Many people have been asking the same question over the past few weeks: what is tag management? A quick search may not yield many immediate and clear results, mainly because these questions have been provoked by Google’s new release of its Tag Manager. Google claims that this tool will be able to help you manage tags and track them on your website or blog. Whether you are pinging YouTube videos or simply posting a new article, tags have always been important. With this new option available to all webmasters, however, the game is sure to change. We will help explain the basics behind tag management so you can take full control of your website’s tag capabilities.

The Basics of A Tag

In essence, a tag is a piece of code that usually finds itself in the header of a page. This code allows search engine bots and spiders to read the information and categorize your site or blog based on the information found. This is often used in basic analytic services, but can also be used in affiliate programs and other more nuanced applications. The art of tag management revolves around the proper use of tags to achieve a more desirable result – whether that be for search engine optimization, marketing or just proper site design.

Increased Marketing Ability

One of the best features offered by Google Tag Manager is the ability to launch any series of new tags for your site or blog in just a few minutes. Previously, you had to engage in pinging YouTube videos, pages and articles – many times, having to wait for weeks – before any tags would be updated. This new development means you no longer have to wait for the updates to propagate, which leads to less time where you are missing out on trending searches because your site is not updating with search engines at a proper pace.

Setting It Up

Thankfully, Google has made the process of signing up for an account and installing the analytics very easy. Before beginning, you will want to write down a list of the current tags you are using on your site. This is because you will have to input these into the Google Tag Manager initially. If you only have a few tags, then this will be a quick process; otherwise, you may need to spend a bit of time locating all of your site’s tags. After finding and inputting them into Tag Manager, you are ready to go! Simple maintenance and addition of new tags will be all that needs to be done after the first installation process.

Summary

For marketing, this new open source platform is a dream come true. With true tag versatility at your fingertips, you will be freed from the restraints that slow search engines have imposed on all of us since the beginning of the internet. While you may not be totally convinced to switch over to using this right now, time will convince you in the long-run; it will not be long until every webmaster is using Google Tag Manager to get the upper hand on their competition.