How to run GTM without access to a website

Some of you have been following my blogs for some time while others are pretty new to the space and are obviously trying to learn all they can about tagging, tracking and analytics solutions. Websites have become remarkably easy to build in 2018 and you can get away with building quite a nifty little site without any coding knowledge and the same goes for tracking solutions. What used to be a painful process every digital marketer used to hate has become an absolute delight and a worthwhile skill to have.

In the past, you would have to sign up for tools, get their code, have a developer inject it onto your site then test it and make sure the data is passing through correctly which could often waste days even weeks with the constant back and forth. The scary part of it all was that would be the case if it was only a simple integration if you were building a custom solution it got really complicated.

Those days are a long and well-forgotten past for most of us who have discovered GTM.

GTM saves lives

If you asked me what my favourite digital marketing tool is, I'd probably say Google Tag Manager (GTM) before you even finished asking your question. I am an absolute sucker for well thought out, customisable tech solutions which is exactly what GTM offers. Over the last 3 years I've learned to love this tool and spent hours messing around creating my own tags, trigger and custom tracking solutions with a bit of frustration but mostly great delight once it's all working. Another bonus is I still have a full head of hair and have not tried to kick the monitor off a developers desk which was an urge I had to fight back constantly pre-GTM days.

During my journey into the world of custom tracking, I've shared my discoveries with you through my various blogs and if you haven't already. I would encourage you to check them out.

Pro tip: To explore all my GTM related posts you can either start by clicking on the Google Tag Manager Tag in this post or doing a good old-fashioned search for "Google Tag Manager".

GTM Tag injector

While I may rave about GTM like some kind of analytics geek and talk about how simple and easy to use, I am of course used to how the tool works having spent hours using it, breaking it and figuring things out. You could choose to read blogs or watch YouTube videos on the subject but the best way to learn is ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS to play around with it.

How to install GTM Tag injector

• First off you would need to be using Google Chrome browser
• Install the Google Tag Manager Injector Chrome extension.
• Activate the plugin
• Create or have a GTM account
• Grab the GTM container code ID - Example: GTM-123456
• Insert the code into the plugin
• Click start

It's really as simple as that, now you can head back to GTM and start creating your tags and triggers and use the debug mode live in your browser. In case you were wondering it's important to note that this setup will only work on manipulating your browser. No users of the site what you're working on while the website you're working on won't be affected at all.

Situations GTM Tag injector is perfect for

So you're probably wondering when would you ever use a tool like this? There are a few reasons I'm sure the over 23 000 users of this plugin would tell their own story but for me, the following situations make this plugin a must.

• If you don't have your own test site
• If you don't have access to your site or clients sites GTM container
• If you the site you're working on doesn't contain GTM
• If you're thinking about migrating to GTM
• If you have GTM but you're looking testing away from the live account because of conflict with multiple users 
• If you're running subdomains and want to migrate tags test before you roll out containers

Practice makes for great tracking

Now that you have your own little private area or rather safe space where you are assured you cannot break anything you now have the freedom to go wild. Check out blog posts and YouTube videos on cool tracking options and custom solutions and try them out for yourself. Running this plugin will give you the platform that will turn you from noob to GTM master in no time. 

Contact us

If you want to know more about custom tracking solutions for your site, don’t be shy we’re happy to assist. Simply contact us

Tags: tracking, google tag manager, reports, analytics