If your site already has Google Tag Manager, you can add BotDesk without touching the site itself: one Custom HTML tag, set to fire on every page.
Setup in 5 steps
This only works if Google Tag Manager is already installed on your site. Not sure? Use the guide for your website builder instead.
Create your BotDesk account and type in your website address. BotDesk reads your site and learns your services, hours and common questions on its own, so there's nothing to type in by hand. Pick what you want the bot to do and try it out. Then open the Install tab in your BotDesk dashboard and click Copy your install code. It looks like this:
<script async src="https://botdesk.studio/widget.js" data-api-key="YOUR_API_KEY" data-name="AI Assistant" data-color="#1F5AA8" data-greeting="Hi! 👋 How can I help you today?"></script>
Copy yours from the dashboard instead of typing it: your copy has your own key where this one says YOUR_API_KEY. The code carries your key and a few display settings. Everything else, like what the bot knows, your hours and where leads go, loads from your BotDesk account.
In Google Tag Manager, open the container for your website. Go to Tags, click New, and name the tag something like BotDesk chat. Click Tag Configuration, choose Custom HTML, and paste your whole BotDesk code into the HTML box. Leave Support document.write unticked.
All Pages, save, then Submit and Publish. As the video says, some ad blockers block Tag Manager, so a few visitors may not see the chat. Pasting the code into your site itself avoids that. Watch on YouTubeClick Triggering and choose All Pages. Then click Save.
Click Submit, add a short note if you like, and click Publish. Tag Manager changes don't reach your site until you publish.
Open your website in a new tab. The chat bubble appears in the bottom corner. Send it a question to make sure it answers.
After you install
Open your website and look for the chat bubble in the bottom corner, then ask it a question. The dashboard's Check if it's live button reads your page's HTML and can't see code that Tag Manager adds, so check with your own eyes here.
When the bot takes a visitor's name and phone number, we email it to you and it also shows in the Leads tab. It goes to the email you signed up with unless you change it: open Knowledge, click What your bot can do, and fill in Where should we send new leads?
Lead capture starts on the Starter plan. The Free plan answers questions only.
Change anything in your dashboard, like what the bot knows, how it looks, the pop-up message or the booking button, and save. Changes reach your site automatically within a few minutes. You don't need to paste the code again. Not seeing a change yet? Do a hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac.
Your business hours (Knowledge, then Business info, then Hours) are what the bot tells visitors when they ask if you're open. The team schedule in the Team tab (Growth plan and up) only decides when your staff show as available for live chat. They are separate, so changing one doesn't change the other.
Open Knowledge, then Business info, and scroll to Hours. Under Closed days and holidays, tap a holiday, use Going on vacation? for a run of dates, or click + Add a closed day. Check that Your time zone is right, then click Save settings. The bot will tell visitors you're closed on those days.
Send us your website address and we'll help you get it live by email, free.
Someone else runs your website? Open the Install tab in your BotDesk dashboard and click Email steps to my web person. Or email hello@botdesk.studio. We'll reply by email within 24 hours.
FAQ
Yes. A Custom HTML tag runs the code on your pages just as if it were pasted into the site, and the BotDesk code is an ordinary script tag. Paste it whole, from <script to </script>, with nothing added.
Probably not. That check reads your page's HTML, and Tag Manager adds the chat after the page loads, so the check can't see it. If the chat bubble shows on your live site and answers, you're set.
Yes. Instead of All Pages, create a Page View trigger that fires on some pages, for example when the Page Path contains /contact.
For your security, your bot only chats on the website address you set it up with, plus its subdomains. If your Tag Manager container runs on more than one website, each site needs its own bot, or email hello@botdesk.studio about a second domain.
Yes. Log into your BotDesk dashboard any time to update your business info, hours, services and FAQ answers. Changes reach your site automatically within a few minutes. You don't need to paste the code again.
Get Started
Start free, copy your install code, and your chatbot is live in minutes.
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