Google Basics/ What's a Tag?

A Google tag is a small piece of code added to a website that allows Google to collect information about what visitors do on the site.

Think of it as the website's measurement device.

The tag is installed in the website's code—typically across every page of the site. Once it's there, it can send information from the website to tools such as Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads.

For example, when someone visits an apartment community website, the tag can help record things such as:

Page viewed → Floor plan viewed → Schedule Tour clicked → Application clicked

But there's an important distinction:

The tag collects and sends information. The events tell it what behaviors you want to measure.

So simply hearing, “Yes, we have a Google tag installed,” doesn't mean your analytics are properly configured.

You can have a perfectly functioning tag and still have terrible marketing data if the important actions aren't being captured as events—or if the wrong events have been designated as key events.

In very simple terms:

Google tag = the connectionEvents = the actions being recordedKey events = the actions you've decided are especially importantGA4 = where you analyze that information

For multifamily, that's why I wouldn't be satisfied knowing that a tag exists. I'd want to know:

What is the tag actually sending to GA4, which events are configured, which are designated as key events, and do those events reflect the leasing journey?

That's the difference between having Google Analytics and actually using Google Analytics to make marketing decisions.