Markitech / Server-Side Tracking / Server-Side GTM Setup
Server-side GTM setup, step by step
Move your tags off the browser and onto a first-party server container, without breaking the tracking you already have.
Updated November 4, 2026 · Markitech team
A server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) container receives events from your website once and forwards them to each destination from a server you control. Because it runs on a subdomain of your own site, requests are first-party, payloads can be cleaned before they leave, and pages carry fewer third-party scripts.
The hard part is not creating the container. It is mapping every existing browser tag to a server equivalent, keeping event names and parameters consistent, and proving nothing was lost in the switch. That is the work Markitech plans and checks for you.
How to do it
- Inventory current web tags, triggers and destinations in your GTM web container.
- Create the server container and host it in your cloud account, mapped to a first-party subdomain such as tag.yourdomain.com.
- Point the GA4 configuration in the web container at the server URL so events flow through sGTM.
- Recreate destination tags server-side: GA4, Google Ads conversions, Meta CAPI, LinkedIn and TikTok.
- Add event_id and consent signals so platforms can deduplicate and respect consent.
- Run browser and server tags in parallel, compare counts, then retire the browser versions.
Common mistakes
- Pointing a third-party sGTM domain at your site instead of a true first-party subdomain.
- Dropping parameters such as value, currency or transaction_id in the server mapping.
- Sending server and browser events without a shared event_id, which double counts conversions.
- Turning off browser tags before comparing counts side by side.
Ask Markitech
Related questions
- Does Markitech support server-side tagging?
- Does Markitech work with the Meta Conversions API?
- Does Markitech support Consent Mode v2?
Key terms
Approved by you, every time
Markitech proposes each change in chat and holds it until you approve. Nothing is published, created or changed in your accounts without that approval.
Part of the Server-Side Tracking guide.
Server-Side GTM Setup questions
Do I still need the web container?
Yes. The web container collects events in the browser and sends them to the server container, which forwards them to each platform.
How long does a migration take?
A focused setup for GA4, Google Ads and Meta usually takes days, not weeks. Most of the time goes into parallel testing before the cutover.