Server-side tracking is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance your website's performance, influence your advertising strategy, and provide valuable insights into user interaction.
This blog post will introduce you to the concept of server-side tagging and guide you through the most popular server-side tracking tools. By the end, you'll be equipped with the knowledge to choose the right software for your company, based on its unique features and capabilities.
Server-side tracking is a method of collecting data about user interactions on a website or application by sending information from the server directly to an external tool without the involvement of the user’s browser. This approach, also known as server-side tagging, provides a more accurate and reliable way of data collection.
Unlike client-side tracking, which ad blockers and browser limitations can hinder, server-side tracking ensures data is collected consistently and accurately. This method offers better control over data collection and processing, allowing organizations to collect only the necessary data and comply with privacy regulations. By implementing server-side tracking, businesses can gain deeper insights into user interactions and make more informed decisions based on accurate data.
Server-side tracking is a type of tracking/data collection method that involves a web server instead of a client’s browser. You install and manage it yourself, but the principle behind this is the same as with client-side tagging—only now there’s an additional step. On that server, a cloud tagging server gets the data about events on your site and then distributes it to the analytics systems.
Server-side tagging can help your site load faster, handle data loss caused by ITPs and iOS limitations, and lessen the impact of AdBlockers. This is due to two factors: the use of a custom subdomain for server-side tracking, which establishes first-party cookies and server-side data streams that cannot be disabled or detected, and the replacement of heavy JavaScript placed on your site.
However, server-side tagging has two drawbacks: price and complexity. Cloud servers that process all requested data are vital to server-side tagging, and you must pay for them separately. In addition, though sGTM appears comparable to the web version, the logic for configuring server-side tagging is different. As a result, it may lead to misunderstandings and issues while creating server-side tags.
But Stape comes to the rescue! Stape’s hosting for the server Google Tag Manager is more than just the cheapest and easiest one to set up. We also offer numerous hosting features and server-side tagging solutions, making your tagging experience straightforward.
Client- and server-side tracking are two distinct approaches to collecting data about user interactions on a website or application. Client-side tracking involves sending data directly from the user’s browser to an external tool, typically managed through a tag management system like Google Tag Manager. This method is straightforward to implement but can be affected by ad blockers and browser restrictions, leading to potential data loss.
On the other hand, server-side tracking involves sending data from the server directly to an external tool. This approach requires a server-side setup and can be managed through tools like Segment, Tealium, or Adobe Analytics. Server-side tracking offers several advantages, including improved data accuracy, enhanced control over data collection, and better compliance with privacy regulations. However, it can be more complex and costly to implement compared to client-side tracking.
By understanding the differences between client-side and server-side tracking, you can choose the best approach for your specific needs and goals. This knowledge will ensure accurate and reliable data collection, making you feel knowledgeable and prepared for effective tracking.
1. Increases cookie lifetime
Third-party cookies have too many limitations. Chrome is one of the last but the most popular browsers still relying on third-party cookies. All the other big players, like Safari and Firefox, have been limiting the life of third-party cookies to 7 days for several years. Chrome is proposing a new user choice experience with third-party cookies. You must prepare your site for users who browse without third-party cookies.
With server-side tagging, you can set secure first-party cookies that live for two years or unless a user cleans cookies. This results in more accurate user journey analysis and accurate estimation of the impact of each traffic source on conversions. Additionally, server-side tagging helps manage and enrich incoming data by integrating it with information from various systems, like CRMs, providing better control over the data collected before it is sent to third-party platforms.
2. Improves paid ads attribution
Data is the new currency in paid advertising. However, more is needed to track your customers’ behaviors - you need accurate data that tells a story about who they are and how best to reach them with ads, offers, or other communications relevant to their needs. This is what correct attribution is all about.
Server-side tracking can help you improve the quality and accuracy of customer data sent with conversions to each advertising network. For example, with proper cookie lifetime and first-party user data, paid channels like Facebook or TikTok receive an appropriate level of credit towards their campaigns, providing meaningful data on the channel or campaign responsible for each conversion. Learn more about FB server tracking, TikTok server-side, Snapchat server-side, and Google ads on our blog.
3. Helps to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR
JavaScript libraries on a site can track what you ask them to and any additional info about the device, user, and more they can find on the site.
With server-side tagging, you have complete control and ownership of the data collected on your site. You can decide what data each platform can access, ensuring that no other data will be collected without your permission. This level of control provides a sense of security and confidence in your data management practices.
Another important aspect is that European-owned tagging servers can help EU websites comply with GDPR, which prohibits data transfer from European customers outside the EU. A few incidents in 2022 related to the illegal use of Google Analytics in the EU. But most likely, it’s just the beginning, and the subsequent regulations will consider other popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Bing, etc.
4. Improves website page load speed
Website page loads can be slowed down by tracking scripts. For example, you may have heard that adding analytics or marketing JavaScript to your website could slow things down for visitors. This is because those scripts need time and resources before they are executed, which results in an increased load time of web pages on the user’s device. Not only does it affect organic ranking, but it can also be visible to the end user, especially those on a slower internet.
With server-side tracking tools, you can limit everything to one tracking script on your site that distributes information to analytics or marketing tools. Data distribution runs on the server side and has zero effects on the website's performance. So, you get better data combined with better website or app performance.
There are several methods of server-side data collection, each with its advantages and disadvantages. These methods include:
Each of these methods has its own set of benefits and challenges, and the choice of method will depend on the specific needs and goals of the organization. By carefully selecting the appropriate server-side data collection method, businesses can ensure accurate and reliable data collection, leading to better insights and decision-making.
Many tools on the market help set up server-to-server trackings, such as server Google Tag Manager, Segment, Tealium, Adobe Launch, and others. This guide will focus on the three most popular ones: server Google Tag Manager, Segment, and Tealium.
sGTM is the most popular tool for setting up and managing server-server tagging. The sGTM container was released in 2020, and the interface looks very similar to the web. The only significant difference is a new component is added - the client. Client claims and processes requests in sGTM to the event data.
sGTM is one of the cheapest solutions for server-to-server tagging. You must buy cloud servers to process and distribute data from your server to platform servers. With Stape, you must host your sGTM containers for $20/month. We even have a free tier for small websites.
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Segment is a tool that combines the functionality of web and server GTM, adding a few features on top, such as personas or CDP. Compared to GTM, Segment tries to make the tagging process more straightforward. It was initially designed as a tagging tool for non-tech people.
Simplicity comes at a higher cost. Segment has a Free plan that fits small websites with less than 1000 visitors/month and uses only two destinations. Most small websites will need the next tier, which costs $120/month and includes 10,000 visitors/per month. You will need to pay more if you have a more significant business with more than 300 daily users.
So, it may be more cost-effective to hire an sGTM professional and set up web GTM and sGTM tagging, paying a one-time setup cost than to cover recurring Segment costs that will grow if your site grows.
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From our experience, Tealium is a choice of big enterprise companies that don't want to use GTM. This could be because of Google360 costs or the features that Tealium offers compared to GTM.
Tealium's versatility makes it a complex tool. Learning the ropes of this platform takes some time, but once you find your footing, there are no limits to what can be accomplished!
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We believe server GTM is the best option for server-side tagging solutions among all the tools. The reasons are simple: web GTM is free, and sGTM is cheaper than most competitors. In addition, the number of integrations in sGTM is enormous due to a community gallery.
You can even hire a specialist to develop a custom solution for you. At Stape, we do that often for our clients, so if you need help with a custom tag or any time of integration with the database, etc., feel free to reach out to agency@stape.io.
Please visit our blog if interested in the possibilities sGTM can offer you. We have many articles on only sGTM tags and more advanced techniques like enriching data, storing data, processing data, etc.
Thank you for reading! We hope this article introduced you to server-side tagging and helped you understand what the most popular server-side tracking tools are about. If you want to learn more about sGTM or what possibilities it can offer your company, Stape has excellent solutions. Our team of experts is always happy to help new users get started with tracking and answer any questions.
All it takes is a few simple questions. Click Get assistance, fill-up the form, and we will send you a quote.
