Behold! The slide deck from my GTM talk at SearchLove London 2017. Quick description: Let's face it - being able to track and analyze your top pages, bounce rates, form submissions, and the like is pretty low-level stuff. It's almost 2018, so it's time to increase your Google Tag Manager proficiency to get the most of your Analytics configuration. In this session, Mike will geek out on GTM, show you how to track progress through forms and pinpoint friction points, explain how to set up user interactions to fire virtual page views for more granular intelligence, fix cross and subdomain tracking issues, and more.

1. Level Up Your Analytics
Conquer your toughest challenges in GA & GTM

2. CEO /
Founder /
Geek at Large
at UpBuild
Mike Arnesen
@mike_arnesen | mikearnesen.com
@upbuildteam | upbuild.io

3. A ranger wandering
the land,
helping wherever
there’s a need.
MY JOB

4. Who’s played D&D?
@mike_arnesen

5. We’re geeks, so probably most of us.
@mike_arnesen
Who’s played D&D?

6. @mike_arnesen
Professional Development
is an RPG

7. Dungeons & Dragons
@mike_arnesen
It’s back!

8. If these trends continue…
@mike_arnesen

9. @mike_arnesen

10. @mike_arnesen
We’re Level 1
Analytics Paladins
Analytics Proficiency Modifier: +1
GATC Copy & Paste: Mastered
Goal Tracking: Intermediate
GTM Skill: Burgeoning

11. @mike_arnesen
1st level
is a great
starting point
You can only gain XP
& level up by facing
challenges

12. Rapid Fire
It sounds like a good idea
@mike_arnesen

13. @mike_arnesen
Too much
mind blowing
isn’t a good thing

14. on the important ones
@mike_arnesen
Let’s focus

15. 01
CROSS…EVERYTHING TRACKING
Cross-domain, subdomain,
cross-frame, and cross-device

16. 02
CLICK TRACKING IN GTM
4 years of click tracking lessons in
4 minutes

17. 03
FORM ABANDONMENT
TRACKING
Understand & analyze form
abandonment with a bulletproof
framework

18. 04
ALIGNED CONVERSION
EVENTS
It’s go time, at the same time

19. 05
MODIFYING BOUNCE RATE
To get a better picture of
engagement

20. 06
MEASUREMENT PROTOCOL
Send data to Google Analytics
with or without webpages

21. 07
A STARTING POINT FOR
YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Summon the power of Eru and
craft your own spells

22. ● Blfe fnisc odnccke fhiab
● thegb thyiuo lokji agej theubn.
● Blfe fnisc odnccke
● fhiab tunng eieinthg eith toyuin
● Blfe fnisc odnccke fhiab
● thegb thyiuo lokji agej theubn.
It’s dungeon
crawl time!
Hack & Slash

23. Okay, Google
Roll for initiative!
@mike_arnesen

24. 01
CROSS…EVERYTHING TRACKING
Cross-domain, subdomain,
cross-frame, and cross-device

25. Client ID is
the soul of
the user
Don’t let it
slip away
9156190c-f12a-45fb-90de-b841638b6b4b

26. Subdomain
Why?
Cookied in the wrong place
How to Fix
Set cookieDomain to "auto"
The connection to the CID is severed
@mike_arnesen

27. Subdomain
Why?
Cookied in the wrong place
How to Fix
Set cookieDomain to "auto"
The connection to the CID is severed
@mike_arnesen
At long last, this
is a GTM default!

28. Subdomain
all the specifics
Default cookie setting is
problematic.
Setting CookieDomain
to "auto" flips it.
@mike_arnesen
support.upbuild.iowww.upbuild.io
support.upbuild.iowww.upbuild.io

29. Cross-Domain
The connection to the CID is severed
@mike_arnesen
Why?
Info isn’t shared across sites
How to Fix
1. Set allowLinker to "true"
2. Specify domains in your
GTM’s GA config variable
3. Populate referral
exclusion list is GA admin

30. @mike_arnesen
Cross-Domain
all the specifics
autoLinker set to "true".
Auto Link Domains =
comma-separated list of
all websites.

31. @mike_arnesen
Cross-Domain
all the specifics
Add the same websites to
your referral exclusion.

32. Cross-Frame
The connection to the CID is severed
@mike_arnesen
Why?
iframes are an
unholy nightmare
How to Fix
1. Modify GA code to send
CID to the iframe
2. Add GA code to iframe
source that receives CID
3. Send that GA hit you
need with the original CID

33. Cross-Frame
Replace GA code (or
GTM page view tag) on
the pages with iframed
forms.
The code grabs the
canonical CID and
passes it to the iframe
with postMessage()
@mike_arnesen
all the specifics

34. Cross-Frame
Put the code in the iframe
source (or form template).
It fires up a new tracker
and uses the canonical CID
rather than create a new
one.
@mike_arnesen
all the specifics

35. Cross-Frame
@mike_arnesen
Put the code as the
Completion/Thank You
action.
Fire an event hit off to
GA; could be a page
view, too.
all the specifics

36. Cross-Device
The connection to the CID is severed
@mike_arnesen
Why?
Cookies aren’t shared
across browsers/devices
Our Best Option for Now
1. Set up User-ID in GA
2. Use cross-device reports
in a dedicated User-ID
view

37. + UID
+ UID
Log In
Log In

38. Log In
Log In
SessionUnification

39. Log In
Log In
SessionUnification

40. 02
CLICK TRACKING IN GTM
4 years of click tracking lessons in
4 minutes

41. Click Tracking
The old way
Hard-coded JavaScript via
onclick attributes!
@mike_arnesen
onclick="ga('send',
'event',
'navigation',
'hamburger',
'about'"

42. Click Tracking
The old way
Hard-coded JavaScript via
onclick attributes!
@mike_arnesen
onclick="ga('send',
'event',
'navigation',
'hamburger',
'about'"
The horror…

43. Click Tracking
Original GTM flavor
No editing your source
code; hone in with CSS
selectors.
One event tag can
manage an entire
category of clicks!
@mike_arnesen

44. Click Tracking
The UpBuild Way
One event tag for
tracking all click
interactions.
dataLayer variables will
receive relevant data that
you specify.
@mike_arnesen

45. Click Tracking
The UpBuild Way
One HTML tag
(containing JavaScript)
takes care of click
handling and labeling
for your entire site.
@mike_arnesen

46. Click Tracking
The UpBuild Way
One HTML tag
(containing JavaScript)
takes care of click
handling and labeling
for your entire site.
@mike_arnesen
What to track
Data for GA
Custom
Event
GTM
Variable

47. Click Tracking
The UpBuild Way
One HTML tag
(containing JavaScript)
takes care of click
handling and labeling
for your entire site.
@mike_arnesen
Some labels may
need to be escaped!
What to track
Data for GA
Custom
Event
GTM
Variable

48. 03
FORM ABANDONMENT
TRACKING
Understand & analyze form
abandonment with a bulletproof
framework

49. Form Abandonment Tracking
Help travelers find their way through
@mike_arnesen
Why?
Forms these days.
Amirite?

50. Form Abandonment
Tracking
How it works
Each interaction logs the
name of the form field.
Upon abandonment, the
whole thing is delivered
to GA.
@mike_arnesen
Address > City > State >
Country > Zip > Home Airport

51. Form Abandonment
Tracking
Add this tag in GTM.
Input your:
- form selector
- submit button selector
- field attribute to track
One version for each form
type.
@mike_arnesen
How to implement
Form
Submit button
Attribute

52. Form Abandonment
Tracking
Triggers on the same
Custom Event as before!
@mike_arnesen
How to implement
Custom
Event

53. 04
ALIGNED CONVERSION
EVENTS
It’s go time, at the same time

54. @mike_arnesen
Out of Sync
Conversions
If multiple platforms
record conversions
in different ways
— even slightly —
it’s gonna get messy.
What’s the issue

55. @mike_arnesen
Out of Sync
Conversions
If multiple platforms
record conversions
in different ways
— even slightly —
it’s gonna get messy.
What’s the issue
Pardot/Marketo Leads: 120
Facebook Conversions: 80
GA Goal Completions: 143
LinkedIn Conversions: 78

56. @mike_arnesen
Take the Time
to Get Aligned
Base the recording
of a conversion around
a single, consistent event.
& Everyone Wins

57. @mike_arnesen
Take the Time
to Get Aligned
Base the recording
of a conversion around
a single, consistent event.
& Everyone Wins
Might I recommend a
custom dataLayer push?

58. @mike_arnesen
Take the Time
to Get Aligned
Base the recording
of a conversion around
a single, consistent event.
& Everyone Wins
Might I recommend a
custom dataLayer push?

59. 05
MODIFYING BOUNCE RATE
To get a better picture of
engagement

60. Bounce Rate
Ain’t So Great
A bounce isn’t
a failure;
it’s a visit with a
single interaction.

61. Page View
Page View
Page ViewEvent
Page View
Page View Pageview
Time in
Seconds
1s 3s2s 4s
2-second session
Non-bounce
3-second session
Non-bounce
0-second session
Bounce
5s

62. Page View
0-second session
Bounce
Time in
Seconds
1s 3s2s 4s 5s

63. Page View
3-second session
Non-bounce
Page View
0-second session
Bounce
Time in
Seconds
1s 3s2s 4s 5s
EventInt Int

64. @mike_arnesen
Rescue Your
Bounce Rate
Listen closely for actions
that indicate engagement.
By Negating Bounce

65. @mike_arnesen
Rescue Your
Bounce Rate
The default setting
is to wait for 2 of
these 3 to occur.
By Negating BounceCopied content
Scrolled deep
Passed time

66. @mike_arnesen
Rescue Your
Bounce Rate
If enough lights go off,
send an event to GA so it
knows "no bounce!"
By Negating Bounce
Event Triggered!

67. @mike_arnesen
Rescue Your
Bounce Rate
Add this tag in GTM.
Input your:
- content elements
- time value
- engagement threshold
Trigger on "Page engaged"
Custom Event.
How to Implement

68. TO JAVASCRIPT
THE CAUSE OF,
AND SOLUTION TO,
ALL OF LIFE’S PROBLEMS

69. 06
MEASUREMENT PROTOCOL
Send data to Google Analytics
with or without webpages

70. Measurement Protocol
allows you to make an HTTP Request that will
send a hit to the Google Analytics servers.
@mike_arnesen

71. HTTP Request MP payload
Build Your Own Measurement Protocol Hit
https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/hit-builder/
+
https://google-analytics.com/collect
?v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-68661604-1&cid=9156190c-
f12a-45fb-90de-b841638b6b4b&dp=%2Ftest-page%2F
+

72. Build Your Own Measurement Protocol Hit
https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/hit-builder/
https://google-analytics.com/collect?
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-68661604-1&cid=9156190c-f12a-45fb-90de-
b841638b6b4b&dp=%2Ftest-page%2F
Excelsior?

73. 07
A STARTING POINT FOR
YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Summon the power of Eru and
craft your own spells

74. Eru for GTM
Eru Ilúvatar
Eru is an account of
GTM containers.
Use only the modules
you need.
Just import, configure,
and play.
@mike_arnesen

75. Use Eru Core + modules you need
Just plug, configure, and play!
@mike_arnesen

76. Everything from this talk & more
Download @ HackGTM.com
@mike_arnesen

77. Import into your GTM container
Remember to merge, not overwrite
@mike_arnesen

78. Works out-of-the-box
with a few User Updates
Change Config Variables to
"false" to deactivate
@mike_arnesen

80. Get the deck,
learn more tips,
keep leveling up.
hackgtm.com
THANK YOU!