We Rebuilt a Publisher’s GTM Setup from Scratch — Here’s What We Found

2025-07-12Monchee Team3 min read#gtm#google tag manager#website performance#frontend#adops
GTM Cleanup by Monchee

A real GTM audit in action — Monchee Team

We Rebuilt a Publisher’s GTM Setup from Scratch — Here’s What We Found

One of our clients said their site was slow and tracking was messy.
We checked their Google Tag Manager (GTM) — it was chaos.

Here’s what we found, how we fixed it, and tips you can use on your own site.

1.

What Was Broken?

  • 100+ tags, including paused ones and duplicates
  • Old UA + new GA4 + Meta Pixel all firing
  • Tags running on 404 pages and login pages
  • No naming rules, folders, or clear ownership
  • Result: Page load was 400ms slower on mobile

GTM can silently slow down your site if you don’t audit it regularly.

2.

Step 1 — Map What’s Happening

We started with Preview Mode + Tag Assistant.
Then made a spreadsheet of:

  • Name
  • Tag type (GA4, HTML, Meta, etc.)
  • Trigger(s)
  • Pages it fires on
  • Status (active, paused, unknown)

💡 window.dataLayer helped us match GTM events with what was actually happening.

Use folders in GTM to group tags by purpose (Analytics, Ads, UX).

3.

Step 2 — Clean the Mess

We followed 3 cleanup rules:

  • ✅ Clear, readable tag names like click__signup_button
  • ✅ One tag = one purpose (no overlapping)
  • ✅ Deleted anything not owned, used, or documented

Folder Structure:

  • Analytics
  • Ad Tracking
  • Custom UX Events
GTM Folder Structure Screenshot

We reduced tag count by 47% — and improved mobile load speed by 200ms.

4.

Step 3 — Speed Things Up

Here’s what was slowing down the site:

  • Third-party scripts blocking load
  • Tags firing on every page
  • No async or delay rules

What we fixed:

  • Added async to all script tags
  • Used delay triggers for low-priority tags
  • Blocked tags on private or sensitive pages
  • Limited firing to where needed

Avoid "All Pages" triggers unless absolutely necessary.

5.

Step 4 — Make It Maintainable

Fixing is good. Preventing mess is better.

What we added:

  • ✅ README inside GTM container
  • ✅ Version changelog via Google Sheets
  • ✅ Slack webhook for new publishes
  • ✅ Notion-based tag list and ownership chart

📎 Download the GTM Cleanup Template

✅ TL;DR: GTM Cleanup Checklist

    • Map all tags and triggers
    • Remove unused or unknown tags
    • Group tags using folders
    • Add delay or async where possible
    • Avoid firing on every page
    • Write clear tag names
    • Add README and change log

💬 What We Learned

  • GTM is powerful, but fragile
  • Over time, every container gets messy
  • Clean naming, folders, and documentation saves hours later

At Monchee, we help teams untangle tools like GTM and speed up real websites.

→ Contact us