In a nutshell: Reliable analytics data depends on tags that work. Tag management—and especially testing it—ensures that your tracking tags fire correctly; otherwise, you’re flying blind. This guide explains what tag management is, why you should test it, the limitations of Google Tag Manager on its own, and the steps to set up an analytics testing tool.
Data-driven strategic decision-making requires accurate data, which means that tag management is a vital part of the digital analytics process!
An analytics testing tool allows you to verify that your analytics and conversion tags are working so you can quickly identify any potential issues.
In this article, we'll walk you through the key steps for setting up a test analytics tool to ensure that your data accurately reflects your users' actual behavior.
What is tag management?
The layer of your website that contains all the data generated by visitors—also known as the“data layer”—is made possible by tags, or pieces of JavaScript code embedded in a website or application.
Tags are what allow us to gather valuable information about user behavior on a website or app by providing reliable and consistent data collection (if they work properly…).
For example, tags allow you to:
- Measuring Traffic
- Track Conversions
- Customize the content
- And much more besides!
Tag management involves verifying the accuracy and functionality of tags managed through GTM (Google Tag Manager), ensuring that they fire under the appropriate conditions and collect data as expected.
Why is it important to run tag management tests?
Tags can be accidentally deleted whenever changes are made to your site, especially if multiple teams are working on the code, which makes it essential to regularly check the tags, their triggers, and their values.
Tag management tests allow you to ensure the accuracy of the data in your analytics reports, prevent data loss, and make data-driven decisions with confidence by identifying issues such as:
- Tags are not triggered
- Incorrect trigger settings
- Missing or duplicate tags
- Errors in variable configurations.
The biggest advantage of effective tag management is that it ensures accurate tracking and analysis so that your marketing budget can be used in the best possible way.
By using GTM with automated testing tools, you can finally gain a comprehensive understanding of—and full control over—your tag implementation.
Essentially, tag management tests will ensure that your analytics remain reliable and accurately reflect your audience's interactions with your brand.
Why use an analytics testing tool?
Analytics testing tools can automatically scan your entire website, identify tags on each page, and validate their triggering rules, ensuring consistency and accuracy across all your websites or applications.
Using an automated testing tool like Mr Suricate verify tags offers several advantages over manual verification:
Efficiency: It can quickly analyze a website and identify any inconsistencies or errors in the tags. This process is much faster than manual checks, especially for large, complex websites with numerous tags.
Accuracy: It can follow predefined scripts and criteria to verify tags, ensuring consistent and accurate results. Manual checks, on the other hand, can be subject to human error and oversights.
Reproducibility: Automated tests can be easily repeated as needed, allowing for frequent and consistent verification of tags, even after updates or changes to the website.
ROI: Although there may be an initial investment involved in setting up an automated testing tool, it can ultimately save time and resources compared to manual testing, especially in the long run.
More comprehensive coverage: Can perform in-depth analyses of various types of tags, including analytics, tracking, and marketing tags, ensuring comprehensive coverage that meets requirements.
Why isn't Google Tag Manager enough?
Although Google provides Tag Manager for managing tags, this tool has its limitations:
Complex implementations: Some tag implementations can be complex and require testing beyond what GTM can provide (custom tags, data layer configurations, advanced tracking configurations, etc.).
Cross-platform compatibility: GTM is primarily designed for web-based environments. If you need to verify tags across multiple platforms, you may need additional testing solutions that support various environments.
External dependencies: Tags deployed via GTM may depend on external factors such as third-party services, APIs, or server-side configurations. A comprehensive tag audit may involve testing these external dependencies, which may not be directly supported by GTM.
Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring compliance with these regulations may require more extensive testing and validation than what GTM offers by default.
Advanced testing scenarios: For organizations with advanced testing needs—such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, or advanced user journey tracking—additional testing tools with advanced features may be necessary to thoroughly validate tag implementations.
Steps for Implementing a Test Analytics Tool
Once you've chosen an analytics tool that fits the size of your website or app and your budget, here are the steps to follow to set it up:
1. Identify the most important data for your company
Determine which data is most important to your business by defining the different types of tags needed to achieve your tracking goals.
For example, it’s especially important to test your main conversion paths regularly, such as a shopping cart or other conversion points.
2. Align your marketing and development teams
It is important to establish consistent naming conventions for page names associated with tags.
By setting this up from the start, not only will both teams be able to refer to the pages associated with each tag, but your analytics tool will too!
3. Configure your tag management testing tool
Working closely with the marketing and development teams, configure the analytics testing tool to meet your specific needs.
For example:
- Enter the number of pages you want to scan.
- Set up alerts to be notified if a tag isn't working.
- Test the data layer values that are triggered when the page loads or by an event.
- Set up rules to test your data layer against the structural standards you established at the beginning.
4. Test and validate the tags at regular intervals
Once the tags have been implemented, it is essential to test and validate them regularly by setting up audits to run automatically on a scheduled basis.
The tool will verify whether the tags are triggered correctly, whether they collect the appropriate data, and whether they comply with privacy and security requirements.
Test your data layer regularly with Mr Suricate
Your data layer, as the central information hub for numerous marketing and analytics technologies, warrants regular attention and maintenance.
A data layer adds significant value to your analytics and marketing tools only if it works as intended.
To see a data layer test in action with our no-code automated testing tool, schedule a demo!
FAQ
What is tag management?
This involves managing a website's tracking tags (for analytics, advertising, and conversion), often using a tool like Google Tag Manager. It centralizes the process of adding and updating tags without modifying the code.
Why Should You Test Your Analytics Tags?
Because a broken tag skews the data on which your decisions are based. Regular testing ensures that tags fire at the right time and report reliable data.
Is Google Tag Manager enough?
No: GTM deploys tags but does not verify that they continue to function over time. An analytics testing tool continuously monitors whether they are firing and alerts you if they stop working.
Further Reading
To see the solution in action, check out our data layer tests.
