Recover conversions through server-side tagging

The scenario will likely sound familiar. The world of online marketing has changed significantly over the past two years. More and more internet browsers are blocking third-party cookies, making measurement increasingly difficult. You've undoubtedly already noticed this in your Meta or Google Ads campaigns. Where conversions were previously measured accurately, nothing or hardly anything is coming in anymore. This is very frustrating, as this information is crucial for scaling or optimising your campaigns correctly. Furthermore, privacy legislation is becoming increasingly strict, which also presents new challenges. As online marketing experts, we naturally stay on top of the news and look for solutions. Therefore, we have been busy developing a new product recently, which will ensure that your measurements are 100% insightful again: AdPage Server-Side Tagging.What exactly is server-side tagging and what is the impact of all the upcoming changes? In this article, we will tell you more about it.  

Server-Side Tagging (SST) is een methode voor het instellen van tags op een website waarbij de gegevens niet rechtstreeks vanuit de browser van de gebruiker naar de vendor (zoals Google Analytics of Facebook Ads) worden gestuurd. In plaats daarvan worden de gegevens eerst naar je eigen server gestuurd. Deze server stuurt de gegevens vervolgens door naar de verschillende vendors. Dit biedt verschillende voordelen ten opzichte van traditionele client-side tagging: * **Verbeterde prestaties:** Doordat de browser minder werk hoeft te doen, kan de website sneller laden. * **Grotere controle en beveiliging:** Je hebt meer controle over welke gegevens worden gedeeld en je kunt gevoelige informatie (zoals PII) anonimiseren of verwijderen voordat deze de browser verlaat. * **Betrouwbaardere dataverzameling:** Het is minder gevoelig voor blokkering door adblockers of browserinstellingen die client-side scripts belemmeren. * **Vereenvoudiging van de frontend:** De frontend code wordt schoner omdat veel tagging logica naar de server wordt verplaatst. Kortom, Server-Side Tagging helpt je om data op een veiligere, snellere en meer gecontroleerde manier te verzamelen en te verzenden naar je analysemiddelen en marketingplatforms.

All your online behaviour is saved, whether you want it to be or not. When you visit a website, your behaviour is measured in the background via a piece of code. This way, the website owner can track the visitor journey. Among other things, it measures which pages you visited as a visitor and where you dropped off. Currently, this data is primarily measured via the browser (client-side). Your behaviour is measured by an external party, for example, using the Meta Pixel. Because these pixels are increasingly being blocked in browsers (by, among other things, AdBlockers and privacy updates such as those from Apple), there is a new way to continue measuring the valuable data of your website visitors. With Server-side Tagging, you will store the data on your own domain and your server. This way, all data ends up in a secure place to which only you have access. You then also decide with which parties you want to share this data (encrypted).

What is going to change?

We are moving from Third Party Cookies to First Party Cookies. Cookies! How was that again? A cookie is a piece of code added in the background of your website. This code can measure which pages you visit, which products you view, what you click on, etc. As it stands, Third Party cookies are mainly used. The term actually says it all. An external party retrieves data from your website. These are for example the pixels from Meta, TikTok Etc. These pixels are used to track your online behaviour and determine your interests. Based on this, personalised ads can then be shown. With Third Party cookies, you as the website owner have no influence on which data is retrieved or not. This is entirely determined by the third party. To remain compliant with European legislation and to continue measuring your online campaigns 100% it is necessary to switch to First Party Cookies. This gives you, the first and only party, control over the data of the traffic on your website. This data is stored on your own server and you decide which data is sent to other parties, such as Google or Meta.  

Wat zijn de voordelen van server-side tagging?

The transition from client-side tagging to server-side tagging has many advantages:

• You fully comply with the new European legislation on privacy by managing your own data. When you let a third party (e.g. Meta) do that, not everything is 100% GDPR-compliant.
• You remain the owner of all data that you collect. Since you store all data on your own server, you are the owner and also decide what happens to this data.
• By accurately measuring the results of Meta, Google, and TikTok Ads, you can better optimise your campaigns, leading to improved performance and a higher return on investment.
• By loading a first-party script (instead of third-party), data is not blocked by AdBlockers, allowing you to measure on average 20% more.
• Drastically improving your website's performance is achieved by efficiently loading the script.
• By switching directly to Google Analytics 4 and sending everything server-side, you'll benefit from the latest and most advanced data analysis capabilities.

Setting up tagging correctly

Do you have any further questions about Server-Side Tagging or could you use some help with its setup and implementation? Together with AdPage's tagging specialists, we'll ensure everything is set up correctly for your clients from the outset. This way, you'll have a perfect foundation for measuring and optimising advertisements and landing pages. Book a no-obligation appointment with one of our Tracking Specialists.