If you deal with Google Analytics, Google Ads, or other marketing tools daily, the Google Tag Assistant shouldn’t be a new word to you. It would not be surprising even if you have used it before and are still here to learn more about it. The thing with Google products is that you can never learn enough about them, and some potential of the tool always remains untapped. So here is some information about Google Tag Manager that will add value to both beginners and professionals.

If you’re into affiliate marketing, blogging, remarketing, etc., chances are you are dealing with a lot of codes and snippets. With so many different websites and pieces of code to keep track of, it’s inevitable that navigating to and from Google Analytics will become too much of a time-suck. Thankfully, we have Google Tag Assistant extension. While its basic function is to detect the Analytics code snippets and see if they are working properly, you also get additional benefits from the tag assistant. For example, it creates reports, analyzes the website for link clicks, interactions, user behavior, finds problems, if any, and troubleshoots by suggesting solutions.

To unleash the power of Google Tag Assistant, you’ll first need to download it like you would with any other chrome extension. Once you’ve got it downloaded, follow the steps below and watch it work it’s magic.

1. The Google Tag Assistant is a chrome extension; hence you will need to install it on your browser first to use it. Visit the chrome page for the tool to download and install it on your browser. 
2. Post-installation, you will find a blue tag icon beside your search bar where the extensions are listed. Click on the tag icon to enable it.
3. Refresh the page to notice the smiling tag show an analysis of that tab. The numbers indicate the presence of the code snippets on that website.
4. Click on the code snippet to find out the tag types and identify the ones that are running or firing vs. those that are not. After clicking these tabs, you’ll also notice that the Google Tag Assistant provides suggestions for optimizations.

The Tag Assistant Report shows code snippets with the assistant icon in different colors. The color of the icon changes with the state of the tags. There are four basic colors on the assistant that you may see on code snippets. However, since each has a different meaning, we’re going to explain what to expect with each color below.

Red – Error found on a tag or metadata. The red color means that the metadata is not implemented properly and is not working at all. However, the best thing with the Google tag assistant is that besides managing all your metadata in one place, it also tells you how to fix errors, if any. So, in this case, all you’ll need to do is work through the troubleshooting report.

Yellow – A minor issue needs addressing, or there could be a tracking problem. So, of course, the problem is not as big as the red error, but it needs to be seen and corrected. More often than not, yellow errors are metadata that have slight implementation problems. Keep in mind, the yellow error is the most dangerous kind of error because, without the tag assistant, you wouldn’t even realize that there is an issue and you would continue to get inaccurate analyses and reports. It could result in harmful effects on the marketing strategy of your business.

Blue – Not as major as the red or yellow error; blue indicates the wrong implementation. It shows that the implementation is not following the standard code; however, the metadata is working fine. Even though not very important, it is always worth checking out the troubleshoot to ensure that the metadata is well-optimized.

Green – It means the metadata is working perfectly fine. It is the color that you should be aiming for on the code snippet assistant.

When you click on the tag assistant on a website, you notice two buttons on the dialog box. One is ‘enable’ that we mentioned previously, the other is ‘record.’ Recording on a tag assistant is a unique feature that makes analyzing the code and triggers that you need to see very easy. It is especially very useful with code that is involved in a journey. For example, you are marketing a seasonal sale, so your journey would start from acknowledging the sale to completing the purchase through different pages and several tags. So if you start recording a purchase journey from an advertisement or a part of an e-commerce website to checkout, the tag assistant will give you a complete, real-time report on the pages visited and the code snippet you clicked. However, the recording doesn’t start right away. You need to refresh the website page to start the metadata recorder. An indication of the recording comes with a red dot on the screen. This is incredibly powerful because it allows you to gather real-time data, whereas, on Google Analytics, you’ll have to wait about 24 hours.

Now that you understand how to use the Google Tag Assistant, you’ll need to learn how to access the reports. First, open the tag assistant report in a separate tab for an easier read. You can do it by navigating to the menu icon from the extension dialog box. Once you do that, you will see a list of code snippets present on the web page. You will see a specific section for each snippet and in those sections you’ll see major errors marked in red that need immediate attention. At the bottom of each report, there will be troubleshoot reports for the tracking code on that page. If you’re struggling t0 make these optimizations, Google Tag Assistant actually provides links to Google resources. If you still can’t figure it out after reading through the support forms, you can always contact us here. 

Now that you know everything you need to utilize the power of Google Tag Assistant, it’s time to begin using it to make optimizations to your website. Slowly but surely, your reports and overall SEO will begin to improve. If you’re interested in learning more about SEO and other ways to get your business ranking higher in Google, check out the rest of our blogs here. If you would like some assistance with your SEO, click the buttons below or learn more about our SEO services here!