Cookie Consent Management
If cookie consent controls are not implemented correctly, it can mean that not only are you breaching the cookie and GDPR regulations you are trying to comply with, but it can also undermine the integrity of your Google Analytics and other marketing data.
Whether you create your own custom solution or use one of the dozens of off-the-shelf solutions such as OneTrust or Trust Arc we can use Google Tag Manager to ensure compliance and that reliable data is collected.
We can also use anonymous and cookie-free tracking to monitor the level of cookie rejection, which will help you to understand the proportion of visits that your Google Analytics and other data is being collected for. Poorly designed cookie consent banners can also deter visitors from staying on the site, and this technique can also be used to identify if the cookie consent mechanism is discouraging visitors from viewing the site.
Avoid losing acquisition channel and landing page data
Google Analytics and other trackers capture data about how the visitor came to your website from the first page they land on. If the tracking tags are not sent on the landing page this information may be lost. As once the visitor loads a second page, or even the same page again, they will be seen as arriving from your own website. In the case of GA, this will mean they will show as a direct or self-referral traffic. To avoid this, the tracking and marketing tags that create these cookies need to be sent as soon as the user gives their consent.
Tracking non-acceptance of tracking cookies
Once you give the option to view the website without tracking in place, unless you can keep track of how many visitors accept and reject cookies,you have no idea what proportion of traffic your tracking data represents. Depending on how the cookie consent is configured, the acceptance or rejection of cookies and trackers can be recorded totally anonymously and wthout the use of cookies.
Only the cookie settings consented to are applied
If you use GTM to manage the tracking on your site, then it makes sense to also use it to block that tracking when it fires. This way when tags are changed or added, the exclusion rules can more easily be added in and tested at the same time.
For support troubleshooting or implementing a cookie consent manager, please contact me:
07786 193 199
jason@jasonriddle.co.uk