Improving your data strategy with three unique Server Side Tag Templates 

Server-side tagging has emerged as a transformative approach to data collection and tag management. Unlike traditional client-side tagging, where code runs in the user's browser, server-side tagging shifts this processing to a server environment. This offers significant advantages in terms of data quality, performance and privacy.

In this blog, we share three unique server-side tag templates that can immediately improve your data strategy.

What is server-side tagging?

With server-side tagging, your tags are not executed in the browser but on a server. This means you have more control over the data that is collected and sent to third parties. The benefits:

• Better data quality: Less impact from ad blockers and browser restrictions
• Improved performance: Fewer scripts in the browser means faster loading times
• More privacy control: You decide what data is shared with which parties
• More reliable tracking: Independent of browser limitations like ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention)

Template 1: Enhanced E-commerce Tracking

The first template is focused on enhanced e-commerce tracking. Traditional e-commerce tracking often misses important data points because of ad blockers or cookie restrictions.

With server-side enhanced e-commerce tracking you can:

• Track all purchase events reliably
• Send richer product data (including margins and categories)
• Avoid discrepancies between your analytics and actual revenue

The template handles the transformation of your data layer information and sends this server-side to Google Analytics 4 and your advertising platforms.

Template 2: Consent-based Data Routing

With stricter privacy regulations, managing consent is crucial. This template ensures data is only sent to the right destinations based on the user's consent.

How it works:

1. The template reads the consent status from your CMP (Consent Management Platform)
2. Based on this status, it decides which tags fire
3. Users who have not given consent still contribute to aggregated, anonymous reporting

This allows you to remain compliant while still gaining valuable insights.

Template 3: Customer Data Enrichment

The third template focuses on enriching your customer data server-side. When a conversion occurs, the template can:

• Look up CRM data to enrich the event with customer segment information
• Add lifetime value data to your conversion events
• Link offline conversions to online touchpoints

This gives your advertising platforms richer signals, resulting in better optimisation of your campaigns.

Implementation in Google Tag Manager Server-side

All three templates can be implemented within Google Tag Manager's server-side container. The setup consists of:

1. Client configuration: Processing incoming data from the browser
2. Variable configuration: Extracting and transforming the relevant data
3. Tag configuration: Sending data to the right destinations

For each template, we provide detailed documentation and support for implementation.

Results you can expect

Companies that implement server-side tagging typically see:

• 20-30% improvement in data completeness
• Faster website loading times
• Better ad optimisation through richer conversion data
• Simpler compliance with privacy regulations

Want to upgrade your data strategy with server-side tagging?

Contact us