This article guides you through how to set up Google Analytics such that it works with Google Tag Manager and sends analytic data back to Google so you can measure site traffic, bounce rates, and myriad other numbers. Below is a step-by-step guide to ensure your data is being measured properly.

Watch the video

1. Follow Google's instructions to set up a Google Analytics account.
2. Take note of your Google Analytics Tracking ID. We recommend copying this into Notepad or keeping the tab with it open for use later.
3. Go to https://www.google.com/analytics/tag-manager/use-policy and click the Sign In button in the upper-right corner.
4. Click on Google Tag Manager.
5. Log in with the same credentials you use to get into your Google Analytics account.
6. Click Create Account.

1. Enter Account Name.
2. Click Continue.
3. Enter Container Name.
4. Select Web.
5. Click Create.

7. Click Yes in the upper right.
8. Click OK in the resulting pop-up.
9. Click the Tags section of the menu on the left side of the page.
10. Click NEW to create a new tag.
11. Click the gray circle under Tag Configuration to configure your tag.
12. Under Choose Tag Type, click on Universal Analytics.
13. Under Google Analytics Settings, select New Variable from the dropdown.
14. Paste your Google Tracking ID into the Tracking ID field. Click Save.
15. In the Rename Variable pop-up, click Save.
16. Click the gray circle under Triggering and select All Pages.
17. Save.
18. In the Rename Tag pop-up, click Save.
19. Click the SUBMIT button in the upper-right corner.
20. Click PUBLISH in the upper-right corner.
21. Skip the Container Version Description.
22. Click the Workspace link in the upper-left corner.
23. Copy the GTM code in the Workspace area, highlighted below.

24. Log in to your Higher Logic community site as a Super Admin.
25. Navigate to Admin > Pages > Design > Advanced Settings and scroll to the bottom of the page to paste that code into the Google Tag Manager field.
26. Click Save.

After completing these steps, data from your Higher Logic community site will be sent to Google.

Google Tag Manager on select microsites

NOTE: This section is not applicable to customers whose community site is based on the Community Essentials model.

NOTE: This section is only for clients who license our optional Microsites module.

If you're only looking to apply Google Tag Manager tracking to one specific microsite and not all of your sites, simply follow steps 1-25 above, then go into the first page of Site Setup. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll see a field for your Google Tag Manager code. Paste it in there, then click Finish to save it.

The decision to segment out individual microsite data really varies by organization; if you want all the data in one bucket and find it more efficient to sort that way as one user, then that's the best option for you. If you'd rather have multiple accounts sectioned out and pull the data per microsite without mixing the data with other microsite data, that can be more effective based on your management setup. In this case, there is no set best practice, but rather the best setup is whatever makes you and/or your team most efficient.

Custom Google Tag Manager configurations

For more ideas about what you can measure and accomplish with Google Tag Manager, I'd recommend checking out the official Google Tag Manager documentation section.

Because this is a third-party software, a segment of our clients who are looking for increased customization have hired consultants to help them with more advanced Google Tag Manager configurations, and while we recommend this, we don't currently have any vendors we endorse for this service. If you're looking to know who other clients have used, we recommend posting in our Higher Logic Community Product community in our Higher Logic User Group (HUG) and asking around.