Lesson 5 of 5
Verify, Then Keep It Clean
After cutover, prove the numbers held, then put guardrails up so the container doesn't rot back into the mess you just escaped.
Verify the cutover
- Confirm no hard-coded tag still fires (DevTools Network on the live site, not Preview).
- Check realtime/DebugView: events still arriving, at roughly the same volume.
- Watch the next day's totals for a step-change up (double-count) or down (data loss).
- Verify ad-platform conversions specifically, they're the costliest to get wrong.
Keep it governed
Conventions
- Consistent tag/trigger naming.
- Folders by platform or purpose.
- A note on each version describing the change.
Process
- Workspaces for parallel work.
- Publish from versions, never silent edits.
- Periodic audit to prune dead tags.
See the Container governance concept course for the full set of habits.
Key takeaway
Prove the live site fires only GTM tags and the totals held, then enforce naming, folders and versioned publishing so the container stays clean.