How to Integrate Google Tag Manager with Google Optimize

Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Optimize are powerful tools for website optimization and A/B testing. Integrating them allows you to manage your experiments and tags in one place, streamlining the process of testing and improving your website. Here’s a step-by-step guide to integrate Google Tag Manager with Google Optimize.

Prerequisites

1. Google Tag Manager Account: Ensure you have a GTM account set up.
2. Google Optimize Account: Ensure you have a Google Optimize account set up.
3. Google Analytics Account: Ensure you have a Google Analytics account set up and linked to your website.
4. Access to Website Code: Ensure you have access to the website's code or the ability to deploy tags.

Step-by-Step Integration Guide

1. Setting Up Google Optimize

1. Create a Google Optimize Account:

   • Go to Google Optimize and sign up using your Google account.
   • Create a container for your website.

2. Link Google Analytics:

   • In Google Optimize, go to Settings.
   • Under Link to Google Analytics, click Link Property.
   • Select the Google Analytics property you want to link to Google Optimize and click Link.

2. Configuring Google Tag Manager

A. Create a Google Optimize Tag in GTM

1. Log in to Google Tag Manager:

   • Open Google Tag Manager and select your container.

2. Create a New Tag:

   • Click Tags in the left-hand menu.
   • Click New and then Tag Configuration.
   • Select Google Optimize.

3. Configure the Tag:

   • Container ID: Enter your Google Optimize container ID, which starts with OPT-. You can find this in your Google Optimize account under Container Details.
   • Google Analytics Settings: Choose the Google Analytics settings variable or manually enter your tracking ID.

4. Trigger the Tag:

   • Click Triggering and select All Pages. This ensures the Optimize snippet loads on all pages of your site.
   • Click Save.

B. Add the Google Analytics Tag (if not already added)

1. Create a New Tag:

   • If you haven’t already added Google Analytics via GTM, click Tags and then New.
   • Select Tag Configuration and choose Google Analytics: Universal Analytics.

2. Configure the Tag:

   • Track Type: Choose Pageview.
   • Google Analytics Settings: Select or create a new variable for your Google Analytics tracking ID.

3. Trigger the Tag:

   • Click Triggering and select All Pages.
   • Click Save.

C. Modify the Google Analytics Tag to Include Optimize ID

1. Edit Google Analytics Tag:

   • If you already have a Google Analytics tag set up, edit this tag.

2. Add Fields to Set:

   • In the tag configuration, click More Settings.
   • Under Fields to Set, click Add Row.
   • In the Field Name column, enter allowLinker and set the Value to true.
   • Click Add Row again.
   • In the Field Name column, enter optimizeId and set the Value to your Google Optimize container ID (e.g., OPT-XXXXXX).

3. Save the Tag.

3. Testing the Integration

1. Preview Mode in GTM:

   • In GTM, click Preview to enter preview mode.
   • Navigate to your website to ensure the tags are firing correctly. You should see the Optimize tag and the Google Analytics tag in the GTM debug console.

2. Google Optimize:

   • Go to Google Optimize and start an experiment to ensure the setup is working.
   • Check if the variant loading and reporting are correct.

4. Publishing Changes

1. Submit Changes:
   • After testing, return to GTM and click Submit.
   • Enter a version name and description for your changes.
   • Click Publish.

Additional Tips

• Asynchronous Loading: Ensure that both Google Optimize and Google Analytics tags are set to load asynchronously to improve page load times and user experience.
• Experiment Configuration: In Google Optimize, configure your experiments with clear goals and set up your variants properly to ensure accurate results.
• Data Consistency: Use the same Google Analytics property for both tracking and Optimize integration to maintain data consistency.

By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate Google Tag Manager with Google Optimize, allowing you to efficiently run and manage experiments on your website. This integration helps in improving website performance and user experience through data-driven decisions.