Hi Kyle, I thought it'd be easier to just reply to the list. Thanks to Maria for mentioning our poster.
Glad to hear that you're implementing Google Tag Manager (GTM). If I remember correctly it's a pretty painless process. You basically insert the GTM code after the opening <body> tag, and remove the Google Analytics (GA) code from the <head> tag (or where you might have inserted it). If that's all you do, you'll still collect the same GA data. Of course if you set up tags, triggers, and variable within GTM you can grab a lot more interesting data. Sanjeet Mann and I created a poster (see http://www.slideshare.net/NASIG/collecting-data-with-google-tag-manager) geared toward electronic resource librarians. Like Lynn, I use only one GTM container. Google also recommends this for multiple domains (see "Do you manage multiple domains?" in https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/6103576?hl=en). As Google mentions, it makes setting up GTM tags, triggers, and variables a lot easier and reducing the need to duplicate these across multiple containers. However, as Ivan mentioned, since I use only one container I do have to deal with a long list of site-specific tags, variables, and triggers. However, if you were to set up multiple containers, you'd have to insert multiple GTM container codes into your systems and I'm not sure how you'd prevent GA from counting a single hit to a web page multiple times. Ivan, how do you deal with this? In case it helps, I'll also outline how I've set up Google Analytics at my institution. Bear in mind I'm a self-taught-non-programmer librarian, so (1) while my settings seem to have worked so far, I can't guarantee that they're necessarily the "right" way to set up Google Analytics, and (2) I've found Google Tag Manager a lot easier to work with and I feel a lot more confident with the ways I've set it up to collect data. I'm curious to know if other libraries have set up their Google Analytics accounts similarly. -- I have a single Google Analytics property for all library systems -- I use the Admin > Property > Tracking Info > Referral Exclusion List option to list all the domains and subdomains I want Google Analytics to include as part of my Google Analytics property. Paige Paige Mann Physical Sciences Librarian Armacost Library University of Redlands ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 07:28:15 -0400 From: Kyle Breneman <tomeconque...@gmail.com> Subject: Implementing Google Tag Manager Has anyone out there implemented Google Tag Manager? I'd like to get it up and running for all of our library's web properties this summer, but I'm a bit uncertain how I should be structuring it. The most immediate question is, "Do I need only 1 container, or do I need more than 1 container?" Right now, we are tracking our main website, our library blog, LibGuides, ArchivesSpace, EDS, and several other things. Most of these are set up as separate "properties" of one umbrella GA account for the library. This existing structure leads me to believe that I want to configure Google Tag Manager with multiple containers: one container for the main library website, one container for our blog, one container for ArchivesSpace, etc. Does that sound correct? Is there anything else I should be mindful of as I setup GTM? Regards, Kyle ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 11:56:28 +0000 From: "Eades, Lynn" <bea...@med.unc.edu> Subject: Re: Implementing Google Tag Manager Hi Kyle, The University Libraries here at UNC-Chapel Hill are currently working with a consultant to set up Google Tag Manager. We also had several GA accounts for our many websites. Within GTM, we have one container/account for all the sites. This way we can see the flow of traffic between our sites. The consulting firm, SearchDiscovery out of Atlanta, have been wonderful to work with and have really helped us in setting this up. We are just about to wrap up our work with the consultant. Would be happy to discuss further if desired. Lynn __________________________________________________ B. Lynn Eades Web Development Librarian Health Sciences Library 335 South Columbia Street CB# 7585 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7585 Phone: (919) 966-8012 Email: bea...@med.unc.edu Website: http://hsl.lib.unc.edu __________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 09:01:37 -0400 From: Maria Aghazarian <magha...@swarthmore.edu> Subject: Re: Implementing Google Tag Manager Paige and Sanjeet Mann talked about their experience using GTM at NASIG-- you may want to reach out to them specifically: https://nasig2016.sched.org/paige_mann ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 13:06:21 +0000 From: "Goldsmith, Ivan Victor" <ivang...@upenn.edu> Subject: Re: Implementing Google Tag Manager Hi Kyle, At Penn Libraries, we've been working on adopting Google Tag Manager. We already use on many of our sites, with great results thus far. We have a long list of GA web properties, and I've personally found it helpful to give each property its own GTM container. Some of our containers have complicated, site-specific tags/conditions/variables that don't really belong in other sites; I find it easier to maintain them separately. On the other hand, I'm sure there are plenty of advocates out there for using a single container. My impression of GTM is that you can use containers in whatever way best suits your needs. Need one container for all your properties? That's fine. Need a different container for every property? That's also fine. Best, -- Ivan Goldsmith Penn Libraries Web Unit
