Element visibility tracking is one of the most powerful analytics capabilities—knowing when users actually see your CTAs, banners, or product recommendations drives better optimization decisions. But there's a problem: setting it up in Google Tag Manager traditionally requires writing CSS selectors, understanding intersection observers, and configuring custom triggers.
For marketers without developer skills, this creates an impossible barrier. Until now.
The Traditional Visibility Tracking Problem
To track when an element becomes visible in GTM, you typically need to:
- Inspect your page's HTML to find unique identifiers
- Manually write CSS selectors like
div.hero-section > div.cta-container:nth-child(2) > button.primary - Configure Element Visibility triggers with percentage thresholds
- Test extensively to ensure the selector is specific enough (but not too specific)
- Debug when selectors break after website updates
This process takes 30-45 minutes per element—and that's if you know what you're doing. For non-technical marketers, it's simply not feasible.
How Tag Companion's Website Helper Changes Everything
Tag Companion's Actions Events tool includes a browser-based Website Helper that transforms visibility tracking into a three-click process:
- Launch the Website Helper from your Tag Companion dashboard—it opens your website in a new tab with the helper overlay active
- Click the element you want to track—the helper instantly generates and tests the perfect CSS selector
- The selector auto-populates in your dashboard form, ready to configure
No manual selector writing. No developer needed. No guesswork.
How the Smart Selector Algorithm Works
When you click an element, the Website Helper runs a sophisticated selection algorithm:
Step 1: Initial Generation
The helper generates a CSS selector using unique attributes, IDs, and classes. For example: button.add-to-cart[data-product="123"]
Step 2: Automatic Testing
The selector is immediately tested against your page. The helper checks how many elements match:
- One match (green highlight): Perfect! The selector is unique and ready to submit
- Multiple matches (orange highlights): The helper shows you all matching elements and provides a "Click specific element to refine" prompt
Step 3: Refinement (if needed)
If there are multiple matches, simply click the specific element you want. The helper automatically refines the selector by adding hierarchical context and nth-child positioning until it's perfectly unique.
This entire process happens in seconds, with real-time visual feedback through color-coded highlighting.
What You Get in Your GTM Template
Once you configure your visibility event and download the template, you receive a complete GTM container that includes:
- GA4 Event Tag configured to fire your custom event name (e.g., "promo_banner_visible")
- Element Visibility Trigger set to fire when your element appears on screen
- CSS Selector Variable with your auto-generated, tested selector
- All necessary built-in variables automatically enabled
Import the JSON file into GTM, publish, and your visibility tracking works immediately.
Real-World Use Cases
Track Promotional Banner Views
Know how many users actually see your limited-time offers, not just how many visited the page.
Measure Content Engagement
Track when users scroll to key sections like testimonials, pricing tables, or feature comparisons.
Optimize Above-The-Fold CTAs
Compare visibility rates of different CTA placements to find the highest-converting positions.
Monitor Dynamic Content
Track visibility of AJAX-loaded elements like recommended products or personalized recommendations.
The Time and Cost Savings
Traditional visibility tracking setup requires:
- Developer time: 30-45 minutes per element at $75-150/hour
- Testing cycles: Additional 15-30 minutes
- Maintenance: Ongoing fixes when selectors break
With Tag Companion's Website Helper:
- Setup time: 2-3 minutes per element
- No developer needed
- Selector testing is automatic
- One-time setup: $35-55 for unlimited tracking
For a typical landing page with 3-4 visibility tracking points, you're saving $225-600 in setup costs and 90+ minutes of time.
No Vendor Lock-In
Tag Companion generates standard GTM JSON templates—the same format Google Tag Manager natively exports. This means:
- Your tracking continues working forever, even if you cancel
- No ongoing dependencies on Tag Companion
- Templates can be edited directly in GTM like any other configuration
- You own your tracking setup completely
Getting Started
Visibility tracking is available on Tag Companion's Basic plan and above. Here's how to set it up:
- Install the Website Helper SDK (one-time, 30-second setup via GTM)
- Create a project in your Tag Companion dashboard with your website URL
- Navigate to Actions Events and select "Visibility Tracking"
- Launch Website Helper to your site
- Click elements to automatically capture selectors
- Configure event details (event name, visibility threshold)
- Download and import your GTM template
Within minutes, you'll have professional-grade visibility tracking that would traditionally require developer expertise.
The Bottom Line
CSS selectors shouldn't be a barrier to better analytics. Tag Companion's Website Helper eliminates the technical complexity of visibility tracking by automating selector generation, testing, and refinement—all through a simple point-and-click interface.
No code. No developers. No 45-minute setup processes. Just click, configure, and track.
