How to use Facebook Pixel helper for Chrome [Step by Step]
First things first.
What is Facebook pixel helper?
Facebook Pixel Helper is a Google Chrome extension from Facebook that lets you test your pixel implementation. It is essentially a troubleshooting tool that tells you if all is well with your Facebook pixel.
It primarily helps you:
- Verify if the pixel is installed correctly
- Troubleshoot any errors in the setup
- Improve performance by suggesting specific steps
How does Facebook pixel helper work?
The pixel helper works in the background to automatically analyze the sites for a script that looks like the Facebook pixel. The < / > icon in your browser turns blue when a website has a Facebook Pixel installed and a small badge will appear indicating the number of pixels found on the page.
When the Chrome extension is installed, you can see if there is a Facebook pixel enabled on a page. You can use it to look for errors and identify the events the pixel receives. Facebook Pixel Helper will also advise on how to boost the efficiency of your pixel, like:
Registering actions occurring on your website. Put your Facebook pixel base code into your website header to log the actions you ‘re interested in. If your pixel is placed on your page too far down, then we may not receive some user actions if they occur before your pixel fires.
Suggesting to opt-in for better tracking. If you see the error message below:
then you have opted out of Facebook tracking which implies Facebook may not be able to detect whether your pixel is having a problem. You should go to your Facebook settings to opt back in.
Set one conversion event for every page. Facebook recommends placing no more than one conversion event per page, except when additional conversion events fire on the page when a user performs some action, such as clicking on a button. This will help enhance event tracking and optimization.
How do I install Facebook pixel helper?
It’s pretty simple. Just follow these steps.
Go to the Chrome web store. Look for Facebook Pixel Helper in the search bar.
Click On Add to Chrome button.
Once the prompt appears, click on Add extension once again.
To confirm the installation of Pixel Helper, click on the Pixel Helper icon that you just installed. You can find it in the Chrome URL (address) bar
Test the pop-up to see any Facebook pixels located on that page, and to see if they have been successfully installed.
If you add standard events on certain pages to your pixel code, you’ll need to complete a conversion test for each. For instance, to test an AddToCart event, add an item to your cart to confirm that each event loads onto the desired page or action.
Can I use Facebook pixel without a Website?
The answer is NO -you can’t use a Facebook pixel without a site since it needs to be installed on a site to work correctly.
How do I know if Facebook Pixel is working?
This is where the Pixel helper extension you installed will come handy. You can either choose to use the FB Ads manager or Pixel Helper extension.
If you want to use Ads Manager, go to the “Pixels” tab in FB Ads Manager, and next to details in the top right, it should have a green dot that will show when the pixel was last activated.
For example, in the below image if the FB Pixel is not firing for any of the events, it will show the status Inactive.
Click the popup from the Chrome extension like the image below to see any pixels detected on that page, and verify if they have been successfully set up. When the Pixel Helper detects a pixel on your website and there are no errors, then you are all set to start making FB ads.
If you see an alert that no pixels have been found on your site, there must be an error with the Pixels set up on your site.
Why is Facebook pixel not working?
Most probably it could be due to one of the following reasons:
Pixel failed to load
This failure indicates that your site’s Pixel Helper spotted what looks like Facebook pixel code, but the actual HTTP request wasn’t really made. This may typically be due to a code error, but could also take place if the pixel fires on a dynamic event like a button click. And in that case, when you click on the button the error will disappear.
Pixel ID invalid
This error indicates that a defined pixel ID in our system did not match the ID sent for the pixel. To fix this, log on to FB Ads Manager and go to the Events Manager to find the correct ID of your pixel.
Can’t find Catalog of products
This means the Product Catalog ID passed in the product catalog id field in the pixel fire could not be found in the system. In Business Manager, you can find your Product Catalog ID under Settings > Product Catalogues.
Pixel active many times
This error indicates that Facebook received multiple requests of a pixel with the same ID and event name. That is usually an error. An event must occur only once upon the loading of a page.
These parameters should be aggregated into a single pixel event if sent with separate custom data parameters.
Not a standard event
This error means that an event found by the Pixel Helper is not one of the Standard Events. For instance, the event is named Bought instead of Purchase. Always one of the standard events, please.
Encoded characters
This warning implies that the Pixel Helper has found what appears to be characters with double encodings.
It may usually be due to a tag encoding a piece of information that’s already encoded. For instance encoding & into && is incorrect. Try changing & to &, which will ensure that characters are not being encoded twice.
Originally published at https://www.datadab.com on February 14, 2020.
