Difference Between Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Following are the main differences between Google Tag Manager (also known as ‘GTM’) and Google Analytics (also known as ‘GA’):
Difference #1
The tag used to install Google Tag Manager on a website is called the ‘container tag’.
The tag used to install Google Analytics on a website is called the ‘Google Analytics Tracking Code’.
Difference #2
The container tag is made up of two parts.
The first part of the GTM container tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website and the second part of the GTM container tag is placed immediately after the opening <body> tag of all of the web pages on your website.
The following first part of the GTM container tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website:
<!-- Google Tag Manager -->
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-TXAAA');</script>
<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->
The second part of the GTM container tag is placed immediately after the opening <body> tag of all of the web pages on your website:
<!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->
<noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-TXAAA"
height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
<!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->
The Google Analytics tracking code is not made up of two parts.
The entire tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website:
Difference #3
The container tag can not track any users’ interactions (pageviews, events, transactions etc) and website usage data on its own.
In other words, the container tag is not an analytics tag.
Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code can track users’ interactions and as such is an analytics tag.
Get the E-book (52 Pages)
Get the E-Book (37 Pages)
Difference #4
The container tag is used to hold one or more marketing and analytics tags and their corresponding triggers and variables. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code tag can not be used to hold other tags.
Difference #5
The container tag which does not contain any marketing or analytics tag is called the empty container and is such pretty much useless. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code is a complete tag on its own.
Difference #6
The container tag is used to deploy one or more marketing/analytics tags on a website or mobile app. For example a container tag can be used to deploy Google Analytics on a website.
Similarly, a container tag can be used to deploy Facebook pixel tracking on a website. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code tag can only be used to deploy Google Analytics on a website.
Difference #7
The user interface of Google Tag Manager account looks very different from the user interface of Google Analytics account.
Difference #8
A Google Analytics account is made up of one or more properties. Each property (a property represents a website or a mobile app) is made up one or more reporting views.
A view is a profile that contains all or segmented data of a GA property. A view is made up of several reports.
Following is the general structure of a GA account:
A GTM account is made up of one or more container tags. Each container tag represents one website or mobile app. A container tag contains tags, triggers and variables.
Following is the general structure of a GTM account:
Difference #9
Since a GTM account does not contain any reporting view, you can not see any reports in Google Tag Manager. That is not the case with Google Analytics which is choke full of reports.
Difference #10
Through GTM you can: add, edit, enable, disable or remove any tag, with just few button clicks. That is something, which is not possible with Google Analytics.
Difference #11
GTM is a tag management tool. Whereas Google Analytics is a website/mobile app tracking tool.
Difference #12
‘GTM’ is primarily used to route data from one data source to another (like from your website to Google Analytics or from your website to a data warehouse). It is not a data source in itself. Whereas Google Analytics is a data source in itself.
Difference #13
GTM is not a database. It does not store any analytics or marketing data. Whereas GA is sort of a database (though the data is actually stored on GA servers).
Difference #14
Google Analytics process the collected data according to your configuration settings (like ‘dimension scope’, tag rule) and designed functionality and then report on the processed data via reports. GTM does not process or report on collected data.
Difference #15
In GA you can query the data either via the reporting interface or via the API. You can not query the data via GTM.
Related Articles
Do you know the difference between Web Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Web analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).
So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Web analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Web analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Web Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Web Analytics’.
You can also implement ‘Web analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Web analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Web analytics and not from Google Analytics.
The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Web analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Web analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in Web analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage web/digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) Why digital analytics is the key to online business success
2) The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
3) Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
4) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
5) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
6) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
7) How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com
Following are the main differences between Google Tag Manager (also known as ‘GTM’) and Google Analytics (also known as ‘GA’):
Difference #1
The tag used to install Google Tag Manager on a website is called the ‘container tag’.
The tag used to install Google Analytics on a website is called the ‘Google Analytics Tracking Code’.
Difference #2
The container tag is made up of two parts.
The first part of the GTM container tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website and the second part of the GTM container tag is placed immediately after the opening <body> tag of all of the web pages on your website.
The following first part of the GTM container tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website:
<!-- Google Tag Manager -->
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-TXAAA');</script>
<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->
The second part of the GTM container tag is placed immediately after the opening <body> tag of all of the web pages on your website:
<!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) --> <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-TXAAA" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->
The Google Analytics tracking code is not made up of two parts.
The entire tag is placed in the head section (<head>…..</head>) of all of the web pages on your website:
Difference #3
The container tag can not track any users’ interactions (pageviews, events, transactions etc) and website usage data on its own.
In other words, the container tag is not an analytics tag.
Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code can track users’ interactions and as such is an analytics tag.
Get the E-book (52 Pages)
Get the E-Book (37 Pages)
Difference #4
The container tag is used to hold one or more marketing and analytics tags and their corresponding triggers and variables. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code tag can not be used to hold other tags.
Difference #5
The container tag which does not contain any marketing or analytics tag is called the empty container and is such pretty much useless. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code is a complete tag on its own.
Difference #6
The container tag is used to deploy one or more marketing/analytics tags on a website or mobile app. For example a container tag can be used to deploy Google Analytics on a website.
Similarly, a container tag can be used to deploy Facebook pixel tracking on a website. Whereas the Google Analytics tracking code tag can only be used to deploy Google Analytics on a website.
Difference #7
The user interface of Google Tag Manager account looks very different from the user interface of Google Analytics account.
Difference #8
A Google Analytics account is made up of one or more properties. Each property (a property represents a website or a mobile app) is made up one or more reporting views.
A view is a profile that contains all or segmented data of a GA property. A view is made up of several reports.
Following is the general structure of a GA account:
A GTM account is made up of one or more container tags. Each container tag represents one website or mobile app. A container tag contains tags, triggers and variables.
Following is the general structure of a GTM account:
Difference #9
Since a GTM account does not contain any reporting view, you can not see any reports in Google Tag Manager. That is not the case with Google Analytics which is choke full of reports.
Difference #10
Through GTM you can: add, edit, enable, disable or remove any tag, with just few button clicks. That is something, which is not possible with Google Analytics.
Difference #11
GTM is a tag management tool. Whereas Google Analytics is a website/mobile app tracking tool.
Difference #12
‘GTM’ is primarily used to route data from one data source to another (like from your website to Google Analytics or from your website to a data warehouse). It is not a data source in itself. Whereas Google Analytics is a data source in itself.
Difference #13
GTM is not a database. It does not store any analytics or marketing data. Whereas GA is sort of a database (though the data is actually stored on GA servers).
Difference #14
Google Analytics process the collected data according to your configuration settings (like ‘dimension scope’, tag rule) and designed functionality and then report on the processed data via reports. GTM does not process or report on collected data.
Difference #15
In GA you can query the data either via the reporting interface or via the API. You can not query the data via GTM.
Related Articles
Do you know the difference between Web Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Web analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Web analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Web analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Web Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Web Analytics’.You can also implement ‘Web analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Web analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Web analytics and not from Google Analytics.The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Web analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Web analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Web analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in Web analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage web/digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) Why digital analytics is the key to online business success
2) The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
3) Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
4) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
5) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
6) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
7) How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com