What is a tag in marketing?

Sometimes called a pixel, a tag is a snippet of code website owners can integrate into their websites to gather important marketing data. Instead of writing your own code in JavaScript, you can simply add tags to your website’s code to track all kinds of marketing data, such as conversions and optimization. Then, you access that information via your chosen analytics tool and use it however you like. Google Tag Manager There are three parts involved in how a tag works: Tag: First, you have the tag itself, which might be something like a custom HTML script or a heatmap tracking code. Trigger: Then, you have the trigger, which “fires” the tag and tells it what to do, such as tracking user scroll depth. Variable: Finally, you have the variable, which is any additional information required to ensure the tag is successful. Many marketing companies, including Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Twitter Marketing, offer tags for different purposes. If you need an advertising tag, you might turn to an option that allows you to see where most users click so you can position ads better on your website. The variety of tags available means you can implement several at once to develop your marketing strategy.

What is tag management?

Traditionally, web developers would create and manage tags for a website, given that so many tags can work simultaneously. Through a tag management system (TMS), you can do that job independently — no coding skills or knowledge are typically required, and the whole process is much less time-consuming. In a TMS, you use a single master tag — called a universal container tag (UCT) — that controls all the tags you have in your website’s code. After you implement the UCT in your website’s code, you can access the TMS when you want to make adjustments. Opting for a TMS is a must for all kinds of businesses, especially ones that employ multiple marketing tactics. A TMS can provide ease of management, making collecting data much more efficient.

What is Google Tag Manager?

Now that you know all about tag management, let’s cover what Google Tag Manager (GTM) is and how it fits into the world of tags. GTM is a free TMS. It’s one of the most popular TMS options on the market, mainly because people are already widely familiar with Google’s marketing tools. GTM offers many comprehensive features and capabilities you can use to make the most of tags on your website. Note that GTM, like most other tag managers, requires a bit of experience before use. While it’s a helpful tool for anyone who isn’t well-versed in coding, you — or the person managing it for your business — must understand some basic coding concepts. This way, you can implement the code correctly without fearing GTM will break your website. Further, you should consider a few other key points before getting started. While we’ll highlight some basic information about GTM below, be sure to take the time to train yourself and your marketing team on the platform’s ins and outs so you have a complete picture of how it works. Google offers a Fundamentals course on GTM to help you get started. With a bit of time and effort, you’ll get over that initial hurdle and be able to enjoy all GTM has to offer.

What does Google Tag Manager track?

Once you get GTM’s UTC installed on your website, you can track all kinds of data. This TMS works in tandem with Google Analytics, where you can view the information GTM collects on your website, including conversion and engagement reports. In GTM, you can completely customize your settings so you only send the data you need to Google Analytics. Here are a few examples of what you can track through GTM: Events: GTM can track various events on your website, such as when someone downloads a PDF, clicks on a link, or adds a product to their cart. As a result, you can determine points like what files are the most popular downloads or which products people add to their carts most often. Scrolling: Understanding how many people visit your website is one thing. Do you truly know how they use it? GTM can monitor scrolling activity to show you how much time users spend on different pages and which parts of your website cause people to stop scrolling. Form submissions: If you use forms on your website to gather information, GTM can tell you more about the tools you use to obtain simple contact details or sign users up for a newsletter. For example, you can see how a form contributes to a marketing campaign’s return on investment based on submission count. As you implement GTM and learn more about how it works for your website, you can have it monitor various data types to inform your marketing strategies.

What Is a PPC Ad?

PPC ads offer paid visibility by targeting audiences who click on ads. Benefits include analytics, cost-effectiveness, and quick launch. Suited for businesses with high online search demand, conversions, and profit margins. Popular platforms are Google, Facebook, and Microsoft Ads.

Written by WebFX

Last Updated February 26, 2025

PPC Ad

PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a form of digital advertising in which advertisers pay for each click on the ads they choose to run.

Written by WebFX

Last Updated February 26, 2025

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PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a form of digital advertising in which advertisers pay for each click on the ads they choose to run. In return, their ads are guaranteed exposure to users in their target audience. Various factors can influence the success of these ad campaigns, and many platforms offer them as part of their marketing suite, or like us, they provide professional PPC management.

Read on to find out more about what PPC ads are about, their benefits, and how they work.

Why is PPC Useful?

PPC ad campaigns are a potent marketing tool in the right hands. They get immediate results because the platform you run them on will ensure users see them. However, it depends on how well you’ve structured your ad to cater to your target audience, which will determine whether they click on it.

The following are some other benefits you gain from running a PPC marketing campaign:

Excellent analytics: You are using a paid service that will provide access to analytics that measure your ad’s success in real-time. These analytics allow you to measure and adjust parameters like cost, content, and audience on the fly to suit what is working for you.
Cost-effectiveness: An attractive benefit of PPC ads is that you will only pay if someone clicks on the ad and lands on your website, meaning you waste none of your budget.
Staying competitive: Paying for clicks is a great way to compete with more prominent brands with a more significant Internet presence. A PPC campaign is a superb option for startups or small businesses.
Quick launch time: Any platform you choose to run your ad on will make creating and launching your ad extremely smooth. There are no lengthy discussions or contracts. You just enter the information and launch. The most timely part of the process is preparing the ad content.
Audience reach: The analytic tools you have at your disposal let you target your audience in various ways. You can target user characteristics like age, country, hobbies, etc.

Who Should Use PPC Ads?

PPC ads will work for everyone, but some may benefit more than others. Before you decide whether a PPC ad campaign is a good idea for your business, you must ask yourself a few key questions.

1. Is your audience likely to search for your product or service online?

You must consider who you serve and whether they use search engines to find your offering. For example, if your target audience is 65 or older, they are less likely to use the Internet to find what they want. Instead, they’d likely go to a brick-and-mortar store to browse, so you should consider this when looking at PPC advertising.

2. Does your website already drive conversions?

A PPC ad will drive traffic to your website, but it won’t convert people once they are there. That’s up to you. So, before considering this form of advertising, you need to see how good your conversions are. If they aren’t at the level you’d prefer, it’s best to focus on other Internet marketing methods, such as a good user experience and concise copy that appeals to your audience. These methods will help conversions and improve your on-page search engine optimization (SEO) to help your organic rankings.

3. Do you have many repeat customers?

If you have a solid repeat customer base loyal to your brand, a PPC ad campaign is an exceptional way to attract new clients who will convert into repeat customers.

4. Can you afford it?

While PPC ads can yield fast results, optimizing for the best results often requires trial and error. You will need space in your budget to try different keywords, targeting strategies, and ad variations to gain an understanding of your targeted audience and what works best with them.

5. What are your profit margins?

Measuring your margins against what you spend on your PPC ads is an essential factor. If you have high-profit margins, every converting customer who finds your site because of the ads will justify the money you spend on that click and ensure your profitability.

PPC or SEO?

These two methods are two sides of the same search engine marketing (SEM) coin. They work best when you put effort into both.

SEO is a vital component of any online marketing strategy. It makes your website attractive to search engines through a few of the following features:

Natural, relevant keywords.
Intuitive site navigation
Inbound links from authoritative sources
Constantly updated and helpful content
Technically sound web design

There is more that goes into SEO, but these points are an excellent place to start.

SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that is great for organically getting people to your site and keeping them there. PPC is more direct in that it will rocket you to the top of search results, and its sole purpose is to drive people to your website.

If you are launching a focused campaign to capture interest for specific keywords or enhance brand awareness in a new place, or you are releasing a new high-profit item that you want to drive interest in quickly, using PPC for these is a great way to spend your advertising budget.

What PPC platforms are there?

There are many PPC ad platforms out there you can use. Let’s look at a few of the most popular ones:

Google Ads: The best place to start would be Google. As the most popular search engine in the world, it has millions of searches every hour, and a dedicated ad platform you can use.
Facebook Ads: As the world’s biggest social network, Facebook has a long reach, and you can get granular with your audiences, targeting demographics, user behavior, and other factors.
Microsoft Ads: The Microsoft search network functions similarly to Google. If you win, you bid on keywords at an auction, and Microsoft displays your ad. There is a smaller audience than Google, but this means you have a better chance of getting the keyword you desire.

Launch your own PPC campaign with SEO.com today

If you think your business needs a PPC ad campaign, contact us. Our award-winning PPC and SEO experts will guide you through the process from start to finish and drive excellent results.