Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Is it possible to use Google Tag Manager to pass a user’s text input into a form field to Google analytics?
-
Hey Everyone,
I finally figured out how to use auto event tracking with Google Tag Manager, but didn't get the data I wanted. I want to see what users are typing into the search field on my site (the URL structure of my site isn't set up properly to use GA's built-in site search tracking). So, I set up the form submit event tracking in Google Tag Manager and used the following as my event tracking parameters:
Category: Search
Action: Search Value
When I test and look in Google Analytics I just see: "search" and "search value." I wanted to see the text that I searched on my site. Not just the Action and Category of the event....
Is what I'm trying to do even possible? Do I need to set up a different event tracking parameter?
Thanks everyone!
-
Hey Mike,
Thanks so much for the reply. I apologize for taking so long to respond! I have my Moz emails separated into a different email folder that I rarely check. We ended up abandoning GTM and coming up with a developer supplied solution, but I'd still love to try this out. We'd love to be able to do all of the event tracking without involving developers! I will try this out within the next few weeks on a new site and definitely respond back.
Thanks Mike.
-
Hi Melanie,
Definitely possible using GTM's Data Layer object, but it'll take a little work to make it happen.
Two resources I'd recommend a deep dive into to understand this logic:
- Google's Tag Manager Developer's Guide explains how to work with the data layer - I'd consider this mandatory reading as there are a few basic setup steps for utilizing the data layer object
- This great tutorial video from Eric Fettman at KISSmetrics (which I'm borrowing a bit from below) is a great, clear walkthrough - the whole video is solid, but if you're looking to jump right to the bit that applies to this case, go to 9:20
The following is my basic stab at what you'll need to do, but you should by no means consider this foolproof - testing and adjustment will be required.
You'll basically want to...
-
Use the dataLayer object in your form HTML to push an event with the search field value into the data layer upon the form's submission
For example: < form name="myform" onsubmit="dataLayer.push({event','search','eventLabel':[searchvalue]});" /> where search is the name of your new custom event, which you'll listen for with a new GTM event tag & rule combo (following steps), and you must replace [searchvalue] with the value of your search form field via JS or jQuery - that last bit is a little tricky and will probably require a separate function to parse the DOM and grab the value from the search field, but I'd look at the same basic functionality that JavaScript Form Validation uses as a starting point. Maybe someone with stronger JS skills than mine can help you sort that piece.
-
Create a new event tag in GTM with custom Category and Action static values (maybe "search" and "search performed"), adding a Macro with the type "Data Layer Variable," with a Data Layer Variable Name of eventLabel (which is what we used in the HTML code above - crucial that these match) and Data Layer Version set to 1
-
Create a rule for this new tag to fire when the Condition {{event}} equals search (or whatever you've specified as the event name in your form HTML above
It can be a little confusing wrapping your head around this combination of pushing a custom event along with a dynamic event label into the data layer and using that to trigger a rule+event combo to grab that data and push it with your custom event values into GA, but when you think through the logic a few times it becomes clearer.
I'd love to hear whether this did the trick or at least led you down the right track if you don't mind circling back in this thread.
Best,
Mike
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Tasks for Google Analytics training
Hi Mozzers, I'm delivering some Google Analytics (Fundamentals level) training, and trying to make it was fun and as interesting as possible... which is quite a challenge when it comes to GA. I was just wondering if you're aware of training tasks, or interactions, I could bring into this kind of training session? The group are particularly interested in user journeys and the effectiveness of content. Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | A_Q0 -
Set Up of Goal Tracking with Google Analytics-$750 a Fair Price????
Greetings Moz Community! My firm operates commercial real estate website that contains 3-4 forms. Each form represents a goals. Google Analytics has been set up for years, but it does not track these form completions/goals properly. My SEO firm has offered to configure Goals on Google Analytics for $750. Is this a fair price? If the set up takes one hour, I am really over paying. But if this is a complex project that may take 7-9 hours the pricing seems OK. Also, the SEO firm will require an additional $750 in the future to set up event tracking. Is this excessive? I might add that my developer will need to add code to my web site. My SEO company has proven reliable and accurate. I can go to sleep at night knowing they are doing a good job. Where as my Argentinian developers really try their best, but perhaps because of the language barrier, they can make mistakes from time to time. I am willing to pay a premium to ensure that the job is done correctly domestically, however I don't appreciate over paying. Is the $750 payment for setting up Google Analytics reasonable assuming the job is done well??? Thanks,
Reporting & Analytics | | Kingalan1
Alan0 -
Google Analytics - Next Page Path is the Same URL?
Hey Everyone, I have a Google analytics question. I'm looking through a client's site and when I look at the next page path, I get the same URL as the next path. For example, on the homepage, the next page path I get is the homepage again? This happens for all URL's, is this an implementation error? Is there a way to fix this? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | EvansHunt0 -
Google Analytic - Is it possible to see which organic keyword triggered goals?
Hi, I am trying to see which of my Google organic keywords triggered my goals? In GA I click > Conversion > Goals > Overview > Source Medium (This then says where my goals came from but when I click Google / Organic it just brings me to the overview page of my organic traffic). Is it possible to see which organic keywords trigger goals?
Reporting & Analytics | | AdvanceSystems0 -
Localhost:4444 Showing Up in Google Analytics
Hello All, Lately in my Google Analytics account I have noticed a referral source labelled: localhost:4444 The number of visits is really high from this source, but I have no idea (no clue!) what it actually means. Can anyone shed some light on what this is about? Should I be creating some sort of filter to screen out this as a referral source (assuming it is not legitimate)? Many thanks in advance. Cheers!
Reporting & Analytics | | Robert-B0 -
What is s.ytimg.com in google analytics?
My clients GA reports 273 visits from s.ytimg.com. I go to the site, it doesn't exist. I googled it, there were some code with s.ytimg.com in it, but nothing I could understand. Anybody have an idea where this comes from?
Reporting & Analytics | | endlessrange0 -
Setting up Google Analytics default URL
If someone has set: the default url in Google Analytics to a non-www address (http://mysite.com) then placed the UA tracking script from that GA account within the CMS framework of the website... ... and then set the permanent 301 redirect in the htaccess file to redirect to the www address (http://www.mysite.com). How less accurrate will my GA analytics measurements be considering the default url within GA is non-www and the permanent 301 redirect in htacess is to the www-address? Anyone know how reliable GA reports are until the default url in GA analytics is changed to match what is the redirected url in htaccess file? _Cindy
Reporting & Analytics | | CeCeBar0