5 Easy Steps to Setup the Facebook Pixel Helper

Have you ever visited a page somewhere, only to have ads for that page popping up everywhere on Facebook just minutes after? This is done by using a Facebook Pixel, introduced in 2015. What you may find annoying is actually an excellent advertising tactic that’s proven to work wonders.

1. What is a Facebook Pixel?

The pixel is short piece of code which you place on your pages. Whether you run a store or some other page, it allows you to track what your page followers do outside of Facebook. You create the Pixel from your Facebook Ads Manager and paste it to your site, ideally in the site heading.

Once it’s there, you can track a host of things. There are nine standard Facebook Pixel events:

  • View content (the visitor views any page)
  • Search (the visitor uses the search function on your site)
  • Add to cart (the visitor adds a product on your site to cart)
  • Add to wish list (the visitor adds a product on your site to a wishlist)
  • Initiate checkout (the visitor starts the checkout process)
  • Add payment info (the visitor fills out their payment info)
  • Make purchase (the visitor buys something from your site)
  • Lead (the visitor becomes a lead by filling out a form, submitting an email, downloading a lead magnet, etc.)
  • Complete registration (the visitor fills out a registration on your site)

Using these parameters, the Pixel can improve the way ads are displayed on Facebook for your site and your products and services.

2. What is the Facebook Pixel Helper?

Realizing that not everyone is a code guru and a marketing expert, the Facebook team came up with the Facebook Pixel Helper. It allows you to verify that your pixel has been installed properly, it shows you pixel errors and tells you how to make the pixel work better for you.

The Facebook Pixel Helper is currently available for Google Chrome only. Unfortunately, it cannot be used on Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera or any other browser at the moment.

Note that the Helper can be an extremely useful tool, not just for diagnostics. If you try it out for a bit, you will notice that it shows if a pixel is present on any site. Use this opportunity to check out whether the competition is trying out this marketing strategy.

3. How to install the Facebook Pixel Helper

First and foremost, make sure you’re running Google Chrome. Second, visit the Chrome Store at this link. 

how to install facebook pixel helper

Simply click to install the extension and you’re done. If you’ve done everything right, an icon </> will show up in the top right next to your address bar. If the icon is gray, it means that there are no pixels on the page you’re currently on. If the icon turns blue, there are pixels on the page.

4. How do I know it’s working?

If everything’s been set up correctly, you can click on the blue </> icon and a drop down menu will appear with the list of pixels currently firing on the site. 

facebook pixel helper interface

Once you click on the pixel, you can see the details for each individual entry.

5. Facebook Pixel Errors

The most useful feature of the Facebook Pixel Helper is its ability to tell you if there’s something wrong with your pixel. Here’s the list of error messages and what they mean.

Not a Standard Event

As we’ve mentioned, there’s 9 standard events that can be tracked by Facebook Pixel. This error will show up if you’re trying to track anything out of the scope of those events. 

Invalid Pixel ID

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. The Facebook Pixel ID you’re currently running on your site does not match any ID linked to an existing ad account on Facebook. Of all the errors, this is the one that needs to be addressed with the most urgency.

Cannot Find Product Catalog

You may already know this, but within Facebook’s Business Manager you can set up products and product catalogs for items you’re selling. If this error shows up, it means that the product_catalog_id in the pixel code cannot be found in Facebook’s databases. To go around this you can search for the ID in the Business Manager, or manually connect a product to the pixel. 

Encoded Characters

The Facebook Pixel Helper has found double-encoded characters on your page. Check the code on the page you’re diagnosing for CSM system encoding errors.

Pixel Activated Multiple Times

There’s one pixel on the page but it’s firing multiple times. One of the reasons for this is if you included the pixel code in more places.

6. Uninstalling the Facebook Pixel Helper

If for some reason you no longer need to use it, you can simply remove this extension from Chrome by typing chrome://extensions/ in the address bar and clicking on the trash can icon. 

how to uninstall facebook pixel helper

Did you know that you can also use the Facebook Pixel on your LeadQuizzes quiz? This handy guide will tell you exactly what to do.

If you haven’t tried it out yet – quizzes are a great tool for generating leads. Give it a go – it’s free!

Build Your Email List By 100K This Year Using Quizzes

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Build Your Email List By 100K This Year Using Quizzes

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