. But Google Tag Manager solves this problem because all your tags are stored in one place – your GTM account.
Imagine that Google Tag Manager is a Toolbox, where you keep all your tools: a ruler (Google Analytics), a hammer (Google Ads), etc.
Google Tag Manager also lets you test your tags to make sure they are triggered when you load the right page or click a particular button. Another great benefit: you can change your tags and the way they work without actually changing the source code of your website (which you may not be able to do because of slow release cycles or busy schedule of developers) – instead you just edit tags in GTM user interface and publish changes with a click of a button.
Google Analytics is not the only tag compatible with Google Tag Manager. Other examples include:
- Google Ads Conversion Tag.
- Google Ads Remarketing Tag.
- Facebook Pixel code.
- Crazyegg tracking code.
- Inspectlet tracking code.
- Any other custom HTML/Javascript code.
To sum up, Google Tag Manager lets you manage various Javascript tracking codes (a.k.a. Tags) on your website. Google Analytics tracking code is one of those tags
.
Example
As I have previously pointed out, Google Analytics is a Tag itself. According to GA instructions, you need to place GA tracking code on every page of your website. A sample tracking code should look like this:
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<!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-83848370-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-XXXXXXX-X'); </script> |
Google Tag Manager offers a default Google Analytics tag template, so setting it up is fairly easy. After you installed GTM on your website, go to Tags.
- Click New
- Click the Tag Configuration block and choose tag template – Universal analytics
- Add Google Analytics Settings Variable. If you’re new to it, here’s a guide.
- Keep Track Type as Pageview and click the Triggering section.
- Choose All pages.
Congratulations! You just created a Google Analytics Pageview tag in Google Tag Manager. It will track pageviews on all pages which have GTM container snippet installed. All pageviews will be sent to Google Analytics property UA-XXXXXXX).
Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics: Events
In Google Analytics all events are displayed in the event report (Behavior → Events). They often represent interactions that happened on your webpage. The data for this report is populated from Event hits that are sent from your website to Google Analytics’ servers. Prior to the birth of Tag Management systems (like GTM) Event hits had to be initiated by small Javascript codes placed on your website. Here’s an example:
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gtag('event', <action>, { 'event_category': <category>, 'event_label': <label>, 'value': <value> }); |
As you can see, this snippet of code contains eventCategory, eventAction, eventLabel and eventValue (optional). After a particular action occurs on your website (e.g. user submits “Contact us” form), the Google Analytics Event will be fired and the corresponding data will be passed onto Google Analytics, for example:
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gtag('event', 'Contact form', { 'event_category': 'Form submission', 'event_label': 'https://www.example.com/contact-us' }); |
You can track those events in GA Real-time GA reports.
Now let’s talk about Google Tag Manager events. In order to see them enable GTM’s Preview and Debug mode by clicking the Preview button in the top right corner of Google Tag Manager interface.
After you enable Preview and Debug mode, a large orange notification banner will appear in GTM user interface.
Once the preview mode is enabled, navigate to the site where Google Tag Manager Container code is placed and you will see a debug console window at the bottom of the browser showing detailed information about your tags, including their firing status and what data is being processed. If it didn’t appear, read the guide explaining how to fix GTM preview mode.
On the left side of the Preview and Debug console, you should see a list of some definitions. These, my friend, are Google Tag Manager Events.
They actually play a very important role within GTM – you can fire your Tags (scripts of various marketing tools) based on these Google Tag Manager events. Here are a few examples to make it easier to comprehend:
- A Pageview Google Tag Manager Event can be used as a trigger to fire Google Analytics Pageview Tag.
- A Link Click obviously occurs when a certain element with a link is clicked. For example, when someone clicks a PDF link on your website, you can send this click as Google Analytics event (and see it in your reports). P.S. Out of the box, you won’t be seeing any events except Pageview, DOM Ready and Window Loaded. In order to start seeing events, you need to have at least one trigger of that type enabled in the container. Here’s an example of how to track link clicks and button clicks.
- A Form Submission GTM event (that happens when a visitor submits a form) can trigger another Google Analytics Event Tag (that sends an event with the data of submitted form to GA event reports). Form Submission GTM event can also be used as a trigger to fire a Google Ads Conversion Tag (or any other tag you want – it’s up to your imagination)
- Since all Google Tag Manager events are populated in Data Layer, you can also ask your developer to fire custom Google Tag Manager events (a.k.a. “Data Layer Events”).
To sum up, the Google Tag Manager event is an interaction on your website that is spotted by GTM and then placed in the Data Layer (p.s. Data Layer is automatically created on your website when GTM container code is implemented and published). That interaction on your website can be used as a trigger (condition) to fire your tracking tags (scripts), e.g. Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics Events, Mixpanel Events, Google AdsTags, etc.
So as you can see, Google Tag Manager is the middleman in your Digital Analytics implementation. It observes interactions that occur on your website, creates GTM events and then uses them to fire tags (e.g. Google Analytics Event). Although the term Event is the same in both Google products, in Google Tag Manager a GTM Event is a trigger, while GA Event is a Tag.
What about Google Analytics Goals?
If you read all the comments below this post, you will notice several repeating themes. One of them: Google Analytics goals. How should one configure them with Google Tag Manager? In fact, that’s not how goals work and Google Tag Manager has no direct connection with them.
Speaking of the relationship between GTM and GA, Google Tag Manager is a way of data transportation, which sends various interactions (page views, events, transactions, etc.) over to Google Analytics.
Some of those interactions are more important than others (say, a newsletter subscription or visiting “Order confirmation” page) and they are called goals. How does Google Analytics understand which interactions are more important than others?
You do that by configuring GA (not GTM). You need to go to the Google Analytics Admin section > View > Goals and create a goal. It might be pageview-based, event-based, or engagement-based (e.g. visited > 3 pages). After a goal is properly configured, certain page views or events will be treated as important actions (goals).
In other words, you tell GA that some interactions (which are sent to GA) are more valuable to the business. And it does not matter how that interaction was sent to Google Analytics, whether it’s via GTM, or directly from the website’s code, or somewhere else.
Do you see the difference? GTM is a way to pass the interaction data to Google Analytics. Goals are valuable interactions that are configured in the GA itself.
Migration to Google Tag Manager
If you run a site that is using the hardcoded Google Analytics and you want to migrate to GA + GTM, there are several things you need to keep in mind. If migration is done wrong, you will break your setup and new data will be lost/corrupted.
In general, you will need to remove the hardcoded GA codes from your website and add the Google Tag Manager container code to all pages of the site. Then you will fire Google Analytics tags via Google Tag Manager.
Your historic data will not be lost but the migration can negatively affect your future data (if done incorrectly). Subscribe to my newsletter (below) and download a free E-Book Google Tag Manager for Beginners. That e-book contains a chapter on migration to Google Tag Manager + Google Analytics.
Still not sure if GTM is worth your time?
It’s perfectly fine if you are still hesitant about GTM and whether to start using it. That’s why I’ve published another guide that lists a bunch of reasons why GTM is definitely worth to become a part of your digital analytics/marketing stack.
Google Tag Manager VS Google Analytics: Conclusion
I hope this blog post made sense to you, although some parts of it might look really tricky. In a nutshell: GA is the analytics tool that provides reports about activity on your site. GTM is a tool that fires your tracking codes based on defined rules. In the end, you can either implement GA code on your site directly, or you can implement the GTM code on a site and use GTM to fire your GA code.
If you want more specifics, here are the main points that should be emphasized once more when it comes to comparing Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics:
- Google Tag Manager does not replace Google Analytics. Instead, it helps users to easily add Google Analytics tracking codes (tags) to your website, deploy GA event code snippets and define rules, when each tag must fire.
- Google Tag Manager is the middle-man of your digital analytics implementation on any website. If you want to add Google Analytics Tracking code or events, it’s recommended to do so with GTM, because you don’t need to do constant changes in the website’s code, therefore your deployment process is faster.
- Google Tag Manager can exist without Google Analytics and vice-versa. Your developers can hard-code Google Analytics codes directly to your website. But if you constantly publish need changes, only developers can help you here. While with GTM you could add/edit/remove your Google Analytics Tracking codes all by yourself. You can also use Google Tag Manager to add Facebook, Google Ads or any other tracking scripts to your website (leaving Google Analytics behind).
- Google Tag Manager Events are used as triggers that define when a certain tag must be fired. Google Analytics event in this context is a Tag. Example: GTM event formSubmission can be used as a trigger to fire a GA event tag called “Form submission”.
- You cannot create Google Analytics goals in Google Tag Manager. GTM sends events/pageviews/other regular interactions to GA. Goals are configured inside of Google Analytics where you instruct GA to turn some regular interactions into more important/valuable goals.
If you feel that the “Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics” topic is still not clear, post a comment below and I’ll see how I can help you.
98 COMMENTS
Nice article! Do you think it's better practice to put the GA tracking code inside GTM or for both codes to live separately on a website?
Hey, it's better to install GA via GTM. That's the whole point.
After you implement GA via GTM, you'll be able to add/edit/remove tracking codes anytime you want and usually without developer's input. Here's a list of various Google Tag Manager templates that will help you track a lot of interactions in no time.
If I am currently tracking through GA and wish to switch over to GTM will i lose any historical data in GA?
Hey, you will not lose historical data because you can connect your existing GA account via GTM.
Gotcha. Thank you very much! This cleared up a lot!
I am trying to hook up GA through GTM and I thought you could just connect the two from a holistic standpoint but it's making me select specific Track Types for my GA hook up. Do I need to hook up GA for every Track Type possible or ... how do I get the two connected?
Hey, Samantha, If you want to track pageviews, then create one pageview tag and fire it on all pages. If you want to track events, then you'll need to create event tags. Beginners usually create separate event tags for each event. Transaction tag is needed for standard ecommerce tracking. To sum up, the number of tags depends on how much do you want to track.
Hi Julius,
Thanks for this post. GTM vs GA is quite clear to understand the differences between both snippet libraries.
in the same manner, some people ask himself what differences are between Google Analytics, Universal Analytics and Google Tags Analytics (analytics.js, ga.js and gtag.js) ? it's a little bit confusing for a beginner... gtm.js can be combined with any of the three (knowing that the migration between Google Analytics and Universal Analytics is advisabled).
*sorry for my English which is not perfect
Bruno.
Hey Bruno, don't worry about your English.
- ga.js is very old Google Analytics library (Classic Google Analytics). No new projects should use it, so it's better if you just skip it, if possible. That's a legacy stuff.
- analytics.js is the library of Universal Analytics. It's a newer solution, compared to ga.js, supports more features that are currently available in the Universal Analytics.
- gtag.js is the latest version of Google Analytics tracking code which works like a mini Google Tag Manager and, when loaded, calls analytics.js, etc. Its documentation is still poor (knowing that Google published it very hasty due to Apple's decision to start blocking 3rd party tracking cookies.
If you're using Google Tag Manager, you shouldn't worry about analytics.js or gtag.js, because when you implement GA tracking, you need just tracking id (UA-XXXXX-XX) and the rest is taken care of by GTM.
I hope this explanation makes sense to you.
Excellent article! You cleared up some of my confusion for sure. I certainly understand the role GTM plays in the ease of deploying tags and events, but what I still find confusing is the redundancy. That being - I can setup an event goal in Analytics for a form submission but I can do the exact same thing in GTM. Yes, I understand that without GTM I would have to deploy the event tracking code myself, but I'm still confused as to whether I have to create an event goal in Analytics if I already created the same event trigger/tag in GTM.
It does not matter, how the event was sent (via gtm or via hardcoded ga). In both cases you will have to create an event-based goal in GA. GTM is just a way of how the data is sent to GA.
Well, that makes sense. But of all the tutorials I have read not one specifies that. That's where I find the complexity; in the little things.
Slightly off topic question: Have you ever experienced speed or performance issues due to the number of tags/variables/triggers that you had deployed? I haven't been able to find anything about this. It's logical to assume that having a bunch of tags running at once would impact performance. But, again, I have found no data on this at all.
Usually, GTM increases page loading speed. But it depends on the configuration.
Hi,
I'm facing issues with one of my clients' GTM account. Currently, there exist 2 GTM's in the website for which they doesn't have access. Also, the GA is configured via GTM for which we have full admin access.
If we create a new GTM from our end then will it affect the tracking/readings in Analytics.
Please guide as how to go about it & what will be the impact of adding new GTM.
If not properly monitored and configured, multiple GTM containers on the same page will cause issues. Not only to GA but to the entire container. Unless it is really planned to have multiple containers, I'd remove the first two containers and implement the new one.
However removing two old ones will also be challenging because if they have some important tracking, you will have to implement the same tracking codes in the new GTM container. The process:
- You implement all the necessary tracking in the new container
- Test it
- Remove the old containers and install the code of the new container to the website.
Something similar is explained here (except, that in your case there are no hardcoded tracking codes. You'll need to migrate from one GTM container to another.
This article does a great job of explaining how both tools work! Thank you
PS - There's a typo in the 3rd line of your post! :) tag manageadment
You're welcome! And thanks for noticing that mistake! Fixed.
Hi Julilus as you mentioned use only one GA or GTM why i am seeing both on your site http://prntscr.com/kw8a2w , do we need to implement both
Google Tag Manager does not replace Google Analytics. I use both because I have installed Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager. GTM loads and then it fires Google Analytics tag that sends data to GA servers.
Thanks for the wonderful article. I'm new to an organization and I hope to check if some elements on the organization's website are instrumented by GTM. when I add a tag for an event, will that code on the website be visible to everyone by checking the 'inspect' button through chrome browser?
It's possible. It depends on what that tag does.
For a client - I have a tag set up in GTM and a goal set up in GA for click to call event. The event is firing in Real Time > Events but not in Real Time > conversions or on the Conversions > Goals > Overview report
As for the Real-time reports, I'd double check if the conversion is properly configured. As for the Conversions > Goals > Overview, it takes some time for the data to appear in those reports, thus you won't see them in real-time.
In Google analytics guide are describing how to send events for gtag.js:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gtagjs/events
Will events be send if instead of Anlytics Gtag.js code is installed GTM with standard tag "Unieversal Anlytics"?
Code in guide:
gtag('event', , {
'event_category': ,
'event_label': ,
'value':
});
If you've implemented Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager (by using Universal Analytics tags), gtag.js or analytics.js documentation does not make the difference because you're just setting event fields (category, action, label) in GTM and GTM is taking care of it in the background.
If you already have some hardcoded gtag.js code on your website and you want to implement some GA events via GTM, that will also work.
If an Event in GTM is erased for cleanup "tidying the house purposes" ... will it then be erased in GA historically for data purposes only? Another words ... if I have an Event "Send Us Your Feedback?" trigger and it is no longer valid on the website ... and we clean it up in the backend via GTM ... can I still see the data historically via GA?
Historical data will definitely not be touched in GA. You'll continue having it.
Follow up to my last question would be we have been using GTM for awhile, so before it streamlined it's interface and making things easier via point and click it required a bit more coding right ... so we have "Custom Variables" as well that are now stale. If that needs to be deleted as well for "Spring Cleaning" then will that data be lost historically in GA?
It does not matter what you delete in GTM, it will not touch your historical data. You'll just stop getting new data in GA.
Amazing follow up man! Thanks for the helpful tidbits. Phenomenal blog and resources. Excited to part of the community =).
Thanks for being a part of it!
Hey thankyou for this post, is so usefull.
I have some doubuts with GTM events, gtm.click, gtm.js, gtm.dom...
Can we manage them? for example, a gtm.click event is sent in every user click (even in no link clicks). Are all this events affecting negatively in our page loading time, or other aspects of the web?
And is it possible to configure gtm.click to be sent only in an especific clicks?
Thankyou!
Update your triggers to listen only to certain gtm.click events. For example, when Click URL contains xxxxx
Hi Julius, I am working on magento environment. How do I create a data layer using tool in magento. I want to override product original price with final transaction price.
I am not very familiar with Magento when it comes to GTM. You need to ask a developer to write some functions in the backend that push new values to the Data Layer (which is basically a JavaScript Array).
Yes, connect your Google Analytics with Google Ads and automatically import GA segments as audiences into G Ads. That's the best and most flexible way.
Hi Julius Fedorovicius,
You are doing well. you advise I will follow.
I have one question about google analytics.
I am using google analytics code but I want to create a GTM account.
If I installed GTM code on the website so then I should remove google analytics code.
Please help me about google analytics & google tag manager doubt.
I hope that you will reply fast.
Thanks & Regards,
Nimesh Koshti
Yes, if you install GA via GTM, you need to remove the hardcoded GA from the website's source code.
Hi Julius!
Great article! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I have a dilemma about the pixel tracker for a new Linkedin Life page, a second tab that I will publish soon for my company I'm currently working for.
The LinkedIn representative I talked with said that a new pixel tracker should be created to be able to distinguish between which page the traffic is going. And I want this.
I have the following questions:
1. Is it right to create this new pixel in GTM?
2. How can I see my traffic in GA from the first LinkedIn Life page and the new one? Do I need to create a Custom report? What metrics should I choose to see the traffic coming from the first Life page and from the second one? Can I see this traffic in the Acquisition/Behavior reports and add an Advanced filter? If yes, what should I select as a filter?
Thanks a lot!!! I really appreciate your help.
Hey,
1. I haven't worked with the new Linkedin Pixel, but it most likely should work with GTM. So it does make sense.
2. I don't know what is a Linkedin Life page so I cannot give you a precise answer.
Hello Julius.
Your article is very good, I have understood the difference but I have a problem now and I do not know what it can be.
I had installed the tracking with gtag on the site. when implementing GTM what I did was set it up with analitycs, then delete the tracking of gtag and ads that I had directly on the page to only manage it by GTM, create a general tracking tag on all pages, in the purchase confirmation file insert the dataLayer script with the purchase event. then in GTM create another label for tracking the purchase through an event and using the variables created previously using data layer, with the infomation of "id" and "revenue" this for the monitoring of improved electronic commerce (this is activated in analytics)
I am using joomla with virtuemart and when I see the virtuemart order register they do not match those registered in analytics, I know that this tool has a failure of approximately 5% but 8 transactions are only being 4 to 5 registered. Have some guidance on how to implement improved e-commerce tracking step by step or that may be the error to verify.
I will be attentive to your answer.
You still have not enough data to draw conclusions. As the time goes by and privacy becomes a bigger issue, some businesses see up to 30% discrepancy. Adblockers, Javascript errors, etc.cause discrepancy.
You can check these tips to make your debugging more accirate, maybe that will give you more ideas what to test https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/google-tag-manager-debugging-tips/
Hi Julius,
Such a good read! One question on my end:
1. What is the relationship between google ads/ GTM/ and analytics? For example, I want to track conversions using GTM connected to Google Ads and I also want that same conversion data to show up in analytics but I'm worried there might be a duplicate. What's the best way to track form fills in your opinion?
The relationship between G ads and GTM is the same as between GA and GTM. GTM is just a method/way how to activate your tracking codes. If you want your G Ads conversions to be displayed in GA, you need to connect GA with G Ads.
GTM has nothing to do with it.
Hi, first of all, appreciated your posting!
It should be helpful to every beginner marketer like me.
So, Question.
I don't know the purpose and difference between Google Analytics / Facebook Pixel.
When I learned all about Annalysis, I started teaching Google Tag Manager.
Until then, I understood the purpose of Google Tag Manager.
It's a tool that makes it easy to insert and modify the code required for events and transitions.
But while I was learning Google Tag Manager, I came up with a concept called Facebook Pixel.
GTM used Facebook to insert code for page views, shopping carts, and purchase conversion that they can get to GA.
Why should I use a Facebook Pixel for data that I know enough about GA using GTM?
Please explain the exact purpose and distinction of the two tools and best way to get/analyze datas.
The main goal of Facebook pixel is not for analysis but rather for advertising. With help of Facebook Pixel you can track your visitors and retarget them later on Facebook (the social network itself).
Google Analytics - for tracking visitors
Facebook pixel - for measuring Facebook conversions, retargeting people later on Facebook.
These two are also very different tools
Thank you so much for your quick and accurate reply.
You'll be blessed :D
Hi and thank you very much. 2 years later, this is still useful ;)
How would you go about using this in a Single Page Application?
If you want to track Single page apps with GTM and GA, read this https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/single-page-web-app-with-google-tag-manager/
Excellent. Appreciate the quick reply.
Great article!!! Thank you.
We have set up Google Tag Manager and find that it is very useful however the question I can't get an answer to is why is there a discrepancy between Pageviews in GA and Pageviews setup in Google Tag Manager? They just don't match. I would appreciate any help with this :)
Pageviews via GTM will never match pageviews from hardcoded GA. IF the discrepancy is ~3%, that's still fine. There might be many reasons why pageviews are not matching. Maybe a developer did not include the GTM snippet on all pages. Maybe you have implemented the GDPR consent banners and not all people give consent. Maybe some issues with browsers and GTM did not work on some of them. Maybe ad blocking extensions had something to do with it.
Hi,
If I already have installed the html code for Google Analytics it says that in order to install Google Tag Manager I have to remove this html code. Will I loose everything I have tracked then? Even if I add Google Analytics to the Google Tag Manager right after removing the html?
Your historical data is not affected by GTM. But if the migration contains errors, your future data will be affected.
Hi,
May I ask the following:
1. If I setup my GA via GTM based on your guide above (Page View tracking), am I able to get back the same standard reporting data that GA is providing, or do I have to create additional tag?
2. What is the use of conversion linker tag, and do I need it if I'm going to setup both my GA and Adwords tag via GTM?
Thank you for your help.
1. Pageview tracking is equivalent to the standard GA tracking that is provided by placing their code directly on a page.
2. You need it if you don't have your GA connected with Google Ads or if you are using the older version of GA tracking code.
To learn more https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/conversion-linker-google-tag-manager/
I have been going back and forth with my marketing team on whether to keep GTM or just use GA. GTM is slowing down our page speed since it fires first. We were trying to figure out how we can improve our speed on our site. The problem is we're connecting out to Facebook, LinkedIn and HotJar (and Google, obviously) before anything else on the page loads. For speed purposes (also SEO, since Google loves speed) js files usually load in the footer, allowing images, content and styles to load faster, displaying everything on the screen before all of the javascript is retrieved and parsed. Analytics is the one thing I keep near the top so that reporting shows bounces properly. Can we keep Google on top, but the other three I mentioned, are we able to move them to bottom? So, if GTM doesn't have a way to split. I was considering taking everything nonGoogle out of GTM, and have them load within the footer. Does that work or makes sense?
In your case, not GTM but the tags within it are slowing the page.
With GTM, you can control WHEN to fire those tags. For example, Linkedin's tag is very slow, therefore, you can set it to fire not on "All Pages" (a.k.a. Pageview) trigger, but to create another one, called "Window loaded". That way, those tags will fire ONLY when all other page resources (including JS) are already loaded.
All in all, you can fire analytics on Pageview, pixels can be fired on "Window loaded".
We currently have GA tracking code (via GTM) on our site, but it's from a GTM account we don't own. (it's from an agency's GTM account). We are still collecting universal data into our own GA account from this tracking code. (which I'm a little confused about how that is working.)
However, I am trying to set up simple URL destination goals in GA, but they aren't being recorded in GA successfully as conversions. So my main question is - are the destination goals not being recorded properly because the GTM account that we are using for tracking, isn't from the same google account as our GA? Having them separate into different google accounts seems like it could be the problem. Hoping you can help!
No, that is not the case. GA does not care from which GTM account does it get the data. It can even get data from 2 or more GTM containers and it will be fine.
Hi, thanks for this very informative article. It seems very much valid till this day. This is my situation. I am working on a new website using Wordpress. I am comfortable using the standard GA code as I only need to install a plugin like Monster. I am contemplating whether to use GTM via a plugin you recommended above. My understanding is, if I use the standard GA via Monster, it immediate collects data 'out of the box' without any specific configurations unless it is events or goals tracking. So it means, I just log in to GA and there are lots of default reports in the menu on the left. My questions below.
1. If I implement via GTM, does it mean I have to configure a GA tag for everything I want to track? More precisely, what tags do I need to set up to have the same information in the default reports in the GA menu?
2. Is it an option to have both GA and GTM codes on my site but I use GTM only for event or goals tracking but other 'standard' information is tracked directly via GA?
Hope my question is clear and look forward to your advice.
Thanks!
Julius - thank you for this thoughtful and well-written article! I think I have a similar question as JT.
I have started working with a client who already has GA tracking hard coded on their site. They have a third party developer that is the 'owner' of the GA code.
I would like to implement GTM code on the site so I can do things like implement FB Pixel code and Google Ads Conversion tags without going through the developer.
If I do not duplicate the GA tracking code in GTM, is it ok for the GA tracking to be hard coded, but use GTM for other tasks? (this portion is similar I think to what JT is asking.)
Thanks!
If GA via GTM does not duplicate the tracking that is already hardcoded on a page, then you're good to go
Thank you for your reply Julius and for keeping this comment thread active for so long!
Hey,
1. Yes, you need to recreate everything. What tags do you need? Depends on what you want to track. There is no special universal recipe for this.
2. it is possible to keep both hardcoded GA and GA+GTM (for as long as they do not track the same things). But in the long run, you will see limitations that will make you migrate to GTM 100%. For example, if you decide you want to add a custom dimension to your pageviews (and your GA code is hardcoded), you will have to ask a developer to do that. Or if you're using the plugin, maybe you won't even be able to achieve that.
if i have both GA and GTM installed on my site, is my user info duplicated and tracked twice?
Yes
Hi again Julius, l've now tried to do everything base on your instruction. And it seems like the Tag is successfully set up. But when l check the preview mode, my tag is visible with good condition in green tick but it still under Tags Not Fired On This Event.
Tags Fired On This Event still stay as none.
So l try to read your another article https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/how-to-check-if-google-tag-manager-is-working/#gref
From what l understand l have asked my developer to install this GTM code only on some page and not all. That could be the case right?
Several possible reasons:
- The blocking trigger is also added to the tag and it worked
- You have set the tag to fire only in published containers
- You have set the tag firing schedule
There might be some other cases but I cannot think of them now
Hey Julius
Amazing post, it cleared many of my doubts about Google Analytics and GTM. I noticed there are many inbuilt tags available in the GTM, should we import them, is it safe?
Your response would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again!
Are you talking about the Tag Template gallery? Yes, they are pretty safe. Don't import all of them. Just use what you need.
Wow, it was so quick, thank for the prompt response. Will approach you once again if I get stuck somewhere.
Every time you install Facebook Pixel or Analytics, one HTTP request or more are generated per item inside the website which can affect speed performance, my question is with Google Tag Manager how many HTTP request will be generated? Just one? The one from GTM? Or also HTTP request from Facebook Pixels or other tags we be generated?
One from GTM container and the rest as usual. Everything depends on when you fire pixels. You can delay FB pixel with GTM and fire it later, after everything else has loaded, thus lower the negative impact on performance.
Hi, Great article! Maybe you can help me understand something I still haven't been able to understand from any articles I search and read on the web. If I use google tag manager to deploy google analytics do I need google analytics code on my website as well? The issue or dilemma that I'm facing is that I'm afraid there is some old analytic code on my site which isn't necessary anymore since I have google tag manager and I just am uncertain if I need both!? If not I would like to know how I can remove the old analytic code that was manually installed on my site before the google tag manager came along so that my site speed isn't affected negatively.
If you check could you please check the english version of the site as well. I'm sure once I know or am shown for sure that in fact I need to remove some old code I might be able to figure it out.
Thanks
Sincerely,
Daniel Casden
You need to remove old GA code from the site.
There is no single solution how to remove the code. It depends on how that site was created. Contact the developers of the site and ask them to remove the old code. Or if you are using a plugin - disable it. But at the same time you need to launch the GA via GTM on the site.
Hi thanks for the great article - really helpful stuff. I have just acquired a website that uses GA tracking code directly on the site, but i'd like to switch it to the GTM code and run the GA code through GTM. Can you foresee any issues with this? Any danger of data loss etc?
Yes, there is definitely danger in data loss if migration is not managed properly. I've added an additional section to this blog post about migration. It refers to my free ebook that gives tips on migration.
Hi there Julius,
I followed your entire guide of Form submission tracking. Mine eventually worked with the CSS class trick :-)
One thing I'm not entirely certain I've grasped yet, (note: I only got into GTM yesterday), is what do I need to do with the standard GA tracking script I've implemented years ago in the header of my website. I also implemented that of GTM in header and body, as instructed.
Should both co-exist behind my website?
Should I erase the GA script?
I read most of your comments as well - but I'm still not 100 clear.
Sorry, I re-read some of the most recent comments on this!
I've made the website in question and inserted the GA script myself.
In this case, do I just erase it from header?
I will also download your e-book and read about migration! Boy oh boy, I'm still confused!
It is recommended to remove the code from head. In addition to your mentioned resources, my GTM for Beginners course also covers migration (in greater detail)
Hi, I have added google analytics via monster insights plugin into our site. The GA has started tracking data. After 5 days, we have created GTM account. Now, I want to set up Google analytics via GTM only. what are the possible options. I don't want duplicate data. what will be the best solution. If I create GA tag/all page views inside google tag manager will it double the data? Should I remove GA connection from the plugin and use GTM only? If we choose this option, what about the historical data? can I still check the website traffic in GA as it is?
If we keep both GA and GTM, how it will work? for example GA has to be connected through a plugin - no change in that
Don't create GA-all page view tag in GTM
Also, I am bit scared if we will only use GTM for everything including GA and just in case we forget to publish the latest version, will this affect on any data? or having an issue in one tag can affect other things?
Hi, the migration process is explained here https://www.analyticsmania.com/free-e-book-google-tag-manager-beginners/
Hello
Thank you for your nice post.
I have a question, In one of above discussions you have written:
- analytics.js is the library of Universal Analytics. It's a newer solution, compared to ga.js, supports more features that are currently available in the Universal Analytics..
In other words you have written
legacy -> ga.js
universal -> analytics.js
global site tag -> gtag.js
However in this link: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2790010?hl=en
it is written:
Universal Analytics introduces three new versions of the tracking code you can implement to meet your specific technical needs. Use the gtag.js JavaScript library for websites
I also took a look also at the gtm.js script loaded in my website using GTM, I saw the link to both analytics.js and gtag.js https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-950989635\
Can you help me differentiate between these two ?
1. unviersal analytics is the name of framework it always uses analytics.js
2. Universal analytics is a framework which both analytics.js and gtag.js can implement
if 2 is correct which one is uses in GTM implementation of universal analytics.
gtag.js is a wrapper that eventually loads the analytics.js on a page. Even though the tracking code is a bit different, they load the same thing.
Hello, thank you for your nice post.
I have a problem in my site and I want to know if there is solution. I use google tag manager and google analytics in my opencart store, but I received different number of orders in opencart dashboard and different number in the google analytics dashboard. Why happened this?
Many possible reasons https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/missing-google-analytics-transactions/
P.S. you will never reach 100% accuracy. That's just how things work.