How to Create New Triggers in Google Tag Manager

Step 1: Log into Google Tag Manager

1. Go to https://tagmanager.google.com
2. Select your GTM Account and Container

Step 2: Go to the Triggers Section

1. In the left sidebar, click on “Triggers”
2. Click the blue “New” button (top-right corner)

Step 3: Name Your Trigger

1. At the top-left of the screen, click “Untitled Trigger”
2. Give your trigger a clear name

• Example: Click – Sign Up Button or Page View – Thank You Page

Step 4: Choose Trigger Type

1. Click on the “Trigger Configuration” box
2. Choose the type of trigger depending on your goal:

Trigger Type	When It Fires
Page View	When a page loads (can be all pages or specific ones)
– Page View: All Pages	Fires on every page load
– Page View: DOM Ready	When the browser finishes building the HTML DOM (before full page load)
– Page View: Window Loaded	When the entire page (including images, stylesheets) is fully loaded
Click – All Elements	When any element on the page is clicked (buttons, images, divs, etc.)
Click – Just Links	When a link (<a> tag) is clicked
Form Submission	When a form is submitted successfully
Scroll Depth	When a user scrolls past a defined percentage of the page (e.g., 25%, 50%, etc.)
Timer	Fires after a specific time interval (e.g., 15 seconds)
Element Visibility	When a specific element becomes visible in the user’s viewport
YouTube Video	When a user interacts with a YouTube video (e.g., play, pause, complete)
History Change	When the page’s URL changes without a full reload (e.g., single-page apps)
JavaScript Error	When a JavaScript error occurs on your website
Custom Event	When a developer manually pushes an event into the GTM data layer

Notes:

• Some triggers like Element Visibility, YouTube Video, and JavaScript Error are often underused but very powerful.
• Custom Event triggers require developers to push events using dataLayer.push({ event: ‘eventName’ }).
• History Change is essential for tracking page views in single-page applications (SPA).

Step 5: Configure Trigger Conditions

After selecting a trigger type, you’ll set conditions to control when it fires.

Example 1: Click Trigger

• Type: Click – Just Links
• Choose: Some Link Clicks
• Condition:
  • Click Text equals Sign Up
  • or Click ID equals signup-button

Example 2: Page View Trigger

• Type: Page View
• Choose: Some Page Views
• Condition:
  • Page Path contains /thank-you
    → Only fires on thank-you pages

Step 6: Save the Trigger

1. After setting up your condition(s), click “Save”
2. Your new trigger will appear in the Triggers list and will be available to use in any Tag

Step 7: Use the Trigger with a Tag

1. Go to Tags → Create or Edit a tag
2. In the Triggering section, click Add Trigger
3. Select the trigger you just created
4. Save the tag

Step 8: Test Your Trigger

Always test your trigger before publishing:

1. In GTM, click Preview
2. Enter your website URL and click Connect
3. Perform the action on your site (click a button, submit a form, etc.)
4. Check the Preview debug panel to see if the trigger fired

You’re Done!

You’ve successfully created and applied a new trigger in GTM. Now your tag knows when to fire and can start tracking user actions on your site.