What Is Google Tag Manager and How Does it Work?

This simplifies implementing and maintaining various tracking and marketing optimization tags, including Google Analytics tracking codes, AdWords conversion scripts, and more.

1. Setup and Configuration. The first step involves creating a new account and container in the Google Tag Manager interface. A container typically corresponds to a website or a mobile app. Once the container is created, GTM generates a block of code for you to add to every website page. This code enables GTM to control when and where tags are fired.
2. Tag Creation. Within the GTM interface, you can add different types of tags based on your tracking needs. For instance, you might create a Google Analytics pageview tag to track views of all pages or an AdWords conversion tag to track specific conversions. GTM supports a wide range of tag templates from Google and other third parties and custom tags.
3. Triggers and Variables. Triggers are the rules that determine when a tag should be fired, and variables provide additional information that may be needed for the tag to work correctly. For instance, a trigger might be set to fire a tag whenever a particular page is viewed, and a variable might be used to pass the value of a specific form field to that tag. GTM offers a variety of pre-defined triggers and variables, as well as the ability to create custom ones.
4. Testing and Deployment. Before deploying tags, GTM provides a "Preview" mode that allows you to test and verify your setup. Once you've tested your tags and are confident they're working as intended, you can publish them to your live website or app with the click of a button.

Google Tag Manager simplifies the process of implementing tags on a website or mobile app, allowing marketers and webmasters to add, update, and manage tags without relying on developers to change the site code.

This flexibility enables more rapid deployment of tracking and marketing optimization scripts, allowing businesses to adapt quickly to their analytics and marketing needs. But it needs to be optimized, i.e., you need to reduce the impact of third-party Google Tag Manager code.

Keeping websites fast when loading Google Tag Manager is something you should keep in sight because GTM influences website performance, page load times and (down the line) user experience. Besides the basics in the link, have a look at other performance tips and hacks we did on our website to get that perfect💯performance score.