Free course
Tracking Foundations
Google Tag Manager and GA4 from zero to a setup you can prove is working.
- 12 lessons · ~106 min reading
- 3 quizzes
- Sandbox exercises
- Certificate
Every lesson verified against the live GTM/GA4 interface · latest 2026-09-27
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Module 1
How tracking actually works
What a tag is, what fires it, where the data goes, and why none of it tells you when it breaks.
- 1What a tag is, and why it breaks silentlyThe one mental model that explains every tracking bug you will ever debug.7 min
- 2Tags, triggers, and variablesGTM's three primitives, what each one is for, and the rule that keeps a container from becoming a swamp.9 min
- 3The dataLayerThe contract between your website and your tags — and the reason most "GTM problems" are actually website problems.9 min
- 4GA4's model — events, parameters, and the hits you can seeHow GA4 thinks about data, and how to read a raw hit in the network tab so you never have to guess again.8 min
- ?Module 1 quiz5 questions
Module 2
Set up GTM and GA4 correctly
One container, installed once. One Google tag, many events. And proof — not hope — that each one fired exactly once.
- 1Install the container — onceCreate the GTM container, put the snippet in the right place, and prove it loads exactly one time.8 min
- 2The Google tag and GA4 configurationOne Google tag, one measurement ID, settings that live in one place — and how to send your first event through it.8 min
- 3Your first click event, three waysBuilt-in click trigger, CSS selector, dataLayer push — and why you should reach for them in that order reversed.10 min
- 4Preview mode and the network tabThe two views that together answer "did it fire, with what, and did it arrive" — and the habit of checking all three before you publish.9 min
- ?Module 2 quiz5 questions
Module 3
Ecommerce, consent, and the parts that break
The items[] array, Consent Mode v2, a container someone else can maintain, and the ten silent failures worth checking every week.
- 1Ecommerce events, start to finishview_item to purchase with the items[] array done right, the refresh guard, and where revenue quietly goes wrong.10 min
- 2Consent Mode v2, in one lessonDefaults, updates, the four storage types, what the CMP actually does, and how to read gcs on a hit to know if any of it is working.10 min
- 3A container someone else can maintainNaming, constants, folders, versions, workspaces, and the export — the hygiene that decides whether a container gets fixed or abandoned.8 min
- 4Ten silent failures, and how to catch each oneThe recurring ways a working setup turns into bad data without an error — with the specific check for each.10 min
- ?Module 3 quiz5 questions