GTM - Our approach to Google Tag Manager setup review

Created by Todd Belcher, Modified on Tue, 10 Sep at 5:30 PM by Todd Belcher

We use this table as a comprehensive checklist for auditing a Google Tag Manager setup, whether we just set it up, or we were brought in to perform maintenance.

Click here to access the full "GTM Setup Review" Google Sheet to help with your next audit.

In addition, the download contains a milestone tracker and contacts sheet to keep track of who's doing what.

#	Area	Consideration
1	Account & Container Structure	Logical structure and manageability
2	Account & Container Structure	Appropriate separation for different environments (dev, staging, production)
3	Account & Container Structure	Naming conventions for consistent structure
4	Account & Container Structure	Use of folders for organizing tags, triggers, and variables
5	Additional Considerations	Check effects on page load performance
6	Additional Considerations	Methods of reporting on issues / errors
7	Additional Considerations	Documentation for future reference and maintenance
8	Consent Management	Check for integration with a consent management platform for data privacy compliance, at a minimum recommended practices of opt-out ability and data access requests
9	Consent Management	Consent mode configuration to respect user preferences
10	Consent Management	Check consent flows for proper tag behavior
11	Container Snippet	Check installation on all website pages, especially landing pages and subdomains or web apps
12	Container Snippet	Asynchronous loading for optimized performance
13	Container Snippet	Validation to ensure no duplicate container snippets
14	Cross-Domain Tracking	Check setup if the website spans multiple domains
15	Cross-Domain Tracking	Check use of linker parameters
16	Cross-Domain Tracking	Test cross-domain tracking functionality
17	Data Layer	Check implementation on relevant pages
18	Data Layer	Data layer events pushed for important interactions
19	Data Layer	Consistent and understandable structure
20	Data Layer	Validation to ensure correct data
21	Data Layer	No conflicting or redundant data layer pushes
22	Marketing Integrations	Integration with external platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook)
23	Marketing Integrations	Ongoing monitoring and alerting for tag health and data flow
24	Server-Side Tagging	Proper setup and connection of server-side container
25	Server-Side Tagging	Correct configuration of server-side tags
26	Server-Side Tagging	Robust client-side to server-side communication
27	Server-Side Tagging	Leveraging for privacy compliance and performance optimization
28	Tags	Correct tag types for tracking purposes
29	Tags	Proper configuration with tracking IDs, conversion values, etc.
30	Tags	Firing on the correct triggers
31	Tags	No duplicate or unused tags
32	Tags	Correct tag firing priority and sequencing
33	Tags	Minimal impact on page load performance
34	Triggers	Correct trigger types for desired actions
35	Triggers	Correct trigger conditions
36	Triggers	Appropriate use of trigger exceptions
37	Triggers	No duplicate or unused triggers
38	User Permissions	Check permissions for data integrity and security
39	Variables	Appropriate use of built-in variables
40	Variables	Check configuration of custom variables
41	Variables	Effective use of data layer variables
42	Variables	No duplicate or unused variables
43	Version Control	Version testing before publishing new versions
44	Version Control	Clear version descriptions
45	Workspaces	Effective use for managing concurrent development and testing
46	Workspaces	Review and cleanup of unused workspaces