In this blog post, we explore server-side tagging with Google Tag Manager (GTM). Unlike traditional client-side tracking, server-side GTM processes tags on a server, enhancing performance, security, and data accuracy. This approach also helps maintain user privacy by limiting third-party script access.
As data privacy regulations become stricter and tracking technologies evolve, server-side tagging offers a robust solution for modern digital marketing needs. Let's dive into how this technology works and why it's essential for your website.
Server-side tracking is the data collection method that captures info about user interactions on a dedicated server instead of browsers (like client-side tracking does). With server-side tracking, you can capture event data that won't be affected by ad blockers and browser restrictions, providing better data accuracy.
Besides high data quality, server-side tagging also offers privacy and control over the data you track, since after capturing, you can modify it and only then send to analytics tools such as Google Analytics 4 or Google Ads.
| Check the detailed explanation of server-side tracking and how you can benefit from setting it up in our article on what is server-side tracking. |
There are two ways to collect data: client-side and server-side, both with their benefits and challenges. Traditional tag management, analytics systems, and advertising services collect data using the client-side tracking method. How does it work? With client-side tracking, the browser sends a request directly to a third-party tracking service like Google Analytics. The interaction takes place between two parties: the browser and a third-party service.
With server-side tracking, an intermediate point is added. In this case, it is the Google Tag Manager cloud server. The request first goes to the cloud server, which processes it and sends it to a third-party system (Google Analytics). This means the cloud server processes the request instead of the client's browser, reducing the load on the client-side.
Here is a visualization of how server-side tracking works:
A web Google Tag Manager container is a Google Tag Manager environment that runs on the client-side within a user's web browser. It enables the deployment and management of tags (like analytics and marketing scripts) on a website without directly altering the site’s code.
The server GTM container is a key element of the Google Tag Manager server tag environment. Instead of performing tag processing directly in the user's browser, as a traditional client GTM does, this container runs on the server. This greatly improves performance as the load on the user's device is reduced, allowing web pages to load faster. In traditional methods of tag processing, the user's browser spends resources on executing JavaScript code, which can slow down the site, mainly when a large number of third-party scripts or analytical tools are used. Server-side tagging eliminates these problems because most processes run outside the browser.
A popular use case for a server GTM container is working with analytics tags. Instead of loading Google Analytics tags directly on the client's browser, the website sends data to the server GTM container.
Below are the top five benefits of SGTM:
These are only the top advantages of the GTM server container. We have a blog post on our blog covering all the benefits of server-side tracking in detail.
Setting up server tracking in Google Tag Manager requires a web container and a server container. The web container collects data about user interaction on the site (page views, clicks) and transfers them to the server container. The server container processes this data and securely sends it to Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other services, which improves control over data and protects user privacy. The combination of client and server tagging helps maintain a longer cookie life cycle. Configuring sGTM requires knowledge of Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and web technologies, as well as developer involvement. We have created a tool to quickly launch sGTM on your or our subdomain, which helps to improve data accuracy and site performance.
There’s a detailed guide on how to set up server-side tracking with the Stape service on our blog.
Here is an example of steps needed to start server-side tracking with Stape:
Step 1. Create a stape.io account.
You might also want to set up the following options:
A bunch of tracking and advertising platforms support server-side tracking. You can find a list of platforms supporting Google Tag Manager server-side tagging and links to documentation on how to implement it on our blog as well.
Google Cloud Platform offers a free test environment that effectively manages server-side tagging. However, to integrate it into production, you must pay a minimum of $120/month + additional fees that depend on the website traffic.
Stape has a range of pricing plans to choose from: free, pro, business, enterprise and custom. Our free plan lets you get up to 10,000 requests per month.
There is also a pricing calculator on our website that lets you figure out which plan is right for your site.
Is server-side tracking worth trying? We believe the answer is absolutely YES if you want to collect data about your website visitors using advanced technology in a privacy-compliant way.
When it comes to GTM server-side vs. client-side, the server-side option has numerous advantages at the onset of the cookieless era. With server-side tracking, you get more accurate data collection and conversion tracking, complete data control, and faster website load. You can gather more data efficiently and get insights client-side tracking could never provide. Most importantly, server-side GTM helps you stay compliant and treat customer data responsively. Arguably, compliance is a very important aspect of a business's reputation in customers' eyes.
If you have any questions about sending data to the server side in GTM, our team of experts can help!
All it takes is a few simple questions. Click Get A Quote, fill up the form, and we will send you a quote.
Ira has 10+ years of digital marketing experience, with the last 5 focused on server-side tracking. She understands how and when it works across various digital marketing scenarios.
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