Follow this GTM checklist to prepare, build, test, and publish your tags correctly. Includes GA4 Realtime verification and step-by-step setup guidance.
From planning to publishing-this checklist walks you through every step to create, test, and verify GTM tags before they go live. Download your free copy.
A step-by-step implementation checklist for a new Google Tag Manager setup - from creating the container and installing the code snippet, through configuring GA4, setting up conversion events, and testing before publishing. Follow this in order for a clean, correctly configured setup.
Installing the code snippet in the wrong position: GTM's container snippet has two parts - a <script> that goes in the <head> and a <noscript> that goes immediately after the opening <body> tag. Many CMS plugins only install the head snippet. The noscript part matters for users with JavaScript disabled and is part of Google's official installation requirements. Publishing without testing: use GTM's Preview mode to verify every tag fires correctly on the right triggers before publishing. A broken tag in production can corrupt data for weeks before anyone notices.
In Preview mode, interact with the page the way a real user would: load the homepage, click a CTA, fill in and submit a form, click a phone number, scroll to the bottom of a long page. Check the GTM debug panel after each interaction - every event should show the correct tags firing on the correct triggers. If a tag didn't fire, the trigger is wrong. If a tag fired twice, there's a duplicate.