Google Tag Manager vs. WebCEO

I use Google Tag Manager (GTM) daily and create tags/triggers for all of our client's websites. It is easy to set up but for some of my tasks, the process does get repetitive so it'd be nice to have a default setting I can use when I have to create accounts, and then tweak/add things to them as needed. It is a great way to collect data and have code on the site without having to log into the site builder all the time. It makes it convenient to make edits or add code after our client's sites go live with us.

Incentivized

If you are just wanting to have a web page without any idea of wanting to gain exposure for it via Google or social media channels then WebCEO is probably not for you. However, if you are like me and my Graceful Touch blog project where building a stronger and stronger backbone of digital success is important to you then WebCEO is without question your number one place to go.

• Selecting elements on a site [object, class, cookie, etc] (to later fire an event, send some data, etc) is very easy with triggers. Want to add an event when someone clicks on a button? Super easy. It was many many DOM selectors and you can even add custom functions if you need to do something more specific
• In general, firing events in different circumstances is very easy mixing triggers and tags. You can track almost any element of the DOM and do whatever you want with it.
• Testing is a great functionality. Only you can see what's on the site and you can debug it easily by seeing which events or tags were triggered and all the DOM elements involved (and why they matched the trigger).
• Working in environments (staging, production) and versioning is easy to do, deploying changes in 2 clicks.

Incentivized

• The on-page optimization tools help a lot in researching competitor keywords, competitor traffic, and backlinks and Google search queries. We are able to compile this data to enhance online content and optimize our promotional channels.
• Keeping track of a wide array of functions with tools that show us what has been done and with percentages of completion. This helps us to share tasks like projects with team members so they can easily see which parts o their work still need attention
• Providing our clients, and our sales crew, with detailed as well as Summary data for explaining to clients what areas of their sites need attention and how their campaigns are succeeding (or lacking) in different geographical areas.

• There are several good integrations, but there can always be more. Native tracking for call tracking solutions, analytics providers, non-Google advertisers would be top of my list.
• Documentation is just dreadful. Luckily there are some awesome folks out there doing crowdsourced tutorials (shout out to Simo Ahava) but by and large the Google Tag Manager instructions are worth what you pay for them.

Incentivized

• Its hard to say any negatives on WEB CEO, probably that there are so many tools to use haha! However as previously mentioned the support team are only a click away to help explain anything.
• The dashboard can be overwhelming with a lot of metrics displayed. This can be customised though to display what you want. The same goes for the menu items, a lot of useful tools! But just have to learn the layout and where everything is located.

Google Tag Manager makes tracking traffic to our websites effortless, which enables our developers to focus on other tasks. Setting up a new instance takes only minutes and additional scripts can be added/modified without touching the source code of a site in production. This enables our marketing directors to coordinate tests and experiments with minimal effort.

Incentivized

I didn't even hesitate to renew my subscription to Web CEO. It has become the #1 tool in my arsenal and I use it at work, on my personal projects, everywhere! I literally don't know what I would do if I didn't have access to this software anymore. This software has been crucial in the success of my clients and my websites.

No difficult obstacle to overcome but Google Tag Manager can still be difficult for many users to deploy. Sure the basic HTML script can be deployed quite easily, but when you start to require triggers, variables, etc, it can be a little daunting.

Incentivized

In general it is easy to use. Some of the functions take a little getting used to and first time through it is not obvious what needs to be set up first. It would be a great improvement to have a central setup screen where all of the data required by each module could be entered in one go.

GTM does not provide support. This is one of GTM's biggest issues but it's due to the level of customization for each website. If your team thinks they would heavily rely on the need for a support staff it is probably better to invest in a paid service with a team that can support your needs.

Incentivized

Most support networks focus on answering questions as WebCEO does. With my experience with WebCEO, I now call those the average support providers. Then there are the exceptional support providers who really go to the next level in making sure you are taken care of. While WebCEO certainly does this I've decided to remove them from qualifying at this level. Instead, I made a whole new category for their support called extraordinarily amazing. They respond in a timely fashion. Offer great value along the way. But then even have fun what with their unnecessary but great graphics that they include in their support. This is the upper edge of everything and leaves me with a huge smile on my face.

I thought there was a little bit too much emphasis on AdWords stuff, not enough on the generic application of GTM.

Planning and communication will help greatly with an in-house implementation. If there are large teams, try to limit the number of people involved to 1-2 developers (back-end dev may be necessary depending on your platform), one analytics marketer and one project manager.

Incentivized

You can start using Web CEO in under 5 minutes so the implementation is very minimal. Simply setup your projects for your sites, hook them up to Google Analytics and your good to go. You can start analyzing data and viewing keyword tracking results in no time at all.

We moved to GTM from a standard Google Analytics implementation. GTM is much more flexible and easier to make changes, especially as the changes relate to multiple sites and environments. While there is a learning curve when figuring out how to use GTM, I believe the change has been worth it because it helps us understand at a more fundamental level how our tracking works and gives us a lot more control over what we track and how.

Incentivized

Of course, each of these tools has its pros and cons, but Web CEO provides by far the most insights about your website and your competitors and helps you to take informed action to improve your ranking and site traffic.

• GTM is very useful to determine if a particular element on the site is useful (i.e. is it being watched, is it being clicked, does it help customers navigate through more pages). As an SEO person, I can use this information to decide what to optimize for but also to track progress and see improvements in engagement.
• With the use of Google Tag Manager, I was able to easily inject an A/B testing tool which lead to several improvements in lead generation.

Incentivized

• I would say that as a tool. Web CEO has a decent amount of kick to it. I just think that it is lacking that knockout punch that its competitors have
• The social metrics and competitor metrics are great, they just don#t have that zing to them. I think some GUI tweaks would move Web CEO onto the next level. It is a pity, as Web CEO is one step from greatness.

Incentivized