We often get asked how to use the Facebook pixel on websites for Facebook ads. If you have a Facebook Business Page and advertise on Facebook, you should find out how you can use the Facebook pixel to drive more traffic and conversions to your website.
In this post, we’re going to go over everything about the Facebook Pixel, including what it can do for you, how to set up the Facebook Pixel on websites, and how to use the Facebook pixel to improve conversions on your website and drive ROI for your Facebook ads.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What the Facebook Pixel Does
The Facebook Pixel on websites is a piece of code for your website that helps you measure how effective your Facebook ad campaigns are by monitoring the behavior of your website visitors.
First, it measures your website conversions like purchases or newsletter signups across all devices. The important data include the cost per conversion, the conversion rate, and the return on your Facebook ad spend.
Secondly, it delivers your Facebook ad to people who are likely to convert on your website by creating lookalike audiences.
Thirdly, it retargets your website visitors using custom audience and dynamic product ads. For example, you can customize an audience who have made a purchase to exclude from retargeting to save money. You can create dynamic product ads to retarget recent online store visitors with the products they viewed.
Lastly, the Facebook Pixel on websites measures website traffic.
How the Facebook Pixel Works
Let’s look at how the Facebook pixel on websites works. When a visitor takes an action on your website, the Facebook pixel is triggered and reports this action or event using cookies. You’ll know when a customer took an action after seeing your Facebook ad. You’ll also be able to retarget this customer by using a Custom Audience. The more the conversions on your website, the better Facebook delivers your Facebook ads to people who are more likely to convert.
Facebook Pixel Standard Events
Let’s look at what events for the Facebook pixel on websites you can use. Events are actions that happen on your website. Below is a list of the standard events which can tell you what actions your visitors take on your website.
- Click on a button to save their billing information during checkout
- Click an Add to Cart button
- Find one of your locations on the internet
- Click an Add to Wishlist button
- Contact you using a phone number, SMS, email, chat or other type of contact
- Click on a button to complete registration, sign up for an email subscription, etc.
- Customize products through a configuration tool or your apps
- Donate to your organization
- Click on a Checkout button
- Click on a Submit button to submit a form or sign up for a trial
- Complete a purchase by receiving order or purchase confirmation, or a transaction receipt
- Book an appointment to visit one of your locations
- Search on your website or app
- Start a free trial of a product or service you offer
- Click on an Apply button for a product, service or educational program with a credit card or job
- Subscribe to a paid product or service you offer
- View a webpage based on its URL
Set up the Facebook Pixel
To set up the Facebook Pixel on websites, you need to place the Facebook pixel base code on all pages of the website. Then you add standard events to the Facebook pixel code on the special webpages.
First, you need to create a Facebook pixel in the Facebook Events Manager by following these instructions.
Secondly, you need to add the Facebook pixel code to your website by following these instructions.
Thirdly, you need to set up standard events to measure the actions you desire either by manually installing the code or by using the Event Setup Tool.
Fourthly, due to the Apple iOS 14 changes where Apple mobile users can opt out, you need to verify your website domain in Facebook Business Manager. You can only operate with 8 conversion events per domain in Aggregated Event Measurement. Non-prioritized events will have limited delivery and reporting. You can only select a single domain for conversion tracking if those Facebook ads were shown to a user that opted out of the Apple prompt on the Facebook app on that device.
As a countermeasure against the data loss due to the Apple iOS 14 changes, Facebook uses Conversions API to rather than cookies and browsers to collect data and share events from your web server to Facebook. It improves your Facebook ad campaign performance. You can set up Conversions API by following these instructions.
Lastly, you confirm your Facebook pixel works.
If yours is a WordPress website or online store using WooCommerce, web developers like Azinity can help add the code to your website using PixelYourSite plugin.
Conclusion
With the Facebook Pixel on websites, you can drive more conversions retargeting your Facebook ads to those who’ve taken an action on your website. It provides insights into your audience, delivers your Facebook ads to those who’re likely to convert, and enhances your Facebook ad campaign performance and measurement. Next week, we’ll continue with our Facebook Marketing series by looking at how you can track your Facebook Business Page performance.
