In the realm of digital marketing, data plays a crucial role. One effective method for obtaining data on your website’s success is by utilizing tools such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. A notable advantage of Google’s collection of digital marketing tools is their seamless integration with each other. This article will discuss the process of connecting Google Tag Manager (GTM) to Google Analytics (GA).
Google Analytics offers insights into your website’s visitors, while Google Tag Manager allows you to manage and deploy marketing tags on your website without having to modify the code. By integrating these two, you can streamline your website’s data collection and analysis processes.
Step 1: Find Your GA Tracking ID
The first step is to find your Google Analytics tracking ID. This is a unique identifier for your GA account, and is required for linking GTM to GA. Login to your GA account, go to Admin > Tracking Info > Tracking Code. Your GA Tracking ID will be listed at the top.
Step 2: Create a New Variable in GTM
Next, you’ll need to create a new variable in GTM. A variable is a storage place for values to be used later. In GTM, click on Variables > New to create a new variable. Name your variable (e.g., ‘GA Tracking ID’), and set the variable type to ‘Constant’. The value for this variable should be your GA tracking ID.
Step 3: Create a New Tag in GTM
With your new variable set up, the next step is to create a new tag. A tag is a snippet of code that sends information to a third party, in this case, Google Analytics. In GTM, go to Tags > New and create a new tag. Set the tag type to ‘Google Analytics: Universal Analytics’. Set the track type to ‘Page View’, and set the Google Analytics settings to the variable you just created (e.g., ‘GA Tracking ID’).
Step 4: Set Up Triggering
Once your tag is set up, it’s time to set up the trigger. A trigger is an event that causes your tag to fire. In this case, we want our GA tag to fire on every page of our website. In GTM, under your new tag, set triggering to All Pages.
Step 5: Publish Changes
The final step is to publish your changes. In GTM, click on Submit > Publish to make your new tags live. Now, your GTM account is linked to your GA account, and GA will start receiving data from your website through GTM.
In conclusion, linking Google Tag Manager to Google Analytics is crucial for gathering valuable data about your website’s performance. We hope this guide was helpful in setting up your GTM-GA integration. Happy data gathering!