Server-side tracking tools

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 type of tracking/data collection method that involves a cloud 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. This method has several significant advantages:

• it helps your website to load faster;
• it prevents data loss caused by ITPs,
• it makes your tracking more privacy compliant;
• it implements first-party cookies, solving the issue with short-living third-party ones;
• it allows you to set up different APIs on your server to improve attribution from the paid sources, like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Google Ads, and others.

When it comes to methods of server-side tracking, there are 4 main ones we can highlight. All of them have advantages and disadvantages and may be more or less applicable for different projects.

1. 1.
   Log analytics. This method analyzes log data from a website or application to gain insights into user behavior.
2. 2.
   Server-side tagging. This method uses a dedicated tag manager server to host data and send it to analytical platforms. Server-side tagging offers improved data accuracy and control, as it bypasses the limitations of client-side tracking.
3. 3.
   Hybrid server-side tracking. This approach combines the convenience of client-side data collection with the control and security of server-side tracking. Hybrid tracking allows organizations to leverage the strengths of both methods, providing a balanced solution for data collection.
4. 4.
   Pure server-side tracking. This method collects data solely on the server side, without user browser involvement. It offers the highest level of data accuracy and control, but can be more complex to implement.

While all 4 methods described above are equally viable, you must understand your business’s needs and nuances to select the one that would provide you with the best effect. If you address the Stape experts, we could advise you on the better choice, but we would not make it for you. 

Many tools on the market help set up server-to-server tracking. This guide will focus on the most popular: server Google Tag Manager, Segment, and Tealium. 

Stape has almost become a synonym for server-side tracking for the last couple of years. It is one of the most popular services for a server GTM hosting, and in addition to that, it offers dozens of features and power-ups. For instance, you can connect all the needed APIs, set up the webhooks, or configure gateways with us. In other words, we provide almost 360° coverage of all your tracking needs. Almost, because there is always something new and room to grow.

Another important aspect of cooperating with Stape is the price of our services. Our prices start at $20 (our plans are flexible, so the final number depends on your needs), and small businesses can even enjoy our services for free. By the way, if we have already started talking about free things, we also offer a library of sGTM tags and Stape Academy with a step-by-step course on how to set up server-side tracking.

Pros:

• Google Tag Manager is a tool that offers great customizability, full control over the tracked data, and flexibility in your tracking setup.
• Reasonable and flexible pricing starting at $20.
• Free plan for small businesses.
• Stape Academy and a free sGTM tag library are available to everyone, regardless of whether you are our client.
• We provide European hosting as well, so you can stay GDPR-compliant while using GA4.

Cons: 

• If you do not have any basic understanding of how tagging works or have no previous experience, setup and maintenance can be challenging. Stape simplifies the whole process, but you still need to invest time and effort to learn the fundamentals and get the most out of your tracking.

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.

Pros:

• An easy-to-set-up tool.
• Develops new destinations and integrations quite often.
• Provides email support even for the free tier. 
• Offers solutions besides the web and server tagging tools.

Cons:

• Costs. It can be 100 times more expensive than GTM. It depends on the traffic volume and the tools you need in the suite. 
• There is no community gallery, which affects the number of integrations. 
• GDPR compliance might be an issue.

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!

Pros:

• An advanced set of features for tagging. 
• The support team is available.

Cons:

• Enterprise-level price.
• Complexity.

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 care@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.