Please share the basic format of a Universal Data Layer to be placed on your website.
What data-layer objects should be part of it?

Question

Please share the basic format of a Universal Data Layer to be placed on your website.What data-layer objects should be part of it?

Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted Answer

I don't think there really is a "true" universal data layer.

If you are using Adobe's Client Data Layer, there are some resources that will show you basic formatting:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/events/adobe-developers-live-recordings/2021/oct2021/adobe-client-data-layer.html?lang=en

https://jimalytics.com/tag-management/the-adobe-client-data-layer/

But this still has a lot of freedom over what data you push.. sure there will be a standard key for "event" and "page", but what information you need on your page depends entirely on what your site does and what you want to track.

You don't even need to use Adobe's data layer, you can use a custom JSON formatted data object and read from it. Populating content in the format that you choose and showing the data as you see fit.

If you are using an event based data layer, then you probably want to stick with Adobe's because there is an extension ready to detect the events... but if you aren't doing "event driven", and maybe your site has a data object that is used by developers to drive the site content, you could use that directly....

leocwlau · Answer

As mentioned by @jennifer_dungan, there is no true universal data layer and you need to design and create one that is most suitable to your business and analytics philosophy.

However, you may try to refer to some XDM schema provided by Adobe to get some ideas if you are planning to move into the AEP/CJA route.

Also, my most simple and foundational idea for my own industry on the design of the data layer is

Basic traffic information, such as page name, server name, site section, page title, and campaign ID
Contextual information, such as user ID, product name, order number
Critical UI interaction, such as hero banner click, button click, media playback, popup/drawer/error display
Business transaction information, such as lead form submission, online calculation, record manipulation

where you still need to find your best structure at the end.

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