How to Enrich Hotjar Insights with Google Tag Manager and User Attributes (with screenshots)

Hotjar recordings are only as valuable as the context behind them. Without knowing who your users are, you’re left guessing why they convert — or drop off. 

Learn how to enrich Hotjar with meaningful user attributes using Google Tag Manager and the Identify API — no backend code required. 

This guide will show you how to: 

• Locate Your Hotjar Tracking ID 
• Use Elevar’s Prebuilt Tag for Hotjar 
• Import the GTM Container 
• Configure Your Hotjar ID Variable 
• Review Pre-Built Tags 
• Publish Your GTM Changes 
• Verify Installation 
• Benefit from Enriched Hotjar Features 

Locate Your Hotjar Tracking ID

1. Sign in to your Hotjar account and go to the “Get set up” section.

2. Locate your Hotjar tracking ID, which follows “hjid:”

Screenshot from Hotjar, June 2025

3. From the code snippet, copy only the tracking ID numbers. You’ll need this for the next steps.

Use Elevar’s Prebuilt Tag for Hotjar

4. Log in to your Elevar account.

5. Navigate to the “Pre-Built Tags” section and search for Hotjar.

Screenshot from Elevar App, June 2025

6. Paste your Tracking ID in the empty field within “Download Container.”

Screenshot from Elevar App, June 2025

7. Click Download.

Import the GTM Container

8. Open your Google Tag Manager container.

9. Within “Admin,” click “Import Container.”

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

10. Upload the container file downloaded from Elevar under “Select container file.”

11. Important: Choose the “Merge” option, not “Overwrite”, to avoid losing existing tags.

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

12. Click “Add to workspace”.

Note: It’s recommended to create a new workspace for testing purposes.

Configure Your Hotjar ID Variable

13. After importing, find the variable called “*Update After Import* Hotjar ID”.

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

14. Make sure the value matches your Hotjar tracking ID, and remove “*Update After Import*” from the variable name.

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

15. Click “Save”.

Review Prebuilt Tags

16. Within GTM, go to “Tags”.

17. Review the Elevar prebuilt tags. Your container should now include:

• A Hotjar installation tag that injects the Hotjar script onto your website.
• Custom HTML tags that send enriched data, including:
  • Purchase Events (e.g., total revenue, purchase count)
  • Login Events
  • Total User Spend’

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

Note: These events are tracked automatically via Elevar’s data layer—no extra setup needed if you’re already using Elevar.  

Publish Your GTM Changes

18. Click “Submit” in GTM.

19. Name your version (e.g., Hotjar Installation).

Screenshot from Google Tag Manager, June 2025

20. Click “Publish”.

Verify Installation 

21. Go back to Hotjar’s setup page. 

22. Click “Verify installation”.

Screenshot from Hotjar, June 2025

23. Enter your website URL and click Verify. 

• If the code is detected, you’re good to go! If not: 
  • Check to see if another Hotjar installation is conflicting. 
  • Reach out to Elevar support for assistance. 

Benefit from Enriched Hotjar Features

With your data now enriched, explore Hotjar features that provide additional insights.

Heatmaps

Within Heatmaps in Hotjar, simply click “Create New Heatmap” and enter your website URL to see exactly where users click and interact (e.g., pop-ups, CTA buttons).

Surveys

Surveys in Hotjar allow you to collect qualitative feedback. For example, you can set up an Exit Intent Survey that triggers when a user tries to close the browser tab.

Recordings

View session recordings enhanced with user data. You can filter recordings by:

• Purchase count
• Revenue
• Sign-up and login events

Recordings allow you to analyze sessions from high-intent users and identify reasons why some visitors don’t convert.

Enrich Your Hotjar User Data with Elevar

By enriching Hotjar with user data through GTM and Elevar’s prebuilt setup, you turn basic user behavior tracking into a powerful source of conversion insights.

Ready to go deeper? Start segmenting recordings and heatmaps by meaningful user actions today.

Book a call with us to get started.