Server-side Tracking Checklist: setup step by step

You've probably heard about it but don't know where to start: Server-side Tracking is a crucial aspect in today's digital world. It's understandable if the terminology and complexity seem overwhelming to you at first. That's why we've put together a comprehensive checklist to help you set up your Server-side Tracking.

This list contains 28 carefully selected tasks that are essential for an optimal setup. Whether you are just starting out and trying to find your way through the basics, or you are an experienced user looking for advanced tools and techniques, this checklist serves as your all-encompassing reference point for Server-side Tracking.

If you're just getting started with Server-side Tracking, it's essential to lay a solid foundation. This section of the checklist is specifically designed to help you with the first, crucial steps in setting up Server Side Tracking via TAGGRS and Google Tag Manager. Here we cover creating a TAGGRS account and container, validating your subdomain and initiating data submission to your server container. Consider this section your reference point for the basic elements necessary to successfully get started with Server-side Tracking.

By simply registering and following this checklist, you can immediately get started with Server-side Tracking, which allows you to:

If you want to start Server-side Tracking, you need a Server-side Tracking hosting provider. The data collected through Server-side Tracking must be stored and processed somewhere. This is done on a server. A hosting provider provides you with the space on a server to store and process this data.

In the guide, we show you how to create a container on TAGGRS (Server-side Tracking hosting provider).

After you have created an account + container and made sure your subdomain is validated, it is time to send the data from the web container to the Server Container so you can send data from the website to the server for processing and analysis. You do this by adding your created subdomain to your Google Tag.

Now that the basics are in place, the next step is to set up the tags. To set up tags we will use 2 containers in Google Tag Manager. A web container (client side) (this is the type of container you are probably already using right now) and a server container (server side) that you just created.

What tags are there? Not every software has a server side solution. The way to find out if your software has a server side solution is to go to the Server Container → Tags. From there, click on "New". Then you will see a default list of Google tags. All of these are available.

We try to make it as easy as possible for customers, which is why we have created a TAGGRS template gallery, where you can access and download free preset GTM templates designed by our experts. All templates are available right inside your TAGGRS Dashboard, ready to use and fully customizable. Furthermore, we offer a free GTM Copy Paste extension for easy copying and pasting of GTM elements.

Check that the Event ID in the client container events matches that in the server events. Use the Google Tag Manager debug mode to do this.

This is only necessary for Tags that require Event Deduplication, such as with Facebook. We always indicate in our tutorials if you need to apply this.

You go into both client-side and server-side preview mode in Google Tag Manager.

• Client side: go to container loaded
• Server side: go to pageview

Check here if both the Event ID of the client side matches that of the server side.

Check in the website console that you have no error messages. test your Server-side Tracking setup. When debugging in GTM, you need to open both preview mode in the web container and in the server container.

Use GA4/META's test mode to verify that the data is coming through correctly and in the case of META is deduplicated.

How does Server-side Tracking impact my business? This is one of the most frequently asked questions.

At TAGGRS, we understand the importance of this question, which is why we developed the TAGGRS analytics dashboard that can measure exactly this. Setting up this tool is simple and can be done by adding two tracking tags. Add the first tag to the Web container (client side) and the second tag to the Server Container (server side). When you add these, the tool will automatically start collecting and analyzing data, giving you a clear and detailed understanding of the impact of Server-side Tracking.