Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics Explained With Examples in 2024

What is the main difference between Google Tag Manager GTM and Google Analytics GA?

Okay, so here’s the lowdown: Google Analytics is your go-to tool for analyzing how users are engaging with your website or mobile app. It’s like your trusty sidekick for tracking website user activity. On the flip side, Google Tag Manager is like the wizard behind the curtain. Injecting tracking codes (tags), and pushing datapoints to Analytics tools. And yup, you guessed it, Google Analytics is just one of the tools you can use with GTM.

Here is a cheat sheet table outlining the main differences between Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.

Google Analytics vs Google Tag Manager Cheatsheet

Feature	Google Analytics	Google Tag Manager
Function	Analytics tool for tracking and analyzing user interactions on websites and apps.	Tag management system for adding, editing, and managing tags (tracking codes) without coding.
Usage	Tracks user activity and provides detailed analytics reports.	Manages tags, triggers, and variables to streamline analytics implementation.
Tracking	Tracks predefined metrics like page views, bounce rate, session duration, etc.	Enables tracking of custom events and interactions tailored to specific business needs.
Implementation	Requires placing tracking code directly on website pages.	Uses a container tag placed on the website, with tags and triggers configured through the GTM interface.
Flexibility	Less flexible for adding or modifying tracking codes without developer assistance.	Provides flexibility to manage tags and make changes without editing website code.

 

Still scratching your head? No worries, we’re gonna dive deeper into this. For now, if you at least recognize Google Analytics is abbreviated as GA and Google Tag Manager as GTM, you are already part of the top percentile within Digital Analytics 101. Keep reading to get the full scoop!

GA4 vs GTM main differences explained

GA4 is the analytics platform for data analysis, while GTM is the tool for managing the deployment of tracking tags, including those required for GA4 tracking. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager together, form a powerful combination for gaining insights into user behavior and optimizing digital marketing efforts. GA4 and GTM are both essential tools in the realm of digital marketing and analytics, but they serve different purposes and play distinct roles in a company's analytics strategy. GA4, or Google Analytics 4, represents the latest iteration of Google's analytics platform, designed to offer a more holistic and user-centric approach to data collection and analysis. It emphasizes event-based tracking, machine learning-powered insights, and cross-platform measurement, enabling businesses to better understand user behavior across multiple devices and touchpoints. On the other hand, GTM, or Google Tag Manager, is a tag management system that facilitates the implementation and management of tracking tags and scripts on a website or mobile app. GTM simplifies the process of deploying tracking codes from various analytics and marketing tools without directly editing the site's code, providing flexibility and efficiency in managing tracking infrastructure. While GA4 focuses on collecting and analyzing data, GTM serves as a conduit for deploying tracking tags, including those for GA4, and managing the tracking ecosystem. In summary, GA4 is the analytics platform for data analysis, while GTM is the tool for managing the deployment of tracking tags, including those required for GA4 tracking. Together, they form a powerful combination for gaining insights into user behavior and optimizing digital marketing efforts.

Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics

Utilizing Google Tag Manager alongside Google Analytics, ah the powerful GA and GTM combo, offers numerous advantages for website owners and marketers. One key benefit is the centralized management of tracking tags and scripts through a user-friendly interface. With Google Tag Manager, users can easily add, modify, or remove tracking codes without needing direct access to the website's source code, streamlining the implementation process and reducing reliance on developers. Additionally, Google Tag Manager provides robust version control and debugging tools, allowing for seamless testing and troubleshooting of tags before deployment. This ensures accurate data collection and eliminates potential errors that could impact analytics insights. Furthermore, by integrating Google Tag Manager with Google Analytics, users gain enhanced flexibility and scalability in tracking various website interactions and events, enabling deeper insights into user behavior and campaign performance. Overall, the combination of Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics empowers businesses to efficiently manage their tracking infrastructure, optimize data collection, and derive actionable insights to drive informed decision-making and improve overall digital marketing strategies. 

gtm and google analytics are powerful together

Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics are two distinct tools that serve complementary yet different purposes in the realm of digital marketing and website analytics. Google Tag Manager is a tag management system that allows users to efficiently manage and deploy various tracking tags and scripts on their website without directly editing the site's code. It provides a centralized platform for implementing tags from multiple analytics and marketing tools, streamlining the process of tracking events, conversions, and other user interactions. On the other hand, Google Analytics is a web analytics platform that focuses on collecting, analyzing, and reporting data about website traffic and user behavior. It offers powerful insights into audience demographics, user engagement, and conversion metrics, enabling businesses to optimize their online presence and marketing campaigns. While GTM facilitates the deployment of tracking tags, Google Analytics utilizes the data collected by these tags to generate actionable insights and inform strategic decisions. In summary, GTM is a tool for managing tracking tags, while Google Analytics is a platform for analyzing and interpreting the data collected by those tags.

Google Analytics Tag Manager must be your first priority

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, where every click, scroll, and interaction holds valuable insights, harnessing the power of Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can be a game-changer for businesses and marketers alike. Imagine a seamless journey where every touchpoint is meticulously tracked, analyzed, and optimized to perfection. With GTM, you wield the ability to effortlessly manage your tracking infrastructure, deploying tags and scripts with precision and agility, all without the need for complex coding. Meanwhile, GA4 stands as your beacon of insight, illuminating the path to a deeper understanding of your audience's behaviors, preferences, and needs. Together, they form an unstoppable duo, empowering you to unlock a treasure trove of data-driven wisdom. By integrating GTM and GA4 into your digital strategy, you transcend mere observation, diving headfirst into a realm of strategic foresight and informed decision-making. It's not just about collecting data; it's about crafting narratives, uncovering trends, and shaping experiences that resonate with your audience on a profound level. So, digital marketers and visionary business owners, seize the opportunity to harness the synergy of GTM and GA4. Embrace the journey of transformation, where data becomes your greatest ally, and every insight propels you closer to your goals. The future of digital success awaits – are you ready to embrace it?

GTM and GA Professional Consulting Services

Embark on a journey of digital transformation with Sea to Sky Consultants, your trusted partner in unlocking the full potential of Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics. Picture a world where every click leads to clarity, and every data point guides your strategic decisions. At Sea to Sky, we're not just consultants; we're navigators, guiding you through the intricate landscape of digital analytics with expertise and precision. Whether you're a seasoned marketer seeking to elevate your tracking infrastructure or a budding entrepreneur eager to harness the power of data-driven insights, our team is here to empower you every step of the way. Let us be your compass in the vast sea of digital possibilities. Contact Sea to Sky Consultants today, and let's embark on a journey to digital excellence together.

 

How I found out Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are different.

Don't like stories? Skip it!

Hey, so picture this: it’s 2009, first year at York University in Toronto, rolling up my sleeves to take on my very first Marketing role! I was so excited checking all the available data on my first Google Analytics (GA) account! Tracking traffic on our student-ran website for International Students. When, during my office hours, students showed up to complain about the broken form in our website. They mentioned, the form was broken and didn't allow them to submit their inquiry through our Contact form. What?! No wonder I saw a huge 95% Bounce rate on that webpage in our Google Analytics data. I poorly and simply assumed our visitors just were not that interested. Why did I assume lack of interest? Well, Google Analytics didn't provide me with data to infer there was something wrong with the form. It did show me the page was very popular and visitors spent about 2 minutes there, which seemed pretty good. But there was no data for me to close in on why people did not contact us. So, I googled "how to see form interactions like clicks and form views on Google Analytics" and came across Google Tag Manager (GTM). I'm like, "Huh? Tag what? What’s that?" Google Tag Manager (GTM ) wasn’t mentioned at all in the series of Google's Google Analytics (GA) Academy courses! So naturally, I’m scratching my head, wondering what in the world Google Tag Manager (GTM) is all about. And to top it off, I start reading about the whole Google Analytics (GA) events vs Google Tag Manager (GTM) events deal. Then, all of a sudden I'm looking at scripts, Java this Java that, code! 

Fast forward to today, and guess what? A bunch of folks are still in the same boat I was in back then – confused! So, in this article, I’m gonna break it down for you. We’ll compare Google Tag Manager with Google Analytics and clear up the main differences.

Unless you are a developer, you probably heard about Google Analytics first and then Google Tag Manager. Let's go over Google Analytics first. And cover this topic discussing websites. Consider, Google analytics can also be used on mobile applications.

Frequently Asked Questions about Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics

What is Google Analytics (GA)?

Google Analytics is a tool to track, store and report data about users on your website or mobile application. In this article, I'll stick to websites for simplicity. Some of the most popular datapoints on Google Analytics provide you with answers to your usual marketing questions on web users.

Some of the many datapoints provided by Google Analytics are:

• How many visits did our website get? 
• What are their demographics like?
  • Visits by gender, age and interest.
  • Visits by country, region and city.
• What devices did they visit us on?
  • Visits browser, screen resolution, etc. 
• Which web pages did they visit?
• How long did their visit last?
• And a bunch of other intriguing statistics.

How does Google Analytics track website users and their interactions?

Google Analytics tracks users and their interactions through tracking code in the language of Javascript. In order to enable Google Analytics on your website, you have to inject a code snippet provided on any page of interest. This code snippet is often known among us marketers and developers as GA Javascript code snippet or GA tracking code. (Let me know in the comments if you'd like an article guiding you through the GA set up process).

Once your GA tracking code is present on your website or webpage of interest, it will track "some" interactions automatically. Pretty general and simple in my opinion like those mentioned above. But something, is better than nothing at all.

How does the GA JavaScript code snippet track interactions?

Google's tracking JavaScript code snippet detects a range of interactions by default in both their Google Analytics Universal (AKA GA3) and newest Google Analytics 4 (AKA GA4). For example, GA's tracking code snippet detects when a user views a page and sends this data to your Google analytics panel as a hit. Simply put, pageview=1. Same goes for other interactions like navigating through new pages, and lately with GA4 even some additional general interactions, specially if you enable the setting: "enhanced measurements", like form submissions, form interactions and file downloads. However, even with GA4's newest enhanced measurements, the responsibility to verify those events are tracking accurately still sits on you according to Google.

Here is an image showing you the newest interactions tracked by GA4's enhanced measurements for context:

Is Google Analytics data good enough for marketing purposes and Google Tag Manager an overkill?

If you only require some very high level and passive interaction data such as page views, session count, session duration and page journey, sure GA is probably enough. 

How to track interactions not available on Google Analytics?

What if you wanna get a bit more specific? Maybe you're itching to know how many peeps are really diggin' that shiny new feature you just launched? Are users clicking on the buttons? What about those forms we marketers love? Why are people not completing the form? Is there an issue with any of the form fields? What are they entering in form submission attempts that didn't go through? See what I mean?! Here is a rule of thumb: If a user can click/tap on something, chances are the default GA tracking will not track it at best, and will mislead you at worst. 

Predictive Analytics Require Big Data.

If you want to proactively track expected user behaviour on your website and the realm of predictive analytics is somewhere within your radar, you must agree with this: "The more data the better."

Google Tag Manager Helps You Set Up Custom Tracking on Anything in Your Website.

So again, what if data about our target interactions are nowhere in Google Analytics? That’s where Google Tag Manager comes into play with its Tags, Triggers and Variables my friends.

How do Google Tag Manager Tags, Triggers and Variables work and has GA4 killed the need to use GTM?

These bad boys are like secret agents, only firing off to Google Analytics (or other platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, etc.) when someone on your site does something super specific. Take, for example, form submissions – you wanna know every time someone hits that submit button, right? No worries, probably you can now find that data on GA4, but not interactions with the whole form like text fields and radio selectors. Forget about knowing what users typed or didn't type, or whether they even saw the form fully? Wouldn't you want to know if users at least scrolled down to the bottom of the form? Well, GA even with its top-notch GA4 won't likely provide you with those insights. (Let me know in the comments if you want an article showing you how to track any of these examples by the way.)

Your development team does not implement interaction tracking by default.

Hey, devs should have some data on this type of interaction right? You know, those proactive devs always foresee your asks and provide you with all the user behaviour data you require. You asked them to track clicks on some buttons and elements of your website, and they are ready to provide you with an even further breakdown of that type of data by geolocation, and a breakdown by specific ads on your Google Ads campaign and Facebook Ads... In your dreams. Most likely than not, devs won't have any interaction data about anything on your site if the specifications provided for their work did not include interaction tracking. Why would they? 

How about asking your development team to start tracking those interactions?

Well, that may work but you may not be able to see that data in your target platform unless clearly specified, be it Google Analytics, Google Ads or anything else. 

Now, you’re at the mercy of the developers, who, let’s be real, are always juggling a million things at once. It could take ages – weeks, even months – to get all your marketing tags up and running smoothly. And trust me, that’s a real kick in the teeth, my friends.

 

Do I still need to use Google Tag Manager if I am using Google Analytics 4?

Now with GA4's automated events, you can get even more interactions tracked "out of the box". Yes, in quotations because since their set up is pretty general, they may not track perfectly or nearly as intended for your site. Now, before you close this article, and head on to digging yourself into GA4 automated events to avoid learning about Google Tag Manager, let me burst your bubble right now. I'm 99.95% convinced you still need Google Tag Manager for most custom tracking in your website. Needless to say, I've worked in the space for over 14+ years, and I am still to find a website that does not require custom GTM, or though another tag manager or custom system, solutions to track, monitor and act on user's interactions.

What is Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager is software that allows you to inject code into your website. Google Tag Manager is also known as GTM, its abbreviated name. As the name indicates, GTM is a software offered by Google and at the moment you can use it for free. Here's an article dedicated to explain what is google tag manager / gtm in detail.

What type of code or code languages can be deployed with Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager supports various types of code and languages for deployment. Some of the most common ones include:

1. JavaScript

2. HTML

3. CSS

4. Custom HTML Tags

5. Custom Image Tags

6. Third-Party Tag Templates

Let's go over some examples to best visualize these types of code and languages supported by Google Tag Manager.

 

JavaScript via GTM

JavaScript is the primary language used for most tracking and custom functionalities within Google Tag Manager. You can deploy custom JavaScript code snippets to track events, modify page content, or integrate with third-party tools.

Example of tracking a button click event via GTM JavaScript code insertion:

<script> 
document.getElementById('myButton').addEventListener('click', function() 
{ dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'button_click', 'button_id': 'myButton' }); });</script>

For those of you who are already familiarized with Google Analytics or Google Ads, I am sure this type of JavaScript code seems familiar. That's because both, Google Analytics tracking code and Google Ads tracking code, are in this language. 

For example, here is a GA4 tracking code snippet:

<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX></script>
<script>
 window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
 function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
 gtag('js', new Date());

 gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>

So, before you ask YES, you can deploy your Google Analytics tracking code snippet on your website via Google Tag Manager. See the advantages already?! You can simply ask developers to insert your GTM code in your website, and you should be able to deploy other code you need in your Digital Marketing campaigns such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc. Yes, you may still need their help, but hey beats having to ask for help that many times.

 

HTML via GTM

HTML code can be deployed directly within Google Tag Manager to add custom elements to your web pages, such as forms, buttons, or other structured content.

Example of a container with text (<div> with child <p>) insertion via GTM HTML code insertion:

<div id="customElement">
 <p>This is a custom HTML element added via Google Tag Manager.</p>
</div>

 

CSS via GTM

While Google Tag Manager primarily focuses on JavaScript, you can also include CSS code to style and format elements on your web pages. This can be useful for modifying the appearance of specific elements based on certain conditions.

Example of CSS styles added to elements with id="customElement" via GTM CSS code insertion:

<style>
 #customElement {
 background-color: #f0f0f0;
 padding: 10px;
 }
</style>

 

Custom HTML Tags via GTM

Google Tag Manager allows you to create custom HTML tags, where you can combine HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to implement custom functionalities or integrate with external services.

Example of custom HTML code with JavaScript functionality via GTM custom HTML code insertion:

 

<script>
 console.log('This is a custom HTML tag deployed via Google Tag Manager.');
</script>

 

Custom Image Tags

You can deploy image tags using Google Tag Manager to track simple pixel-based events or interactions, such as tracking conversions or page views.

Example of image pixel insertion casting a conversion event via GTM

<img src="https://www.example.com/pixel.gif?event=conversion" style="display:none;">

Third-Party Tag Templates on GTM

Google Tag Manager provides built-in templates for various third-party tools and services, allowing you to easily deploy tags without writing custom code. These templates cover a wide range of functionalities, including advertising, analytics, and social media tracking.

Example of deploying Facebook Pixel via GTM

<script>
 !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
 {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
 n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
 if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
 n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
 t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
 s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
 fbq('init', 'your_pixel_id');
 fbq('track', 'PageView');
</script>

Overall, Google Tag Manager offers flexibility in deploying various types of code and integrations, making it a versatile tool for managing tracking and other functionalities on your website.

Is Google Tag Manager the same as Google Analytics?

No, Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a tool for managing and deploying tracking scripts and tags on a website, while Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic and user behavior. While they can be used together, they serve different purposes.

What is a Google Tag Manager Tag?

A Google Tag Manager tag is a snippet of code that tracks specific user interactions or events on a website, such as pageviews, button clicks, form submissions, or product purchases. These tags are managed and deployed through the Google Tag Manager platform, allowing website owners to implement and update tracking scripts without directly editing their website's code.

What does gtm mean?

GTM is an abbreviation of Google Tag Manager. People also tend to call GTM just Tag Manager.

What does GA, GA3 or GA Universal and GA4 mean?

GA (Google Analytics) is a web analytics platform offered by Google that provides detailed insights into website traffic, audience, and page performance. GA3, or Google Analytics Universal, is a previous version of Google Analytics that has been widely used. GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics, featuring new functionalities and a more user-centric and event-focused approach.

Is Google Tag Manager free?

Yes, Google Tag Manager is a free tool provided by Google. It enables users to centrally manage and deploy tracking tags on a website without the need to modify the source code.

Is Google Analytics free?

Yes, Google Analytics offers a free version that provides a wide range of web analytics functionalities. However, it also offers a premium version called Google Analytics 360 for businesses needing advanced features and additional support.

Do you need Google Tag Manager with GA4?

While Google Tag Manager can be helpful for implementing and managing tracking tags in GA4, it's not strictly necessary. GA4 is designed to be more flexible and enable data collection without the need for custom tags in many cases.

What cannot be collected by the default analytics tracking code?

The default analytics tracking code cannot collect information on offline activities, such as phone calls or direct interactions with customer service representatives. It also cannot collect personally identifiable information without additional adjustments to comply with privacy regulations.