1. What Is Google Analytics?
2. Difference Between Google Tag Manager And Google Analytics
3. Why Do Marketers Confuse Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager?
1. What Is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free online analytics service that provides basic analytical tools and statistics for SEO and marketing purposes. Google Analytics is used to track and analyze a website's performance as well as information about its visitors.It can provide valuable information about the effectiveness of a company's marketing initiatives and campaigns, track how customers complete tasks (such as making purchases or adding items to their shopping carts), identify trends and patterns in customer behavior, and gather demographic data, in addition to identifying the most popular sources of user activity.
2. Difference Between Google Tag Manager And Google Analytics
Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are two separate apps with separate functions. To put it another way, these technologies aren't meant to be used in isolation; rather, they're meant to work together to maximize your actionable web insights. Here's a breakdown of the key differences.1. Website Traffic Reports
You can find out the following with Google Analytics:- In the preceding 30 days, how much money did your website generate?
- What portions of your website was the most popular?
- Which products were the most popular in the last seven days?
- Which marketing channel resulted in the most website leads?
- What are your store's best-selling items?
- How many people left their shopping carts unattended?
2. Information Source
Google Tag Manager is a data management application that allows you to move data across different data sources. It is not, however, a data source in and of itself. It doesn't have any data storage.Google Analytics, on the other hand, is a data source that collects a variety of information about a website, its users, activities, and devices using dimensions and metrics. Data is kept on the company's servers, and you have access to it for reporting purposes. Google Tag Manager isn't a data source in the traditional sense. Google Analytics, on the other hand, does.
3. Labels for Containers
A container tag can be used to store one or more promotional and analytics tags, as well as the variables connected with them. A container tag can be used to install Google Analytics on a website. A container tag can be used to implement Facebook pixel tracking on a website. The container tag, when used in conjunction with Google Tag Manager, provides all of the functionality needed to execute and install tags on your website. Container tags are not used by Google Analytics, however they are used by Google Tag Manager.4. Storage Or Analysis Of Data
A database is not the same as Google Tag Manager. It does not gather or store any type of analytical or promotional data. On the other hand, Google Analytics is more of a database.Google Analytics then analyses the data in line with your configuration preferences (such as dimension scope filters and so on) before reporting on the results. In contrast, Google Tag Manager is unable to analyze or reflect on the data collected.
5. Perform a data query
You can use either the reporting window or the API to query data in Google Analytics. On the other hand, data querying is not possible with Google Tag Manager.6. Self-reliance
It is possible to use Google Tag Manager without having Google Analytics installed. The same is true for Google Analytics, which does not require Google Tag Manager to be used.7. Practicality
One or more tags are managed using Google Tag Manager. This software is unable to save, analyze, or report statistics on online traffic. As a result, it cannot be utilized as a reporting tool in place of Google Analytics.Google Analytics is frequently used to collect, assess, and reflect on data from website visitors, however, it cannot manage one or more tags. As a result, you can't use Google Analytics instead of Google Tag Manager.
3. Why Do Marketers Confuse Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager?
The tracking technology is Google Analytics, and the interface between the tracking tool and your website is Google Tag Manager. To put it another way, Google Analytics is a data collection tool, and data from your website is transferred to it via Tags, which are managed by Google Tag Manager.So, where does all of this muddle come from? To begin, they're both Google products, and they're both free! The main source of ambiguity, however, is in the implementation of Google Analytics. Although many marketers use Google Tag Manager to set up Google Analytics, it is also possible to use Google Analytics directly on your website.
When Google Analytics is your only monitoring tool, embedding the code directly into your website makes perfect sense. There is only one interface to deal with, and the configuration is straightforward. You can also install Google Tag Manager on your website and attach it to your Google Analytics account if you want to use additional tracking technologies or use more elaborate monitoring events. It takes a little longer to set up, but you get more tracking options and a wider range of tools.
As a result, both Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics could be installed. Any method is appropriate in reality; it all depends on your individual tracking strategy. Tag Manager is the best option for your business if you plan to use other Tags in the future, such as Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, or Microsoft Advertising.