What is a tagging plan?
We all know how much the traffic tracking of a website, and behavior analysis is necessary to make its site evolve. It is thanks to the data that we test and increases site conversions, and not thanks to the assumptions we make. To allow all this, you will have to add tags from your Analytics solution, and it's often Google Analytics. Tags are pieces of code, which are inserted on certain pages of a site. They make it possible to collect data on visitors, to track their actions and actions and their navigation path. So these tags are the basis for monitoring your audience and the performance of your site. Imagine these pieces of code deploying in seconds, whether you have 10 or 1,000 pages on your site. The tagging plan is the document that accompanies you in deploying tags, describing the entire organization and how to integrate them. Its purpose is to guide the person in charge of Setting up tracking.Concretely, here is an example of a line that can be found in a tagging plan (namely that we very often present it in the form of an Airtable table): trigger the <balise Pixel Facebook - Ajout au panier>when the user clicks on a button that contains the text “Add to cart” present on all pages of the online store.
What is the purpose of a tagging plan?
The tagging plan allows you to fully customize the installation of your Analytics solution according to the structure and shape of your site. Each website is unique, with different pages, categories, and URLs. tagging plan is used for your web analyses in order to understand what works best on your website. It also serves your marketing campaigns thanks to specific tags that will allow you to make intelligent retargeting.
How do I set up a tagging plan?
One tagging plan can be implemented on Excel, Google Sheet, Numbers or other more interactive tools such as Airtable. Everything will depend on the tool you usually use, but the one you know will be the best.
1 - Define the goal
This first step consists in summarizing all the elements you want to track, and what performance indicators (KPIs) will be collected from your site.
2 - Retrieve the site tree
It is important to work on a reliable and accurate structure in order to avoid making mistakes. Product categories, page groups, and all the notable elements to be able to track confirmation pages, cancelled orders, etc.
3 - Fill in the table with your data
Completing the chart may seem like the easiest step, but it's not. You have to be very rigorous in filling out categories, sub-categories, pages and types of markup. In this same article, you will find a link that offers you download our template, but you can make your own and follow useful categories: page types, page section, platform, trigger types, action or event, tracking code.
4 - Implementation of the tagging plan
This step consists of integrating all the elements that you have integrated into your board. We recommend that you start with variables, then create triggers, and finally, activate all the right tags.
5 - Creation of analysis reports
Once the implementation is complete, you will have to create the entire analysis phase, whether via Google Analytics or Google Data Studio. All the queries that are tracked should be used for something, and this is where you should use them. These reports and data will allow you to make the right decisions thanks to the tagging plan of your site or store via Google Tag Manager.
3 classic mistakes to avoid
Be zealous
The first common mistake is to want to track an uncountable amount of data. That's good, you are ambitious and you want get the maximum amount of insights of your data, we are not going to blame you for it. Focus on the most relevant data that will help you make the right changes, like your bounce rate or your conversion rate.
Take only one hour to do it
The second error concerns the length of time it took to develop the tagging plan. It is important not to rush, you have to take the time, even if we are talking about 2 days of work. It is a document that will have a real impact on the whole tracking your site. So take your time and call on an external expert if necessary to assist you on Google Tag Manager.
Do not go beyond the scope of the document
The last very frequent error results in the flexibility of tagging plan. You should be aware that this document is by no means final. It will evolve with you and with your business, and is bound to change over time.
In conclusion
To answer our initial question, there is no mandatory character in thedevelopment of a tagging plan for a website since everything will depend on your activity and your expectations. However, it is practically essential for an e-commerce site to set up this type of document to take full advantage of all the data that can be recovered, and thus put all the chances on your side to achieve your goals.