How to Implement Hotjar in Google Analytics?

Data playing God these days, especially in the virtual space, a collection of data, for various reasons, has become a vital need for planning and strategizing. Every business is customer-dependent; therefore, understanding customer behavior is of the essence.

Moreover, businesses owning websites need their web traffic to generate business. Moreover, with Ecommerce flourishing simultaneously globally, the need to understand customer behavior and browsing pattern has now become all the more critical, especially from a sales planning point of view.

Hence businesses needed a tool that could help them gauge their customers. Hotjar filled in this gap.

What is Hotjar?

Hotjar is an authoritative tool that tracks visitor behavior coming onto the website. It provides a detailed overview of what it tracks through its analysis and feedback tools.

Hotjar's analysis is done via its tools: heatmaps, visitor recordings, conversion funnels and form analytics. The feedback tools from Hotjar are Polls, incoming feedback, surveys and recruit user testers.

Hotjar, as a tracking tool, is capable of working on its own. However, it is best combined and integrated with GTM to effectively understand what we look for.

To simplify this, Hotjar understands customer behavior, whereas GTM collects data on visitors coming onto a page. So while Hotjar draws an analyzed pattern of customer behavior and can help make recommendations on improving traffic health, GTM will provide the numbers for data like page visits, bounce rates, etc.

Now for the big question. How does this work?

Hotjar implementation methods:

To begin with, there are two ways to go about this. One is the traditional manual method, and the other one is the new recently developed method.

The old way is completely URL-based, whereas the latest method is Google Analytics integrated. There are not many takers left for the old way today.

Get Started

Get kick-started by creating a Hotjar account. This will generate a Hotjar tracking ID for you. This user ID will remain the same throughout your lifetime. The next step is to implement HotJar either way.

1. Implementing HotJar the traditional way: ITS URL all the way

• Login into your Hotjar site with the user id.

Now select the site that you need to be tracked. If the site is not added to your Hotjar account, add the place you need to be followed.

• At the top right corner, click on Tracking info
• Click on "Click for tracking code."
• Copy the code
• Go to the website
• Paste the code into the s of the website
• For tracking particular pages, paste the code onto the head of that page or page.

The implementation process is now over. The next step is to get the process going. (Explained towards the bottom of the write-up)

2. Implementing Hotjar ID in GTM

Why GTM?

Google developed GTM a few years back and made HotJar tracking much more accessible. This was because GTM allowed flawless integration with HotJar. As a result, HotJar with GTM is one of the web analytics mantras preferred by businesses and web analytics agencies. The reason is simple: It's convenient.

GTM Tracking with HotJar

Implementing HotJar Tracking with GTM is simple. GTM requires the HotJar user ID to start tracking.

• Start the process by logging into GTM using the user ID.
• Create a HotJar Tag by clicking on TAGS

• Click on NEW and Name It

• Click on Choose Tag Type under Tag Configuration
• Choose Tag Type menu opens up. Choose your tag as HOTJAR TRACKING CODE and click.

• In the Tag configuration page, under the Hotjar Tracking code, put in the Hotjar ID site user ID.

• Proceed to the Triggering section, and click on "Choose a trigger" to make this tag fire."
• Here choose All Pages (recommended)

• Click on Save.

In case, Hoitjar tracking is needed for specific pages, create a separate trigger.

• Go to the TRIGGERING section below Tag Configuration
• On the Top Right corner, click on + (New trigger)
• Name the trigger
• Proceed to Trigger Configuration and click "Choose a trigger type to begin setup."

• A menu drops down and opens at the right side of the screen
• Select the page view from under the choose Trigger type option.

• From Trigger Configuration, select "Some Page Views" listed under "These trigger Fires on" 

Now fill in the slots below as

• Page URL
• Contains / equals / RegEx (based on your configuration needs).
• Specify the Page URL

Click on SAVE

We have now implemented HotJar for Tracking.

Start Tracking with HotJar

To start the process

• Select Heat maps.
• Now click on New heat maps.
• Name the heat map. (At this point, be clear with what you need to be tracked, the entire website or a few specific pages. Define the same under a Specific page view or Multiple similar page views (paid version).
• Define the URL. For instance: If you define a specific page URL, Hotjar will track the same. If you want to follow similar pages, specify the same under Multiple similar pages.
• Click on Next
• Under the Review & Save, click on Create Heatmap

With this, Heat Map implementation is underway for the website or the pages being tracked.

This completes the setup of HotJar implementation for analytics. The inference is to implement Hotjar ID as an integrated step toward deciphering data with behavioral interpretation. The combination of Hotjar and GTM works with excellent precision, boosting synced and better business decisions.

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