Which is the most ideal tool for website owners and digital marketers between Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics? Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics (GA) are free tools that work differently. Most people confuse the two by thinking that they operate the same way or that GTM is newer and better off.
We are here to set the record straight about GTM and GA. This side-by-side comparison guide includes an overview of GTM and GA. It also shows their differences. By the time you read it all, you will have learned the applications of each tool. Also, you will have discovered if you can use both tools simultaneously.
Google Tag Manager – An Overview
Before comparing Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics, let us explain the mean of GTM. Google Tag Manager is one of Google’s most popular free software tools. Its work is adding codes (tags) to a website and managing them.
Google Analytics tracking code and event code snippets are some of the tags you can deploy with GTM. Google Tag Manager uses a unified user interface that can manage different tags together. When Google introduced GTM, website owners and internet marketers had a terrible problem solved.
Before its arrival, they hired web developers to install Google Analytics tracking codes on each web page. The task was laborious, time-consuming, and expensive. Google Tag Manager eliminated this problem by storing all tags in a GTM account.
You could compare it to a toolbox, which stores different appliances in a single place. The GTM account can manage your GA tags, Meta Pixels, and JavaScript codes in one place. A tag should run when you click a button or load the page containing it.
Google Tag Manager allows you to test your tags to know which ones have a problem. Lastly, GTM simplifies how you edit your tags. Instead of altering your site’s source code, go to GTM’s UI and post your changes by clicking a button.
Google Analytics – An Overview
Google Analytics is a free tool that has helped developers, marketers, and site owners since 2012. Google recently launched a newer version called Google Analytics 4. GA is a superb tool for tracking and storing data.
It also produces various reports about website performance. GA reports contain the following types of site data:
- The number of site visitors your site got on a given day.
- Geographical locations of your site visitors.
- The number of website pages they navigated during their visits.
- Who among your visitors left the website without doing anything?
- What page attracted the majority of visitors?
Google Analytics uses the GA Javascript code snippet to track the behavior of site visitors. This tracking code works only if you place it on each web page of your site. When you get a new site visitor, this code snippet conveys the data to GA. It performs well when tracking user interactions on one or more websites.
However, GA becomes less reliable when you wish to track several other things, including sales. You require a web developer who is not busy to install custom tags directly on existing GA codes. This work is not only time-consuming but also a costly project. So, what can you use instead? This Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics comparison answers that.
Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics – How they Differ
Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics are two dissimilar tools with separate functions. Thus, using them together can give you maximum benefits. Here are the Google Analytics vs tag manager-40 differences:
1. Google Analytics Tracks and Reports While GTM Manages Tags
Google Analytics gathers data on how users interact with a website. You can use it to track website traffic for the last thirty days. For instance, GA can show you:
- The particular days you received the most visitors
- Highly-frequented web pages
- Marketing channels that produced most website leads
- Which products or services did the users order the most?
- The number of site visitors adding items to their shopping carts but later abandoning them.
GA gathers and reports much more data to help you improve your marketing tactics. On the other hand, Google Tag Manager is a tag manager. It does not track or report anything about your website.
Instead, GTM helps you deploy a tag like GA to your website. GTM enables you to edit, update, or remove tags from your site. Comparing Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics based on this point shows that the two are different.
2. GA is a Data Source and Storage while GTM is a Data Transfer Tool
Another way to compare Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics is to explain how they handle data. Google Analytics is a data source because it stores the website traffic information gathered on a website server. It gathers data using different metrics and stores it in the server to facilitate retrieval.
You can retrieve this data when making GA reports. On the contrary, Google Tag Manager manages your GA and third-party tags in a single area. It automatically transfers data to the GA tag and similar tags.
3. Google Tag Manager Uses Container Tags while GA Does Not
Google Tag Manager Vs Google Analytics differs because the former uses container tags while the latter does not. Google Tag Manager can use a container tag to keep one or several marketing and analytics tags. It can also keep pixels and variables.
For instance, it can install and manage the GA tag on your website with a container tag. It can do the same with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other tags. A container tag can perform better if you merge it with GTM. On the other hand, Google Analytics does not work with container tags.
4. Google Analytics enables Data Querying while Google Team Manager Doesn’t
Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics also entails data querying capabilities. If you want to query data in GA, you can do so via the API or the reporting window. GA boasts the main interface for data reporting. Conversely, Google Tag Manager has no data querying capabilities or features. It only transfers data to the tags so they can analyze it and generate insights.
5. Implementation Method
Implementation is another point to consider when comparing Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics. Google Tag Manager requires a one-time installation to start managing various tags from its user interface. On the other hand, Google Analytics requires a direct installation on each website page. This can be tedious without a tool like the GTM.
6. Dependency
Another point on Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics is that GA can work separately from GTM. You can choose the costly and tedious route of using a web developer. If they install your GA code snippet successfully, it will work independently. On the contrary, you need GTM to shorten the implementation and management process of GA tags and other third-party codes and pixels. GTM ensures quick and flexible tag execution.
Why Do People Confuse GTM and GA Tools?
Now you have discovered the Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics differences. Next, you should know why some people think GTM and GA are the same. Here are the misunderstandings:
- GTM Came to Replace GA – It is not possible because each tool has unique primary roles. Google Analytics tracks, collects, stores, and reports data about website traffic. On the other hand, Google Tag Manager allows you to implement and manage tags like GA on your website. Thus, GTM does not rival or replace Google Analytics but complements it.
- Google Tag Manager Only Implements GA Tags – Some people misunderstand that Google made GTM to implement and organize only Google Analytics tags. The truth is that GTM can execute and manage analytics and third-party marketing tags.
- The Only Way to Install GA is via GTM – It is false to say that Google Tag Manager is the only way to implement Google Analytics. GA emerged before GTM and people still installed it via developers. The benefit of the GTM is that it quickens and simplifies the execution and management of tags. Assuming that GA cannot function without GTM is wrong. Google Analytics tracks, stores, and reports data individually.
When Should You Use or Skip GTM?
So far, you understand the Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics differences. A key point to note is that GA can work independently of GTM. However, this should only work if you have a simple website that needs only the Google Analytics tag.
In that case, employing Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics is unnecessary. Equally, you may have a complex e-commerce store. This site will require GTM because:
- It may require GA and several other third-party tags concurrently. These can be social media tags, chat widgets, ad conversion pixels, etc. A GTM will implement and transfer data to these sources so they can generate insights.
- Avoid Developer’s Time and Cost – Web developers do excellent work but charge a hefty price for results. You can use the GTM tool to implement and edit as many tags as you wish. The GTM tool is free while the developer’s time costs money.
- Cross-Domain Tracking – Google Analytics can do cross-domain tracking relatively well but requires complex configurations. On the other hand, once you configure the cross-domain option in GTM, it will track users across sub-domains and domains.
Final Word
Have you learned something new from our Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics comparison? We hope you will no longer confuse GTM and GA. The tools have unique features and uses. Google Tag Manager will help you install and manage a website tag like GA. On the contrary, Google Analytics will gather your website’s user interactions.
