All about the Server GTM Logs from TAGGRS

Data can help you better understand your target audience, optimize your marketing campaigns and improve your results. But how can you be sure your data is getting through? And how can you use this data to optimize your marketing efforts? You can check this with TAGGRS' GTM Server Logs feature. In this blog, we dive deeper into what you can do with this feature and how to use these Logs.

What are Google Tag Manager Server Logs?

Google Tag Manager Server Logs, often abbreviated as Server GTM Logs, are a source of information for any marketer working with Google Tag Manager in a Server Side environment. These logs give you insights into the progression of different types of requests made, ranging from POST to GET requests.

What do the Logs consist of?

In this section, we're going to explain the different components of your Server GTM Logs. That way, you'll know exactly what's in your Logs.

Method

GTM Logs have two request types: POST and GET.

POST requests are used to send data to the server, while GET requests are used to access data from the server.

Here are some examples of POST requests in server GTM:

• Creating a new user account
• Submit a form
• Upload a file

Here are some examples of GET requests in server GTM:

• Loading a web page
• Retrieve product data from a database
• Checking the status of an order

Status

Here is an overview of important status codes and what they mean.

Status code	Meaning
200	All is well, the application has been processed successfully.
404	The link does not exist, the requested resource was not found.
400	Custom loader is probably not set correctly.
499 / 504	Problems with server response. This may be because your package has expired or you have reached the maximum number of requests.

Event

Here is the event that was measured. For example, this could be a Scroll or a Purchase. With this information you can check whether certain tags such as for purchases or other conversions are triggered properly.

Type

Here are the type of Logs, where do the requests come from. There are different types of Logs TAGGRS offers such as:

• Google Analytics
• Javascript
• GTM Preview Mode
• Set Cookie

Date Received

Under Date Received will appear the date and time when the Log was measured. This helps you determine when a particular action, such as a purchase or scroll, actually occurred on your website.

Where can I find the Logs?

The Logs can be found under Dashboard → Testing → Logs.

What can you use Logs for?

Server logs allow you to gain insight into user behavior and interactions.

What do you use Logs for:

• See if the data comes through properly.
• With a 404 status code, you can identify which links do not exist and possibly fix or redirect them.

Example

Say you have an E-commerce website and you want to make sure that every time a customer makes a purchase, that transaction is recorded correctly in your database and analytics. For this, you could use Logs to check that the data is coming through correctly.

You have set up a specific Purchase tag to track every purchase on your website. After this tag is activated, go to your TAGGRS Logs to check the data collected.

1. Methods (POST/GET): Here you can see that a POST request was sent, which means that data was sent to the server (e.g. purchase information).
2. Status codes: You check that a status code 200 appears next to the POST request, indicating that the request was processed successfully.
3. Event: Next to the status code you will see the event type, in this case it would be Purchase, which confirms that it is a purchase.
4. Type Logs: This would likely be a "Request Log," indicating that this request came from the user.
5. Date Received: The date and time allow you to verify when this purchase occurred.

If all these elements are correct and you see the status code 200, then you know that the data has been properly transmitted and processed.

Should there be any anomalies, such as a different status code (for example, 404 or 400), this is an indication that something is not going right. Logs allow you to quickly identify this and take action.

Conclusion

In this blog, we showed you how to use Server GTM Logs (one of TAGGRS Hosting features) to verify that your data is coming through properly. By understanding the different components of the logs, you can quickly and easily identify and fix problems.