This easy-to-follow guide will help you set up Google Analytics 4 with Google Tag Manager.
It can be intimidating to learn a new skill like Google Analytics4. You can’t afford not to get started.
To get you started, I have created an easy-to-follow guide to setting up GA4 with Google Tag Manager.
It will cover the basics of Google Tag Manager and a simple tutorial for setting up GA4 with photos in five steps.
Google Tag Manager Defined
Google Tag Manager (GTM), a free tag management tool, allows you to add or edit code segments (tags) that collect data and send it to Google Analytics.
Marketers would, for example, receive code from a third-party vendor “back in days” Facebook Ads.
This code would send back information to Facebook about how Facebook Ads users interact with the site.
Marketers and site owners relied heavily upon developers to install the code on their websites.
Google Tag Manager allows us to place one line of code on our website. This acts as a middleman between you and third-party vendors.
All tags that we require to edit or add can be done from the GTM interface.
The main benefit of condensed codes and faster sites is not only ease-of-use, but also simplicity.
Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager: The Difference
Google Analytics (GA), and Google Tag Manager (GTM), are two completely different tools that can be used together to provide the information you need to make informed marketing decisions.
Google Tag Manager is used to store and manage the code. It is literally a container.
The tag manager offers no reporting options or the ability to analyze data.
Google Analytics is used to analyze data.
All reports – user reports and conversions, engagements, sales, etc. – can be viewed within Google Analytics. All reports – including conversions, sales, and user reports – can all be viewed in Google Analytics.
Understanding how Google Analytics gets the data that you see in reports is key to understanding why GTM is necessary.
Google Analytics allows you to report on traffic acquisition and user interaction with the help of a tracking – technically, a “GA Javascript snippet code” or “gtag.js”.
The Javascript snippet informs Google Analytics about any interaction that occurs on your website – for example, a pageview.
Google Tag Manager: How to Get Started
The main steps for getting started with Google Tag Manager include creating an account, installing the container to your website and adding tags (such as the GA4 configuration tag), to collect and send the information that you require.
We will show you how to get started with Google Tag Manager.
Take into account Account Management
First, decide how you want to manage your account.
You want to keep the hard work you put into your analytics in case someone leaves your company or changes roles.
It is best to use the login credentials of the person who will be managing the account over the long-term (most likely, the website owner) when creating the Tag Manager account.
Tip to manage client accounts: Clients who are unable to create a Tag Manager account can join a video conference where they can control their screen and walk them through each step.
After creating a Tag Manager Account, you can add users to the admin screen at the top navigation.
Create A Google Tag Manager Account
Here are the steps to create a Google Tag Manager Account. It will take about three minutes.
Login to HTML Manager (Tag Manager works best in Chrome), and click to create an account.
Enter an account number. This is often the name of your organization.
The Tag Manager account represents the highest level of an organization. Only one account per company is required.
Multiple websites can be created under one GTM account by a company with different revenue streams.
Choose a Country to indicate whether you would like to share data with Google to improve Google products.
Enter a Content Name. For internal use, choose a descriptive container name. This is most commonly the URL of the site or the name of the app.
Select the Target Platform. Do you want to create an account for a website, app (iOS or Android), AMP, server, or other type of site?
The final screen will look something like the one below. Click to create.
You will be asked to install your GTM code after this screen. To close this dialog, click OK or follow the installation instructions.
Once you have closed the snippet dialog box, you will see the workspace screen. Here you can create your marketing tags or triggers.
Install Google Tag Manager On Your Website
If you close the dialog box for web container installation, you can locate instructions to install Google Tag Manager in the Admin tab.
These are the instructions for the installation
Google Tag Manager is best understood by looking at the code in containers.
You will see the first section, highlighted in yellow.