Paul O’Byrne — March 18, 2017 Follow @jacksadvice_comAs your site progresses, you’re going to experiment and use multiple platforms to increase conversions based on your objectives. This comes with it’s own challenges of managing the different scripts you’ll use within your site. So to reduce the time and platforms needed, here’s our step-by-step guide on how to install Google Tag Manager on WordPress that you can do in less than 15 mins.
Google Tag Manager allows you to implement numerous platforms, without having to install each one within your site. So, for instance you might want to install Google Analytics, Hotjar, Adroll, Adsense etc. Each of these has their own code that you’ll have to deploy which can be a pain to manage. Also the more scripts you have, the more they’ll slow down your site. This is particularly relevant if your site is on a shared server.
Google Tag Manager gives you the ability to install 2 pieces of code on your domain. The rest of the scripts are installed through it’s dashboard, not your site.
Getting Started
- Go to https://tagmanager.google.com
- If you already have a google account, you can use that. If not, create one and login.
- Next, you’ll see a screen asking you for your company name and website address. Fill in the fields.
- Click “Create” and accept the terms and conditions.
- Once you get into Google Tag Manager, you’ll be presented with 2 blocks of code. Don’t be intimidated by these. If you’re using WordPress, most themes allow you to enter this into the theme options by default. If however, yours doesn’t – there’s a plugin for that. Check out DuracellTomi’s Google Tag Manager For WordPress plugin. Also, it’s important that you utilise both elements of the code. Not just one or the other.
- To start implementing tags, click on “Add A New Tag”
- Name it up the top, and then click on the “Tag Configuration” box
- Choose the tag you want from the list provided. If you can’t see it, you can also enter in custom HTML from the snippet you’re looking to install
- For “triggering”, you’ll probably want this to happen on all of your pages for most of the tags you’ll implement (e.g. Analytics). However, if there are only some pages you want to trigger the tag, this is where you select those particular URL’s.
- Enter in some notes for your own version control, so you can see what you did and when.
- Most importantly, when you’re finished, Click “Publish”. This will update the initial Google Tag Manager code you put on your site at the start. It can take a couple of minutes for this to take effect, so don’t worry if you don’t see results immediately.
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