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How to set up user onboarding via Google Tag Manager without a developer

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A complete first-session flow via Google Tag Manager — welcome, guided first action, getting-started list — built from three Clew items that follow the user through the app instead of one long tour on page load.

Time
● 40 minutes
Price
Tours free · rest 14-day trial
Who does it
Anyone who can publish in GTM

Example: user onboarding via Google Tag Manager

A project-management SaaS without developer time for onboarding. Through GTM: a welcome modal on /app (“Create your first project in 2 minutes”), a tour on /app/projects, and a setup checklist on the second visit.

The product tour part is free on the Free plan (up to 3 published). The Modal, Checklist and audience rules are part of Pro: every new account gets a 14-day trial with everything included, no card. When the trial ends nothing is deleted and published items keep showing.

How to set up user onboarding via Google Tag Manager, step by step

  1. Step 01

    Copy your Clew snippet

    Create a free account (or sign in), add your site and open Admin → Overview. Click the line in the “No signal from the widget yet.” card to copy it — it carries your real site key instead of the placeholder.

    <!-- Clew: replace PASTE_YOUR_SITE_KEY with the site key from Admin > Overview -->
<script src="https://tryclew.io/widget/PASTE_YOUR_SITE_KEY.js" async></script>
    Clew admin Overview with the embed line and a masked site key (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 1 · schematic illustration
  2. Step 02

    Create a Custom HTML tag in GTM

    In tagmanager.google.com open your container, Tags → New → Tag Configuration → Custom HTML, and paste the Clew line. Name the tag Clew widget.

    Google Tag Manager Custom HTML tag with the Clew script pasted (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 2 · schematic illustration
  3. Step 03

    Fire it on All Pages

    In Triggering choose All Pages and save. Load it everywhere: which page shows the user onboarding is decided in Clew, not in GTM.

    GTM trigger list with All Pages selected (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 3 · schematic illustration
  4. Step 04

    Preview, then Submit and Publish

    Check in Preview that Clew widget is under Tags Fired, then Submit → Publish. Nothing reaches the live site before you publish.

    GTM Submit Changes dialog with the Publish button (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 4 · schematic illustration
  5. Step 05

    Create the three onboarding items

    In Clew create three items in Flows: a Modal window with one welcome sentence and a link to the key screen; a Step-by-step tooltips tour of 3–4 steps on that screen, built with Edit on your site and Pick element; and a Onboarding checklist with the remaining setup tasks.

    A welcome popup, a tour tooltip and a checklist panel shown as three stages of user onboarding (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 5 · schematic illustration
  6. Step 06

    Choose where, when and for whom it shows

    In the same editor, set Where to show (page URL), When to show, Audience targeting and Frequency. These are the settings of the example above:

    SettingValue
    Welcome popup
    FormatModal window
    Where to show (page URL)Exact path /app
    When to showRight on page load
    Audience targetingNo rules — everyone who opens the page
    FrequencyOnce per visitor
    Product tour
    FormatStep-by-step tooltips
    Where to show (page URL)Section by prefix /app/projects
    When to showRight on page load
    Audience targetingNo rules — everyone who opens the page
    FrequencyOnce per visitor
    Checklist
    FormatOnboarding checklist
    Where to show (page URL)Section by prefix /app
    When to showOn the Nth visit: 2
    Audience targetingNo rules — everyone who opens the page
    FrequencyOnce per visitor
    Clew tour editor with the format, page URL rule, trigger and audience rule fields (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 6 · schematic illustration
  7. Step 07

    Publish and check it on the live site

    Set Status to Published and save. Open the page in a private window — Clew remembers who has already seen a “once” item, so your usual browser may skip it. Views, completions and drop-offs appear in the tour stats.

    Clew admin Overview with the green “Widget is live” card (user onboarding via Google Tag Manager)
    Step 7 · schematic illustration

Pitfalls: user onboarding via Google Tag Manager

Don’t use a History Change trigger

The widget follows single-page navigation on its own. A second trigger on History Change only loads the script again for nothing.

Pass user properties with a second tag

If your data layer has values like plan, create a Data Layer Variable and a second Custom HTML tag that calls Clew.identify() with it (see the example). Fire it on the event that carries the value, after the Clew tag.

Without user data, target by pages and visits

A tag manager install knows nothing about accounts. Use URLs that only new users reach (the first-run screen, ?welcome=1 after sign-up with URL contains) and On the Nth visit for the checklist.

Don’t start everything on one page

If the popup, the tour and the checklist all match the same URL, only one starts and the others wait. Give each item its own page or trigger, as in the table above.

Questions and answers

How do I keep old users out of the welcome?

Pass a sign-up date or onboarded from the data layer and add a rule, or use a first-run URL only new accounts get.

Does GTM slow the user onboarding down?

The widget loads a moment after the container. Only an item with Right on page load on the very first page view might appear a fraction of a second later than with a direct install.

Which parts are free?

Tours are free on the Free plan. The welcome popup, the checklist and audience rules are in Pro; the 14-day trial includes them all, no card.

How long does it take?

About forty minutes for a first version: ten for the popup, twenty for the tour, ten for the checklist. Then improve by the funnel.

What else you can add via Google Tag Manager

User onboarding on other platforms

How to set up user onboarding without a developerGoogle Tag Manager: install guideOnboarding without developersOnboarding checklist with examplesOnboarding by type of SaaSFree product toolsPricing

One line on your site — then tours, tooltips and checklists without releases.

Get your site key — freeHow Clew worksFree plan forever, no credit card

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