How to set up tagging server URL for server GTM

Setting up a tagging server is the first step if you want to implement server-side tagging. Tagging server works as a proxy and communicates between the data source (website, CRM, etc.) and the analytics platform. In this blog post, I want to talk about what tagging server is and how to set up a tagging server URL for the server Google Tag Manager container. 

What is server-side tagging, and why is server Google Tag Manager the best way to implement it?

Third-party cookies and javascripts have been used for years to track user interactions on your website, but with the rise of tracking restrictions and concerns about user privacy, these are no longer enough. To get around these problems, most platforms started to recommend switching to a server-side type of tracking.

With the help of ss tagging, you can set first-party cookies, make your website work faster by removing 3rd party javascripts, and keep user data secure. 

Tagging server works as an intermediary between your data source (website, CRM, etc.) and tracking platforms. The data source firstly sends information about users and events to the tagging server, and then tagging server distributes information to the tracking platforms.

For now, the most popular and the easiest way to integrate server-side tagging is server Google Tag Manager container. You can connect web and server GTM containers and use web GTM as a data source for the sGTM. 

When the tagging server URL for sGTM is located in the same domain hierarchy as the website sending the requests, it sets first-party cookies and loads scripts from your domain. It helps to reduce the impact of tracking restriction and increase cookie lifetime.

Server GTM tagging uses concepts familiar to web GTM:

• Tags are activated by triggers and extract data from variables.
• Before publishing a new container version, you can test the setup in Preview mode.
• The template gallery is available.

But there are also brand new features:

• Requests are handled by a new type of GTM entity: the client.
• Instead of trigger events, processes are triggered by incoming HTTP requests.

What is tagging server URL?

To get started with server-side tagging using server Google Tag Manager, you need:

1. Create a server container in Google Tag Manager.
2. Set up a tagging server URL.

The first step is easy to do - you just need to open the Google Tag Manager and create a new container. While tagging server is a new thing for most web analytics.  

Tagging server URL works as a proxy in-cloud environment. After tagging server receives requests it distributes them further to other platforms (like Facebook, Google Analytics, etc.). 

Using stape, you can create a tagging server URL for your server Google Tag Manager container in one click. When you create a server GTM container on stape, we automatically set up a cloud server on Google Cloud.  

stape.io sGTM hosting has these benefits:

1. One-click setup.
2. 6 times cheaper then GCP.
3. Custom gtm.js loader - helps to make tracking more resistant.
4. Preview header - helps to debug requests sent from non-web GTM.
5. Faster gtm.js/gtag.js/analytics.js loading time - increases website pagespeed.
6. There is no need to run scripts if you want to upgrade to the production environment - a quicker setup.
7. No additional configuration in the server GTM container.
8. Autoscaling - if website traffic increases, servers will scale automatically.
9. Access and billing - easily share access with your team members and clients.
10. Logs - helps to debug the setup with the help of logs of incoming and outgoing requests, as well as responses from stape sGTM tags.
11. API - automate integration with stape.
12. Multiple server zones.

How to set up a tagging server URL using Stape

1. Open tagmanager.google.com -> Admin -> Click + in the Container section -> Add container name -> Select Server in the Target platform. 

2. Choose “Manually provision tagging server,” copy your container config and paste it in any text editor. We will need it for the next steps.

3. Open your stape account. 

4. Click "Create Container" and add your Container Name, Container Configuration that you copied from your Google Tag Manager Server Container, and select server location. Click Create Container.

It can take up to 10 minutes to set up a tagging server for you. Once a container status is Running, it means that tagging server for sGTM was created successfully. 

5. This step is highly recommended but not required. 

Once the container is running, you will see the Tagging Server URL; this URL is located within the stape.io domain by default. We highly recommend setting up a custom domain located within your site domain. It will allow you to set first-party cookies and make tracking more resistant and secure.

We will cover custom subdomain setup:

1. Log in to your Stape account, choose a container, scroll down and click Add custom domain.

2. There are two ways of adding custom domain:

• Automatically (via Entri)

The easiest way to connect domains. Log in with your DNS provider details via Entri, and give us one-time permission to connect your domain.

• Manually

After you add a custom domain to your container, you will see DNS records that should be created to verify the custom domain. The DNS record depends on the server location and CDN option you choose.

• Disable CDN - choose not to use any type of CDN.
• Stape Global CDN - loads scripts from a server closer to a user visiting your website.
• Own CDN - helps route sGTM custom domain and proxy sGTM traffic through the DNS provider of your website. In this case, the IP addresses of your website and the custom domain of the sGTM will match, and server-side cookies will be considered as first-party. As a result, it gives the ability to increase cookie duration.

Adding a custom domain with CNAME record.

You must create one CNAME record if you do not use Global CDN.

You must create two CNAME records, if you use Global CDN.

Below there’s a step-by-step guidance on how to create records using Cloudflare.

But you can use any other provider. 

1. Log in to your domain name service and create a new DNS record for the subdomain you want to use. 

If you use Global CDN, set additional CNAME record

2. Once your custom domain is verified, you should see the status ready below the tagging server URL in the Stape admin. If there are any problems with verifying a custom domain, please follow this guide on troubleshooting a custom domain.

3. Go to your Google Tag Manager Server container -> Admin -> Container Settings -> Change Tagging server URL to your subdomain.

Adding a custom domain with A and AAAA records.

If you want to verify your custom subdomain using A and AAAA records, you can do so by clicking Advanced settings after adding the custom subdomain to the container and ticking the “Use A records instead of CNAME records” box.

1. Open your sGTM container on Stape, scroll down to “Domains” and click Add custom domain.

2. Write a custom domain. Click Advanced settings after adding the custom subdomain to the container and ticking the “Use A records instead of CNAME records” box.

3. The DNS records you should configure vary depending on the server location. You will see DNS records that you should add inside your stape.io container.

4. Log in to your DNS account and add records you see in your stape.io account. Below is an example of DNS setup for CloudFlare. Open the DNS setting of the required domain and click Add record.

 Then, create the records you see in your stape.io account. Ensure that the proxy is turned off.

Usually, it takes 2-3 hours to verify the custom domain. For some DNS providers, verifying records might take up to 72 hours. We will email you once the custom domain is verified or any error is detected. If there is an error with the verification, please follow this instruction on how to verify custom domain verification.

5. Once the custom domain is verified, go back to the Google Tag Manager Server container → Choose your server container → Admin → container settings → paste tagging server URL.

Update the script

If you use a custom domain, updating the Web GTM script on your website is highly recommended. This tweak will load gtm.js from your domain. To do so, replace the default domain googletagmanager.com with the custom domain you set up in the previous step.

8. That's it! Tagging server URL for the sGTM is set up. Now you can proceed with setting up server-side tagging in sGTM. This list of platforms that can be moved to the server-side can help you to get started. 

Conclusion:

Stape’s hosting for Google Tag Manager is the easiest and most affordable option around. We offer many features that make your tagging experience simple straightforward - and let you get back to what really matters: having proper tracking.