Google Consent Mode v2 Checklist For Small Websites

Use this checklist before you launch or relaunch a cookie banner. It focuses on the practical parts: what visitors see, what Google tags receive, and what you can verify afterwards.

1. Your banner has real choices

The visitor should be able to accept, reject, and adjust preferences. A banner that only says "we use cookies" is not enough for a proper Consent Mode setup.

2. Consent defaults are set before tracking

Before the visitor chooses, your setup should send a default consent state. For many European websites, optional analytics and advertising storage start as denied. The important point is timing: the default must be present before normal tags run.

3. The banner sends updates after a choice

When the visitor accepts, rejects, or saves a custom choice, GTM needs to receive an updated state. That update is what lets Google tags know what they can and cannot use for this visitor.

4. Google tags are checked

Review GA4, Google Ads, Conversion Linker, and other tags in your container. Make sure they are not firing old tracking behavior that ignores consent. If you have non-Google tags, check whether they need separate blocking rules.

5. Cookie categories are based on evidence

Do not guess your cookie list. Scan the site, check common pages, and look for cookies, browser storage, tracking URLs, and third-party hosts. Then review the purpose and category before publishing.

6. You can prove what happened

A good setup should keep a record of choices: timestamp, consent ID, category state, and config version. This gives you a practical audit trail if you need to explain how the banner was configured at a specific time.

Use CleanCMP for the checklist

CleanCMP combines the banner, scanner, Consent Mode v2 mapping, GTM install path, proof records, and reporting so you can move through this checklist in one place.

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