You are likely aware that many analytics experts believe server-side tagging (SST) is a better alternative to traditional client-side tagging. But before you dedicate time and resources to implementing it, you should weigh the pros and cons of server-side tagging. This guide explains them so you can decide whether it’s right for you.
Many analytics experts believe server-side tagging (SST) is better than traditional client-side tagging. Before dedicating time and resources to implement it, you should weigh the pros and cons of server-side tagging. This guide explains them so you can decide whether it’s right for you.
Client and server-side tagging are two ways to gather website visitor data.
Client-side tagging. With client-side tagging, a website or app has a single container that holds all tags, triggers, variables, and code to track user interactions with the website or app. When someone visits a web page, the container loads the related tags. When the visitor does something on the page that triggers a tag, the related data is dispatched onto one or more HTTP requests from the browser or device to Google and other organizations that track and report digital data.
Server-side tagging. Server-side tagging is more complex than client side. It uses two containers to collect and transmit data:
The web container holds only the tags required to track and transmit data about visitor website interactions that trigger events as HTTP requests. The server container receives all the HTTP sent from the web container. You can set up rules within the server container to limit, change, or expand it before sending it to Google or other third parties that track and report on it.
Think of the server container as a bridge you own between the browser or device where events occur and are recorded and the third-party providers that measure and report on the data. The server container supports the web container by taking care of resource-heavy processing that happens in the browser with client-side tagging. The server container also provides an opportunity to screen, validate, and modify data as needed before sending it on to third parties.
Businesses traditionally relied on data and analytics gathered via third-party cookies on the client side to collect information about their promotional efforts and monitor website activity and performance.
However, consumer concerns about privacy, stricter regulations, and browser restrictions have limited data collection through cookies and the ability of companies to gather consumer and other metrics critical to determining marketing success.
Server-side tagging is essentially a way to bypass these issues.
Who is server-side tagging right for?
SST is best for businesses that want:
For instance, organizations handling sensitive personal information can leverage server-side tagging to control and modify it before sending it to third parties.
Server-side tagging benefits businesses seeking to better understand performance across the entire marketing and buying process, boost conversion rates, and maximize return on investment from promotional efforts. It delivers enhanced control over data collection and distribution, which can generate better metrics and reporting, leading to improved decision-making.
Bottom line: If your firm depends on data and its security for success, server-side tagging is probably right for your organization.
SST has several significant advantages related to the control over — and flexibility of — the data you collect. The control and flexibility can impact how you:
Specifically, here are the top benefits of server-side tagging versus the client-side approach.
Server-side tagging results in better quality and more accurate data than client-side tagging. The client-side approach collects data directly from the user’s browser. However, browser restrictions, extensions like ad blockers, and intelligent tracking prevention (ITP) can limit data collection. Limited collection typically results in incomplete or distorted data, a significant marketing issue. By contrast, SST bypasses these restrictions, making it less susceptible to interference.
In short, server-side tagging puts you in control of your data, allowing you to:
Because a server-side container intercepts data, it provides a chance for it to be modified before it is transferred to its final destination. Companies find the ability to change data beneficial for GDPR compliance and protecting privacy. Before sending it to its final destination, you can eliminate any information that could be used for profiling and other inappropriate purposes.
By contrast, it’s impossible to change data with client-side tagging before it is sent to an analytics server, significantly reducing your ability to secure it. For example, with client-side tagging, Google has direct control of your data and unrestricted access to personally identifiable information, a significant concern for most people and organizations.
Be aware: Changing and removing identifiable data may prevent some information from showing up in your analytics tools and dashboards. For example, eliminating or masking your visitors’ IPs before sending data to Google Analytics may result in a lack of reporting related to location.
Server-side tagging enhances performance by reducing the amount of code processed in your web browser or app.
With client-side tagging, the browser maps events to one or more HTTP requests. Depending on how many third-party data processor endpoints you send the data to — and if your site sends many similar HTTP requests — a significant load can be placed on it.
With server-side tagging, the site only generates one HTTP request per event, which is then sent to the server container. Next, the server container generates and dispatches vendor-specific data.
This process improves website performance because it has to process less code and send fewer HTTP requests.
Server-side tagging acts as a protective buffer between your data and the third parties tracking it. Third parties do not have direct access to data collected from websites, including visitor’s personal data. This allows for greater control over the data and security.
By contrast, client-side tagging leaves data exposed. For example, a bad actor can go to any client-side site running Google Analytics, take the GA4-Measurement ID, place it on another site, and spam the Google Analytics account. However, server-side tagging prevents this because the GA4-Measurement ID can be added on the server side and won’t be exposed when a website loads.
Data enrichment is another advantage of server-side tagging compared to client-side. With client-side, there is no way to further process the data stream or enhance it with added data.
The inability to alter data is a huge issue for e-commerce companies. That’s because some of their data may not be stored on the website but in databases. When you use server-side tagging, this type of data can be added to your website’s tracking data before it’s transmitted to an analytics server.
Enriching data on the server side can allow you to generate more detailed and accurate reports. This provides businesses with deeper insights into website visitor behavior and the performance of different product and service offerings. Greater data precision can help you develop more targeted marketing strategies and personalized campaigns that resonate better with consumers.
You must be aware of a few negative aspects of server-side tagging. They relate to the extra effort required to set it up and run it, as well as some data accuracy and user privacy issues.
Server-side tagging set-up requires a relatively high level of technical understanding. This is especially true when setting up and configuring the servers, connecting them to the website, and the actual tagging. Client-side tagging is comparatively fast and easy to implement.
With server-side tagging, ensuring that data reaches its final destination in the correct format is the responsibility of your business and website developer. Mistakes can occur, which can impact the legitimacy of your reporting. You are also responsible for making sure that any data sent is legal.
Server-side setup has costs that client-side tagging does not. The costs come from the server infrastructure needed for operation, along with redundancy and sufficient capacity. More servers are required to handle larger data volumes, which leads to higher costs. Despite the added expense, most businesses find an investment in the server-side approach pays off in enhanced data quality and greater flexibility.
A concern with server-side tagging is that it makes it easier to circumvent some of the things your website visitors use to prevent their actions and information from being collected. Respecting your visitor’s privacy choices and abiding by applicable laws and regulations is critical.
This is not as much of an issue when it comes to client-side tagging. That’s because it occurs in the visitor’s browser, and the data is sent directly to an analytics server.
Server-side tagging is a powerful solution that can make your data more accurate and your reporting more robust. It can also help you improve your website performance and deliver a more personalized consumer experience. However, it requires significant technical knowledge compared with traditional client-side tagging, and it will cost you more.
Leverage the information in this guide to determine if investing in server-side tagging is the right move for your business. If you have questions or need a resource to bounce ideas off of, please contact the experts at Jarrah Growth Marketing.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
