GA4 + GTM

Setup Checklist

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The Complete GA4 + GTM Setup Checklist for Accurate Conversion Tracking

Clean tracking isn’t “nice to have.” It’s the difference between scaling what works vs. guessing. This checklist walks you through a solid GA4 + Google Tag Manager (GTM) setup: property, container, key events, conversions and testing—so your reporting is trustworthy.

What you’ll get right with this checklist:

GA4 is installed correctly (no duplicates, no missing pages)
Events are consistent and measurable
Key events + conversions are properly defined
Ads platforms receive the right conversions
You can verify everything without “hoping it’s tracking”

Before you start (5-minute prep):

Admin access to: GA4, GTM and your website (or dev) ✅
A clear list of business goals (what counts as success) ✅
Your “must-track” actions (start with 5–10 max) ✅

Recommended first set of actions:

Lead gen: generate_lead, form_submit, phone_click, whatsapp_click
Ecom: view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase
SaaS: sign_up, trial_start, subscribe

Step by step Approach:

Step 1: GA4 property setup (Admin basics):

In GA4 → Admin:

Create / verify property → correct name, timezone, currency → editor access
Create Web Data Stream → correct URL → Enhanced Measurement ON (start)
Traffic filters → define internal/dev traffic → don’t over-filter early

Step 2: Install GTM correctly:

No duplication

Step 3: Add GA4 via GTM (clean baseline):

In GTM → Tags:

GA4 Config tag → add Measurement ID → Trigger: All Pages → page_view ON
Naming hygiene → GA4 - Config - All Pages → clean triggers/variables
Publish with notes → version name + what changed (future debugging easy)

Define your event plan (don’t track everything):

Before building events:

Event naming rules → lowercase + underscores → one naming standard
Pick 5–10 events max → only what you’ll use in decisions
Starter set → generate_lead / purchase / begin_checkout / whatsapp_click / phone_click

Step 5: Key events + conversions (real business signals):

In GTM → Tags:

Click tracking → tel: / mailto: / WhatsApp → send clean events
Form tracking (best) → thank-you page OR dataLayer event → avoid false fires
In GA4 → Events: Mark Key Events → keep it tight → don’t mark micro-events as conversions

Step 6: Testing + QA:

Trust the data

GTM Preview → confirm events fire once → correct pages only
GA4 DebugView → validate events + parameters live
Realtime sanity check → page_view + key events visible
Final audit → duplicates / missing pages / wrong conversion triggers

Common mistakes that break attribution:

GA4 installed twice (hardcoded + GTM)
Conversions firing on button click instead of actual submit
No separation between “lead started” and “lead submitted”
Changing event names every week
Marking 20 events as key events (everything looks like a conversion)

Conclusion:

That’s it—if you follow this checklist, you’ll go from “I think tracking is working” to actually knowing it is. GA4 + GTM doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be clean: one setup, clear event names, a small set of key events that matter and proper testing before you trust the numbers.

Once this foundation is in place, every report becomes more useful, every experiment becomes easier to measure and your ad optimizations stop being guesswork. Clean tracking won’t magically increase revenue—but it will make sure your next decisions are based on reality, not assumptions.

GA4 + GTM

Setup Checklist

The Complete GA4 + GTM Setup Checklist for Accurate Conversion Tracking

What you’ll get right with this checklist:

Before you start (5-minute prep):

Recommended first set of actions:

Step by step Approach:

Step 1: GA4 property setup (Admin basics):

In GA4 → Admin:

Step 2: Install GTM correctly:

No duplication

Step 3: Add GA4 via GTM (clean baseline):

In GTM → Tags:

Define your event plan (don’t track everything):

Before building events:

Step 5: Key events + conversions (real business signals):

In GTM → Tags:

Step 6: Testing + QA:

Trust the data

Common mistakes that break attribution:

Conclusion:

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