If you haven’t set up Google Tag Manager (GTM) for your website already, you definitely should. It allows you to add coding to your site without needing a web developer, lets you troubleshoot any performance issues and best of all… it’s completely free!

Another advantage of GTM is that you can use it to improve your PPC conversion tracking. This gives you a better handle on how people came to your site, what PPC platform they used and what they did when they visited.

Interested? Here’s how to do it.

The great thing with GTM is that you can use it with all PPC platforms you make use of, from Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, through to Facebook and LinkedIn.

Not installed GTM on your website yet? You can find out how to do it here. If you have a WordPress website, you can also add the plugin to your site.

How to add PPC tagging to Google Tag Manager

In this example, we’ll be adding Google Ads to GTM.

1. On the overview screen for your website, click on add a new tag. Click on the label icon within tag configuration and choose Google Ads Conversion Tracking
2. Copy and paste your conversion ID and label from your Google Ads account
3. Next, you will want to add a trigger. The trigger tells the tag to fire when a specific action is carried out on your website. The trigger will vary depending on what you want the outcome of clicking on your Google Ad to be. For example, if your goal is for people to buy a product online, you will want the trigger to be on your ‘order confirmed’ page
4. To add a trigger, click on the plus button and give your trigger a name. You can then choose a trigger type, which is very similar to setting up a goal in Google Analytics
5. Check the preview option to make sure your tag works as it should and once you are happy, click submit and publish

Adding remarketing to Google Tag Manager

If you use remarketing in any of your PPC campaigns, GTM lets you quickly add tags to your website. You can even add a Facebook Pixel, although this will soon be phased out with third-party cookies disappearing from Chrome.

To add a Google Ads remarketing tag to GTM, grab its conversion ID from Google Ads (you don’t need a conversion label for remarketing). Next, click add a new tag in GTM and paste your ID in. Decide where on your site you would like your remarketing tag to fire (you can select across all pages if you want to), then preview and submit.

Adding your PPC tags to Google Tag Manager gives you a lot more control over how you manage your PPC platforms.  You can make changes directly within GTM and test your tags before launching to make sure they pull in the vital marketing data you need.

How will you use Google Tag Manager to help your website grow and evolve?