How To Set Up Server Side Tracking Free With Taggrs

Do you know how to set up server side tracking for free? Don’t worry, in this article we will explain how you can set up your server side tracking with taggrs for free.

In an era where data privacy and accuracy are paramount, server-side tracking has emerged as a vital solution for businesses looking to enhance their data collection and analytics capabilities. Taggrs, a cutting-edge platform for server-side tracking, offers advanced tools and features to help you achieve more precise and reliable data insights.

In this article, we will explore the benefits of server-side tracking with Taggrs, how to implement it, and best practices for optimizing your tracking setup.

What is Server-Side Tracking?

Server-side tracking is a method of data collection where tracking requests are processed on your server rather than the user’s browser. Unlike traditional client-side tracking, which relies on JavaScript to send data from the user’s browser to analytics platforms, server-side tracking moves this process to the server, allowing for more control and security over the data collected.

Benefits of Server-Side Tracking

1. Enhanced Data Accuracy: Server-side tracking reduces the impact of ad blockers and browser limitations, leading to more accurate and comprehensive data collection.
2. Improved Data Privacy: By processing data on your server, you can better manage user consent and ensure compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
3. Faster Page Load Times: Offloading tracking scripts to the server can improve page load times and overall user experience.
4. Reduced Data Loss: Server-side tracking minimizes data loss caused by network interruptions or browser-related issues.

Introducing Taggrs

Taggrs is a powerful platform designed to simplify and optimize server-side tracking. It provides a robust set of tools for managing tracking setups, integrating with various analytics and marketing platforms, and ensuring data accuracy and security.

Key Features of Taggrs

• Server-Side Tag Management: Easily configure and manage server-side tags for various analytics and marketing tools without modifying your website’s front-end code.
• Advanced Data Integration: Seamlessly integrate with popular platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and more, ensuring that data flows accurately and consistently.
• Real-Time Data Processing: Benefit from real-time data processing and reporting, enabling you to make timely and informed decisions based on the latest data.
• Enhanced Privacy Controls: Implement robust privacy controls and consent management features to comply with data protection regulations and maintain user trust.

Challenges of server side tracking

• Complexity: Requires more technical expertise to implement and maintain compared to client-side tracking.
• Real-time Processing: May introduce latency in processing data in real-time, depending on the server setup.
• Data Privacy Concerns: Requires careful management of user data to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR or CCPA.

Common Use Cases

• E-commerce Platforms: To track sales, user behavior, and inventory management.
• Subscription Services: To monitor user activity and subscription status.
• Mobile Apps: To track in-app events and user engagement without relying on client-side SDKs.

Set Up Server Side Tracking With Taggrs

 Due to changes in the browser acceptability, marketers need to track server side data along with browser site data so if browser site data is removed then we can store our server site data for future tracking. In order to set up server site tracking we need to follow the following steps

1. Create a server container in Google Tag Manager
2. Create a account in Taggrs and configure with GTM
3. Create a google tag in web container
4. Create ga4 client inside server gtm container
5. Check and debug your set up

Step 1: Create a server container in Google Tag Manager ( GTM )

1.1. Go to your Web container in gtm and click admin from the left upper side. if you don’t know how to create a gtm account in details you can read this article. read here

1.2. Click on the plus ( + ) icon to create a server container

1.3. Give your server container a meaningful name and create a server container for data tracking

1.4. Choose manually provision tagging server and put it on any editor platform, we will integrate this in our next step. Check step 2

Step 2: Create account in Taggrs and configure with GTM

2.1. Go to https://taggrs.io/ and create an account for free and choose the free plan with 10k request per month. You can sign or  login with your google account for free.

2.2. Add a container form taggrs dashboard after log into the account

2.3. Put your company name in the company field, insert your website address and choose your server location form the field. check this video for better understanding

2.4. In container configuration section insert the container config from your gtm server container that we create earlier ( check step 1 )

One thing to take note that you can create your own subdomain but for smooth actions we will use the free subdomain of taggrs instead.

2.5. Congratulations! We have create a container in taggrs successfully

Step 3: Create a google tag in the web gtm container 

3.1. Create a google tag for ga4 in your gtm web container and set the triggers to all pages.

3.2. Edit the configuration settings, in configuration parameter put 

Name: server_container_url

Value: put your subdomain value ( take it from taggrs )

1. Go to your taggrs account
2. Go to settings
3. Select the subdomain url and paste in server_container_url as value in google tag in gtm

3.3. Now set the server_ container_url in all the events of ga4 ( event parameters )

Create a variable and put the name and value of server container url

Now publish all the tags.

3.4. Put your server container url in the server section

Step 4: Create ga4 client in server container

4.1. In server container client section you will see GA4 as default but you need to Configure ga4 as a client

4.2. Go to ga4 client and tick the gtag path

4.3. Add your ga4 measurement id

4.4. Now create a new tag to make a connection with gtm web container, create a new tag in server client and choose gtm-web container

4.5. Add your gtm web container id here

Step 5: Check and debug ( preview ) your tags

Once all set up is done, now you have to debug your tags with preview mood both from web and server container

Here you can see the tags have performed well and data has been passed to google analytics.

As browser site privacy is a alarming issue now a days as a a marketer you must ensure a server site tracking for your website.

You can use 2 platforms for free

1. Taggrs
2. Stape.io

Conclusion

Server-side tracking with Taggrs offers a powerful solution for businesses seeking more accurate, secure, and efficient data collection. By leveraging Taggrs’ advanced features and following best practices, you can optimize your tracking setup, improve data accuracy, and enhance your overall marketing and analytics strategies. Embrace server-side tracking with Taggrs to stay ahead in the competitive landscape and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

Best of luck.