The default page measurements in Google Tag Manager (GTM) are not always sufficient. Often we want to know more than just exit rate, bounce rate and time on page. In this blog series, I highlight some additional measurements in Google Tag Manager that will help you get even more insights from your data.

This is part three of the blog series on additional measurements in Google Tag Manager. In part 1 you can find how to set up scroll tracking, in part 2 I explain how to measure outbound links through GTM. In this section, I explain how to set up download measurement in GTM.

Measuring downloads in GTM

On many websites there is an option to download documents, for example the brochure of a particular product, or the terms and conditions of a particular insurance policy. Downloading these files is something you would obviously like to measure, and is quite simple to set up.

Step 1: Create Trigger

You don't need any additional variables for this event, so you can start the trigger right away. In the trigger, you specify that you only want to measure link clicks that end in .pdf, .doc(x), .png or .xsl(x). Do you want to measure other extensions? Then add those to the RegEx. This looks like this:

Step 2: Create Tag

You now know when you want to trigger the event, so all you have to do now is create an event. In this event, you send more information to Google Analytics about this download. For example, which file was downloaded. Is the variable Click URL not yet in the list of available variables? Make it available first by checking the default variable:

As the trigger, choose the trigger you just created (UA - Click - File Download).

The preview function allows you to test the event. Check for example with the plug-in data player Whether the events are coming in well. Satisfied? Then publish your changes.

If you have any questions about setting up additional measurements in Google Tag Manager, let me know in the comments.