_RGB-KcIcY-Bxfgt-tolPp.jpg?resize=600,422&ssl=1 "What is a tag? Explaining the meaning, types, purpose, etc. of tags that you can't ask about now.")
A tag is a “command statement” that specifies how information is displayed on the Internet. However, there are many different types of imperatives, and unless you understand each one, you will not be able to properly proceed with your business.
Therefore, in this article, we will explain the overview, types, purpose, and installation method of tags. Furthermore, we will explain how to use the PDCA cycle in marketing using tags, so please use it in the future.
What is a tag?
As mentioned above,
tags
are statements that specify how information is displayed on the Internet. The web pages we usually see are displayed on browsers such as Google Chrome and Internet Explorer through
HTML
files.
- what to display where
- What color should each be displayed in?
- What type of text and images to use
For example, command statements like the one above are embedded in HTML files as tags, and the browser reads them to display the web page. In other words, a web page can only be displayed if there is a tag, and you can see that tag instructions are an important element that makes a web page possible.
What is Tag Manager?
A word similar to tag is tag manager. A tag manager, also known as “one tag” or “tag management tool,” is a system that can manage all the HTML written on a web page.
There is more than just one type of HTML written in a web page. Since there are countless tags, managing them one by one will inevitably be time consuming and lead to more mistakes. However, by managing them cross-sectionally with a tag manager, you can reduce the hassle and mistakes, and as a result, you can display an easy-to-read web page.
Types of tag managers
There are several types of tag managers, so it is important to choose one that suits your purpose. Here, we introduce the following two representative types.
1. Google Tag Manager
2. Yahoo! Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free tag manager provided by Google. It is compatible with other Google products, and you can register and delete tags such as Google Analytics and conversion measurement on the management screen. Since the change history of tags is kept, it can be used conveniently when managed by multiple people.
However, compared to Yahoo! Tag Manager, which will be discussed later, it does not support as many tags. On the other hand, the advantage is that it has a dedicated help site and provides extensive support.
Yahoo! Tag Manager
Yahoo! Tag Manager (YTM) is a product provided by Yahoo!, and like Google Tag Manager, it is available for free. You can centrally manage multiple tags by simply embedding common tags in your pages. The tag catalog is very complete, covering more than 200 tags from Japan and overseas.
In addition to the preview function, it also has a function that detects errors in real time, so you can quickly respond to errors that occur.
Reference: Yahoo! Marketing Solution “
Yahoo! Tag Manager
”
Advantages of using a tag manager
When you use a tag manager, you get the following three benefits: Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of each as a reference when considering implementation.
1. Tags can be managed all at once
2. You can manage the code without directly editing it.
3. Management can be shared within the organization
Tags can be managed all at once
By implementing a tag manager, you can manage multiple tags at once. In order to obtain data using tags such as measurement tools, you must install a dedicated tag on the page you want to measure. Since the data retrieved changes depending on the content of the page, the number of tags to be handled may increase, making management complicated.
By using a tag manager, you can set multiple tags on the tag manager, eliminating the need to set tags for each page. The advantage is that it becomes easier to understand where tags are installed on the site, and you can manage tags efficiently.
Can be managed without directly editing the code
Another benefit of using a tag manager is that you can manage your tags without editing any code. When using access analysis tools etc., various tags must be embedded in the HTML source code of the site.
Editing HTML requires knowledge and will take time. If there is no one on the team who can handle HTML, it will have to be outsourced to other departments or external companies, which may result in a time lag before it is reflected.
If you install Tag Manager, you can manage tags on the management screen. Since additions and changes can be made without HTML knowledge, there is no need to outsource work to outsiders, which will lead to reductions in work costs and outsourcing costs.
Management can be shared within the organization
Tag managers with version control capabilities have the benefit of sharing control within your organization. For example, Google Tag Manager, provided by Google, allows you to manage configuration changes in versions. Since it records when and who edited, it will be easier to share management among multiple people.
Tag types, purposes, and installation methods
So far, we have provided an overview of tags and explained that there are multiple types of tags. From here, we will explain the types of tags, their purposes, and simple installation methods.
tool control tag
A tool control tag is a tag that allows you to install a tool with a specific function on your website. For example, ”
heat map
tool” and “AB test tool” are typical examples of tool control tags.
By embedding these tool control tags, you can check where on the page users are leaving the page, and you can test what kind of wording can be improved to prevent them from leaving. For those who want to achieve results through
web marketing
, the key is how effectively to use this tool control tag.
Setting up a tool control tag is very easy; just issue the tag from the tool’s management screen and embed it on the specified page. The tag will be reflected in a few hours at the earliest.
conversion tag
A
tag is a tag that measures when a user takes an action that leads to a specific result, such as an inquiry or purchase. On almost all websites, when a user takes an action such as making an inquiry or making a purchase, a “Thanks Page” is displayed as the final screen. By placing a conversion tag on that thank you page, you can measure the number of conversions.
Setting up a conversion tag is also very easy; all you have to do is issue a tag using GTM (Google Tag Manager), etc., and embed that tag in the page you want to measure. Again, measurements can be started within a few hours.
HTML tag
HTML tags are literally tags made up of
HTML
. All web pages are made up of HTML tags, so a web page cannot be displayed without HTML tags.
There are multiple types of HTML tags, and we will discuss two examples here.
alt tag (alt attribute)
An alt tag (alt attribute) mainly refers to a tag placed on an image.
Search engines
, including Google, cannot clearly understand what an image is or what it represents. Therefore, alt tags are what search engines look at when determining the content of an image.
In other words, there is no problem as long as you describe the characteristics of the image in the alt tag. For example, if it is an image related to Mt. Fuji, it will be “alt = Mt. Fuji”. On the other hand, if there is nothing written in the alt tag, search engines will not be able to recognize what kind of image it is. Therefore, if you want to properly convey the content of the image to search engines, it is necessary to write a description.
meta tag (meta tag)
A meta tag is a tag for describing meta information (additional information). The meta tag is written at the top of the page, inside the head tag, which is not visible on the web page. Typical examples of meta tags include “description” that provides an overview of the page, “keywords” that specifies specific keywords, and “copyright” that represents author information.
Meta tags allow you to define information that cannot be defined using the alt tags mentioned above, so if you want to convey detailed information to search engines, you must write it.
Points to note when embedding tags
When embedding tags, keep the following three points in mind.
1. Embed the tag within the correct page
2. Place the tag in the appropriate place on the page
3. Prevent original data from being deleted
Embed the tag within the correct page
For the tag to work properly, it must be embedded within the correct page. For example, when measuring using a conversion tag, the tag must be placed on the page that is displayed when an application is completed or a contract is concluded.
If there is an error in the page you install, errors will occur in the measurement of conversion tags, and you will not be able to grasp the correct numbers. When installing tags, it is important to check the page for errors before embedding.
Place the tag in the appropriate place on the page
When embedding tags, you should also be careful about where you place them. The location where the tag is embedded is determined for each tag, and if it is not placed in the correct location, it may not work properly. Check the instructions for each tag and make sure to embed it in the appropriate place on the page.
Prevent original data from being deleted
When installing new tags, be careful not to erase the original data. If you make changes to the HTML that has already been written, the display of the site may break down in some cases. Even deleting one parenthesis can have an impact, so you should take measures such as making a backup before embedding the tag.
Multiple tags may be ordered in combination.
So far, we have explained the overview and types of tags. There are tags such as “alt tags” that issue a single command for a single image, but there are also tags that combine multiple tags and issue them as a single command.
- Line break between 〇〇～〇〇
- Display image after 〇〇
- The image description is displayed in blue.
For example, as shown above. You can also specify three command statements as one command statement and specify that they be executed in order from the top. The advantage of this method is that search engines don’t have to read the information each time, making it easier to understand the content and speeding up page display. Additionally, since it is a simple HTML file, it has the advantage of being easy to improve and modify.
Tag commands may not work
As explained in this article, the browser reads the HTML file and displays the page. Therefore, if the browser cannot read all HTML files, there may be cases where the specified command statement is not displayed.
For example, if you specify something like “Line break from 〇〇 to 〇〇, but the browser skips that command, naturally the line break will not occur.
In this way, there are many cases where instructions are not fully conveyed, so if there is a discrepancy between the instruction text and the page displayed, be sure to check each time to see if there is a problem.
To manage tags, it is necessary to use a “tag management tool”
As mentioned above, there are multiple types of tags, and the amount and content of HTML files vary depending on the web page. If you manage them individually, it will increase your work time and likely result in inefficiency.
Therefore, we recommend using a tag management tool to manage your tags. A typical management tool is “GTM”, which allows you to centrally manage conversion tags and other measurement tags, and is available for free.
To avoid having to manage each tag individually, which increases the effort and leads to trivial mistakes, use tag management tools as much as possible to improve efficiency.
How to use PDCA using tags
From here, I will explain how to perform PDCA using tags in three steps.
- Embed the tag on the page you want to measure
- Analyze access by setting a period
- Improve through AB testing
Let’s look at each step in turn.
Embed the tag on the page you want to measure
First, embed the tag on the page you want to measure. If you want to measure conversions, embed the tag in the thanks page, and if you want to measure access before the thank you page, embed the tag in that page.
Basically, it is easiest to improve the “click rate” or “number of page views” after measurement, so it is recommended to install it on the page before conversion.
Analyze access by setting a period
Once you have installed the tags, the next step is to set the period and actually analyze access. When deciding on the period to set, start with one week for listing ads, and one month if you are planning on organic search.
This is because listing ads can be improved so quickly that “today’s modifications will be reflected tomorrow”, but in the case of organic search, it takes time for improvements to be reflected. Once you have set a period, check the number of accesses and click rate before and after the period you set.
Improve through AB testing
Finally, check the numbers before and after the period and conduct AB tests to make improvements. For example, if you want to perform an A/B test on click-through rates, use different words around the button such as “free” or “completely free” and measure which one has a higher click-through rate.
If the measurement results show that “completely free” has a higher click rate, we will analyze why it is higher and use the PDCA cycle to see if we can try it on other pages. In this way, PDCA and AB testing using tags are steady work, but they are absolutely necessary steps to improve the effectiveness, so be sure to repeat each step carefully.
Summary: Use tags to measure correctly
We have explained the outline of tags, how to install them, and how to run the PDCA cycle. There are multiple types of tags, each with different uses and installation methods. If you want to improve effectiveness through tags, install conversion tags and measurement tags on appropriate pages, specify a period, and repeat AB tests.
First of all, in order to improve the effectiveness mentioned above, why not start by issuing tags using a tag management tool?