At the surface, these two terms seem so interchangeable that it is natural to get confused with the notion that there could be a difference between the two. But before we delve any deeper about the similarities or differences that exist, I would like to tell you - they are meant to work together in tandem. Not separately but more like two sides of the same coin.
You can use them separately for your web development activities but then you will not be making the most out of these tools.
What Is Google Tag Manager?
GTM is a tag management system that allows people to easily edit and add snippets of a templated or custom code (tags) to a website. Tags allow for analytics tracking, creating additional site functionality and managing advertising pixels. What GTM has is dozens of predefined tag templates that can be used without the pain of having to come up with custom code.
It was launched in 2002 with the motive of making the management of tags an easier undertaking and to stop people from messing around with the raw website code too much and it is free. They are in the simplest of terms bits of HTML which are actually Javascript snippets that add any kind of functionality to your website and then let you send data to any 3rd party for analyzing.
A Google Analytics Study
Google Analytics exists to study and anywise data. It tracks all data and generates comprehensive reports for your website. Some of its features are
- How many people have visited
- Their place of origin
- The bounce rate of the website
- The popularity of the pages
& a lot more
The only way Google analytics performs these functions is via the help of a tracking code that has to be placed on every page of the website.
On the fulfillment of action or any sort of interaction, there will be corresponding data recorded by analytics. The GA tag can be placed on any page of the website and there are many things that you can achieve from placing the tag. But when it comes to placing the tag there might be hundreds and you are not going to have enough time to place them and this is where Google Tag Manager comes to the rescue.
If you think about it even Google Analytics is a Tag.
What Are Their Differences?
Tags
Both of them need a tag to be installed on a website, a Google Tag Manager on a website is called a container tag whereas Google Analytics Tag is called a Google Analytics Tracking Code.
The Structure
A container tag has two parts :
The first part is placed in the head of all your webpages and the second part is placed somewhere immediately after the opening of the <body> tag of all the pages.
The Google Analytics tag is a lot more straightforward, it is placed in the head section of all the webpages of all the website <head>.
Functions
The container tag lacks the capability to track any of the user's interactions and can’t even access the usage data on its own.
In simpler terms, a container tag is not at all like an analytics tag.
A Google analytics tag, on the other hand, can track a user's interactions and performs analytics for the compilation of data.
Interaction With Other Tags
A container tag can hold other marketing and analytics within itself along with all the triggers and variables that go along with it.
The Google Analytics tracking code on the other end cannot be utilized to hold other tags.
Viability
A container tag in the absence of all other tags (marketing, analytics) is pretty much useless and is an empty container.
A Google Analytics Tag on the other end is pretty self-sufficient.
Deployment
A container tag has the ability to deploy more than one marketing/ analytics tag. E.g. a container tag can be used for the deployment of Google Analytics or Facebook pixel tracking on a website.
Whereas the Google Analytics code is only good for analytics.
Interface
The dashboard of a Google Tag Manager is essentially very different from the user interface of a google analytics account.
Reports
A GTM account does not have a reporting view and so lacks any kind of reporting view and you cannot generate or display any reports.
Google Analytics, on the other hand, is just a never-ending compilation of reports.
Personalization
A GTM tag has the ability to edit, add, disable, enable and remove any tag, through the dashboard.
This is not possible in the case of Google Analytics.
Function
GTM is a tag management tool whereas Google Analytics is a bonafide website/mobile app tracking tool.
Data Collection
GTM is routing data from one source to another but it at no point is recording or producing its own data.
A Google Analytics code, on the other hand, is a complete data source in itself.
Database
GTM is not a database like I keep iterating it neither stores nor has any marketing or analytics data.
Google Analytics is a complete database in itself on the other hand.
Query
In Google Analytics data can be queued using either the reporting interface or through the use of an API. This feature does not exist within Google Tag Manager
Both GA and GTM are important to the world of web analytics but it is important to understand their differences. But at the same time, one needs to remember that web analytics goes beyond the tools that you decide to use. It is about interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies, and KPIs
These tools exist to provide your website with the best performance it can deliver and a strategic roadmap for a successful business. Check out our Digital Marketing Services for more info on it.
