Google Tag Manager Vs. Google Analytics Explained

While Google Analytics (now GA4) has been used for a long time, now businesses also understand the benefits of Google Tag Manager to make work easy. 

However, most people are confused about the differences between Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics and their relationship.

Do both tools offer similar benefits, are they the same? Do you need both of them?

To clear the confusion, we will discuss everything about GTM and GA in detail in this blog.

Google Tag Manager Vs. Google Analytics

Google Analytics analyzes everything about your website, from the leads count to their interaction. At the same time, Google Tag Manager notifies you when a lead clicks on a link. While GA needs tagging to function correctly, GTM makes tagging a simple task.

GA can play its role in website analytics and digital marketing only when you place a tracking code on each page of your site. This tracking code or JavaScript code snippet catches every interaction on each page of your site and then instantly sends the data to GA. You can check these insights on GA at any time.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Keep reading this detailed article on Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics to learn the differences between Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, their benefits, drawbacks, and more.

What are Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics Used for?

GTM and GA are both Google products, and they have proved to be fruitful since their launch. Both tools play a vital part in digital marketing and website analysis. We’ve explained Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics Difference in detail.

Role of Google Analytics in Digital Marketing and Website Analytics

Google Analytics helps in collecting data across all pages of your website or app. It analyzes everything on your site, such as the most popular page, ideal time for increased traffic, and user interactions. It catches all the details about the people who visit your website, including their locations and details of the web browser they are currently using.

GA gives you a closer look at the user interaction on your site. You will know which page gets the most attention and from which page users are bouncing off. With a detailed report on every user interaction, you can quickly discover possible improvements and eventually fill the required gaps on your site for a better customer experience. It means that this detailed website analysis, as a result, helps in digital marketing.

Google Analytics Features

Google Analytics tell you about:

  • The time that your site gets most of the traffic.
  • Number of users that visited your site at any specific time during the day.
  • Location and browser details of each lead.
  • Pages that get the most daily, weekly, or monthly visitors.
  • The page with the highest bounce rate.
  • Amount of time users are spending on your website.
  • Every little interaction of users on your site, from clicks, searches, and saves to scrolls, downloads, purchases, and more.
Google analytics screen for comparing Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics

Role of Google Tag Manager in Digital Marketing and Website Analytics

When using GA, you may want to know how many people clicked on a specific link or how many of them used a particular feature on your site. To use such different features, you must add different tags (tracking codes) on each page, which is quite complicated. Most people get it messed up when placing different tags; that’s where Google Tag Manager comes into play.

Rather than using manual efforts to place GA codes on your website and then fire corresponding tags, take the simple route through GTM. The combination of Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics works excellently together, as it can make things straightforward for you. The easy-to-use, user-friendly dashboard of GTM helps with easy tagging on sites and apps.

Not just GA, Google Tag Manager can help you add tags for any other apps and marketing tools, including Facebook and X (previously known as twitter). You can add all the tags in GTM and let it show its magic of tracking every user event with its tags, triggers, and built-in variables.

Each tag defines the events and activities it tracks, triggers track specific events, and fires the needed corresponding codes/tags based on the user events. After that, the variables collect all the user events input in one place when each code is run.

When all this manual effort of placing tags and firing corresponding tags can be tricky as well as time-consuming, Google Tag Manager makes it incredibly easy for your site and marketing team. You only have to add all the tags in the GTM interface once and for all.

Google Tag Manager Features

  • It eliminates need to manually add codes for different tools on each page of your app or website.
  • GTM manages all the tagging for you, and you can edit the existing and add new codes from its user-friendly interface.
  • It tracks all the user events.
  • GTM triggers fire corresponding tags based on user events.
  • It also helps you track conversions by notifying you when new customers click a link.

Google Tag Manager Vs. Google Analytics: What is the Difference?

GTM and GA are both different and independent tools and can’t eliminate the need to use the other, so there is actually no direct comparison between the two because of their unique roles. Still, for an easier understanding of the features both tools offer, below are the Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics differences:

Google Tag Manager Google Analytics
GTM tracks detailed user events GA tracks user interactions on-site
Its primary purpose is to manage tags and snippets Its primary purpose is tracking quantitative website analysis in detail
GTM collects user data through built-in variables GA helps pinpoint the gaps for better website performance with its detailed website analysis.
GTM is a tool to manage tags of multiple apps, websites, and marketing tools, including Google Analytics You must add GA tags (JavaScript code snippets) to your site to use its features.
Adding tags through GTM is relatively straightforward Adding GA tags for different tasks on your site without GTM can be trickier
It also notifies when a new customer (lead) clicks any particular link It gathers user’s locations and web browser details
GTM makes editing or removing existing tags and adding news tags quite simple GA simplifies gathering user data
Google Tag Manager fires corresponding tags based on user events. For instance, when a user clicks a Facebook Ad, it will fire a Meta Pixel tag Your team might need to manually fire a code after detecting a user event. For instance, the team has to fire a Google Ads tag when a user clicks an Ad.

In a nutshell, Google Tag Manager helps in easy tagging for different apps and tools like Facebook, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. On the other hand, Google Analytics is a tool to analyze quantitative website events, including clicks, scrolls, downloads, and all other customer interactions. Thus, instead of Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics, combining them can be a game-changer!

FAQs

Can Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics work together?

Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics can work as a great pair. Many people use this tool combo on their websites for better website analysis and digital marketing. You can get all the user interaction details from GA; add tags on GTM and use tags, triggers, and variables for the required purposes.

What are the pros of using Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager makes managing tags a simple task for people who are familiar with tags, JavaScript snippets, tracking, and analytics. You can add numerous codes on GTM for different tasks and apps. It can set tags for each task and fire a resulting tag based on user clicks and interactions. It also notifies you the moment a new user clicks on any specific link.

What are the cons of using Google Tag Manager?

There are no such drawbacks of GTM unless you’re nearly unfamiliar with the concepts of tagging, firing corresponding tags, and website analysis. It can be a tricky tool to use for people who are new to the tagging procedure. Also, some other simple tools are available to help with new or small websites and apps.

Are Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics the same?

No, GTM and GA are different tools, each offering a distinct set of features. While Google Analytics tracks quantitative website analysis, including user interaction details, Google Tag Manager deals with tagging for numerous sites, apps, and marketing tools. So, it makes it clear that GTM and GA are not competing tools and are not capable of replacing each other.

How do Global Site Tag vs. Google Tag Manager compare?

Google Site Tag and Google Tag Manager are related to tagging, but they are still different in many ways. They are different in terms of functionality and user interface, but the primary difference is their access to marketing tools. While gtag.js is only compatible with Google marketing tools, GTM has access to every possible third-party marketing tool. In addition, Google Site Tag doesn’t offer a graphical user interface like GTM.

Conclusion

The significant differences between Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics make complete sense as none of them can replace the other with their built-in features. In contrast, when it comes to performance, Google Tag Manager vs. Google Analytics can work as a great combination. Their different set of features make tagging and, eventually, marketing simple. When added in GTM, the numerous tags help the tool track user events and fire corresponding tags accordingly. This way, GTM helps in quick and efficient marketing.

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