Install Google Tag Manager Container

Task Library

Install one Google Tag Manager container on every page of the site so all future tracking (GA4, Meta pixel, call events) deploys without editing code.

Category: Digital Plumbing

Use this when tracking tags are hard-coded into the theme, scattered across plugins, or missing entirely – GTM becomes the single tap point for all measurement.

Inputs

  • Google account owned by the business (GTM container must live in the client's account, with agency added as a user)
  • WordPress admin access (theme header editing or a header/footer plugin)
  • Google Tag Assistant for verification

Steps

  1. In the business owner's Google account, create a GTM account (company name) and one Web container named for the domain. One site, one container – never share containers across sites.
  2. Copy the two install snippets GTM provides: the script for the head and the noscript for the opening of the body.
  3. Install both snippets on every page – via the theme's header template or a header/footer plugin, so all templates (pages, posts, archives) carry it.
  4. Publish the container. An unpublished container shows installed but fires nothing – this is the most common silent failure.
  5. Verify with Tag Assistant: load the homepage, a service page, a blog post, and the contact/thank-you page; the container ID must appear and fire on each.
  6. Migrate existing hard-coded tags (GA4, Meta pixel) into GTM as tags, then remove the hard-coded copies to prevent double-firing.
  7. Add the agency/operator as a container User (the owner stays Admin). Record the container ID (GTM-XXXXXXX) in the client record.

Definition of done (QA checklist)

  • GTM container ID present and fires on every page in Tag Assistant (home, service, post, thank-you tested)
  • Container is published – current live version, not just preview
  • No duplicate/hard-coded tags left outside GTM (no double-firing in Tag Assistant)
  • Container lives in the client's Google account; container ID documented
  • Linked back to the definitive article and relevant siblings
  • Complies with Blog Posting Guidelines (if it publishes content)

Example(s)

  • Example needed – run the Meta-Article Prompt after first real run.

File in the zip: skills/digital-plumbing/install-google-tag-manager-container.md. Download the Task Library zip.

Index: Task Library. Article guidelines.

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