Google Tag Manager is an incredible free tool that allows you to add and update tags easily without editing your code. It also acts as a container to keep all remarketing, analytics and conversion tags housed within one area. The biggest reason we like to use Google Tag Manager here at Launch Digital Marketing is because it also allows you to set up event tracking on almost everything on your site. This data is then pulled into your analytics account for you to easily analyze and strategize.
Leads, conversions, goal completions = SALES! Yes, you are correct on that, but let’s not forget about those users who may be taking other actions on your site and also becoming a customer or lead. As web design continues to improve and users are increasingly consuming via the web, you want to make sure you are tracking the engagement users, and hopefully customers, are taking on your site. We cannot stress enough the importance of having forms on your site for users to submit; you always want to be tracking goal completions in your analytics for those form submissions. But there is something else just as important you need to be tracking – clicks!
Events are described as actions a user may take while visiting your site. For example, clicking on the click to call button on your mobile site, or clicking on the hours and directions tab in your main navigation. These actions are just as important as someone coming to your site and filling out a form. Not only are they calling you to learn more, they are potentially looking at your hours to see when you are open for them to visit…. BOOM… a potential customer or, what we like to call it in the tech world, a lead! When looking at just form submissions, you are excluding users who may have picked up the phone and called or took it old school and actually walked in your door to purchase by finding the directions on your site. Having this data at your fingertips will open up your world as a site owner. Not only can you broaden the concept of leads or customers, but you can also use the data to make awesome site changes that benefit your user experience.
So, as I said before, Google Tag Manager allows you to pretty much track everything on your site to help you strategize and improve your user experience. For example, you could set up event tracking on new features within your site to see how well they are performing. Maybe you are interested in knowing if users are clicking through on that awesome graphic that takes them to your newest product. Set up an event on it to track and see how many of your visitors are actually clicking through. If the numbers are low compared to your average sessions, maybe the graphic needs to be changed, or the wording… or maybe you have a lot of people clicking on it but it’s below the fold. Many sites lose about 50% of your users past the fold… move that baby up to get more clicks and more eyes on your new products!
The ideas are endless along with the opportunities for you to strategize and improve your site. User engagement is what helps your users become a lead so start collecting the data that will help you become a better online business!
Stayed tuned for “Google Tag Manager: The Low Down, Part 2 – Creating Your First Tag”!
