---
title: "Connecting to Microsites with the Sitecore Federated Experience Manager"
description: "Sitecore FXM connects your platform to external microsites for tracking and personalization. TechGuilds covers the setup and configuration steps from scratch."
canonical: "https://www.techguilds.com/blog/connecting-to-microsites-with-the-sitecore-federated-experience-manager/"
type: "BlogPosting"
author: "Ken Gray"
publishedAt: "2017-02-22T05:00:00.000Z"
updatedAt: "2026-05-21T14:38:57Z"
source: "https://www.techguilds.com/llms.txt"
---

# Connecting to Microsites with the Sitecore Federated Experience Manager

With each new update to Sitecore, comes increase personalization power and marketing automation tools to make the complex life of a digital marketer that much easier.

The Federated Experience Manager is no different. It allows marketers to take their extraneous, non-Sitecore, digital assets and connect them into Sitecore for reporting and personalization.

The way it works is simple:

1. Create an FXM beacon in Sitecore that references your external asset (microsite, landing page, blog, etc.)
2. Place that beacon on the page(s)of your external asset to establish two-way communication with Sitecore.
3. Create a Sitecore Rule that permits the cross-browser scripting and you're done!

As simple as that sounds, what you can now do with the external asset is nothing short of incredible! Okay, maybe I'm getting a little too excited, but the FXM is really cool.

Essentially, once the beacon is placed on the page and communication is happening, you can track analytics, place Sitecore content, conduct A/B testing, and even implement personalization rules on the non-Sitecore site as though it were being managed within Sitecore!

## "So how is it done", you ask? Great question, here are the steps:

1. From the Sitecore Launch Pad, click on the **Federated Experience Manager** icon.

![Federated Experience Manager Icon](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/FXM-Icon.ashx?h=160&w=109&hash=621395B78C104E61EE34CD1F85A706D9) 2. Next, click on the **Add External Site** option from within the FXM.

![FXM Dialogue 1](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/FXM-dialogue-01.ashx?h=400&w=800&hash=DAEE799F03866A746D9B348990449443) 3. Specify the details of the external site and click **Save**.

!\[\](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/FXM-dialogue-02.ashx?h=450&w=800&hash=E9459457EBA345B6DB014B854F4E31F7) 4. **Copy the JavaScript tracking code (beacon)** provided by Sitecore and place it onto the website page or pages you want to track. This creates the “hook” into Sitecore.

[Image: FXM Beacon]

## Allow Cross-browser Scripting and Publish

To prevent cross-browser scripting issues and errors, we need to set up a Rule that permits the scripting to run. The last step is to publish our Sitecore FXM Beacon.

1. Return to the Sitecore Launch Pad and launch the **Marketing Control Panel**.

![Marketing Control Panel icon](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/Marketing-Control-Panel-Icon.ashx?h=141&w=110&hash=D374497367B8F2D457D6DC9AD26C9D42) 2. Navigate to and expand the Federated Experience Manager item and **select the external website (beacon)** **item** you created (demo in our screenshot example).

![MCP Dialogue 1](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/MCP-dialogue-01.ashx?h=214&w=275&hash=6E43DB18EC754018676D21C9AE168CD6) 3. In the Content area, click on the **Edit Rule** link found in the **Matching Rule** section of the item. This will open the Rule Set Editor.

![MCP Dialogue 2](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/MCP-dialogue-02.ashx?h=220&w=519&hash=61B644A2ECEDCDB8545443D51BA7E4ED) 4. In the **Rule Set Editor**, choose the " **where request domains is**..." and **enter the domain name** to the external, non-Sitecore asset.

![MCP Dialogue 3](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/MCP-dialogue-03.ashx?h=439&w=742&hash=D2FC298728037442C3EBB9F75396134B) 5. Click OK to close the Rule Set Editor and then click Save to keep your changes to the FXM "beacon" item.

![MCP Dialogue 4](https://www.techguilds.com/-/media/Old-Content/TechGuilds/blog/fxm-power/MCP-dialogue-04.ashx?h=381&w=649&hash=70559370D5B840DC9DFDD82593B81EE5) 6. Return to the FXM, click on the name of the item and in the top-right corner click the **Publish** button.

[Image: MCP Dialogue 5]

## That's it! You're all done!

In my next post I will write **a tutorial on tracking clicks and implementing personalization on an external site using the FXM**. In the meantime, experiment on your own and post a comment or question that you would like answered.

Until next time...