In this post, you’ll learn how to create a new Facebook Pixel and add it to your WordPress website. No code knowledge required, I promise!
You’re ready, you’ve done it. You have a website, you have an awesome freebie offer. You’ve offered that freebie to your audience via platforms like social media and word of mouth, and that’s going pretty well. You’re ready to amp up your marketing and build your email list to even greater heights by running Facebook ads.
But first, you need to install a Facebook Pixel on your WordPress website.
Not to worry, my friends. I’ve installed more than a few Facebook Pixels for my coach clients, and in this post I’m going to share with you the 3 easy steps to doing it yourself.
Step 1: Create the Pixel
The first thing you’ll do is to go to your Facebook Pixel Event Manager. You can actually click that link and it’ll actually take you directly to your Facebook Event Manager.
Right off the bat on this page, Facebook will offer you the option to create your pixel. You can click “Get Started” to…well…get started creating your pixel.
As a side note, if by some off chance you already have a Facebook pixel created in your account, you’ll be able to see that on this Events Manager page. Instead of asking you to “Get Started”, it’ll display your Pixel name and ID # as shown below.
AND if you don’t see this Events Manager page when you click on the link above, you can click on the hamburger icon in your Event Manager, and then click on Pixels in the popup menu.
This should prompt you to create a Pixel, it’ll just look a little different than the above option. It’ll ask you to “Create a Pixel” as shown in the screenshot below.
Once you’ve clicked on either the Get Started or Create a Pixel buttons (depending on how you navigate the Events Manager), a pop-up window will appear asking for your Pixel Name and your website URL.
Enter in your website information (what you name the pixel doesn’t matter so much), and then press “Create.”
Then, after you create your pixel, choose the option to Manually add pixel code to website.
Note: You can also choose another option, which is to Email Instructions to a developer. This option will let you email the code to your developer and he/she will embed it on your website. If you’re my client, you can simply choose this step and I’ll take care of the rest of the installation for you!
Once you’ve selected the option to Manually add pixel code to website, you’ll see the base code that you need to embed on your website. You can simply hover over the code and click to copy the code to your computer’s clipboard.
Step one is done! Phew.
Step 2: Add the Pixel to Your WordPress Website
After copying your Facebook pixel code, now it’s time to head to your WordPress Dashboard. (Hint: it’s usually yourwebsite.com/wp-admin)
Once you’ve logged into your WP Dashboard, go to Plugins >> Add New, and search for the Insert Headers and Footers plugin. Then, click “Install Now” and then, “Activate” to get the plugin up and running.
Note: Make sure that the plugin is compatible with your version of WordPress. That’s important so it doesn’t potentially break your site.
If it’s not compatible, then do a quick Google Search for “WordPress Plugins that Install Scripts in Header” to find an alternate plugin.
Once it’s installed and activated, the plugin will instantly appear in your settings. You can then go to your Settings >> Insert Headers and Footers.
Now is when you paste the Facebook pixel code you copied earlier into the “Scripts in Header” textbox area. Then press “Save” to save your hard work.
Step 3: Time to Check!
Now that you’ve embedded your pixel code on your website, let’s go ahead and check whether it’s activated and working properly on your site.
To test that your pixel is up and running, I suggest installing the Facebook Pixel Helper extension on your Google Chrome browser. Just click that link and select “Add to Chrome” to install it.
The Facebook Pixel Helper is an extension I use constantly that tells me whether or not a FB Pixel is present on a certain site.
Once you’ve installed it, you can go to your website and click on the Facebook Pixel Helper extension to see whether your pixel is working. You might need to click the three vertical dots in that upper right hand corner of your browser to see the extension.
That’s it! Give yourself a huge pat on the back. You just installed your own Facebook pixel!
What about specific event tracking and custom conversions?
The scope of this post was to simply show you how to install a simple Facebook pixel on your WordPress website. But maybe you’ve heard about these things called custom conversions and tracking specific events on your website.
To learn more about custom conversions, I recommend checking out Claire Pells’ material. She’s the Facebook Ads aficionado, and has awesome resources (like this post) to teach you more about the ins and outs of a solid ads strategy.
Now you know how to install a Facebook pixel in three easy steps to your WordPress website. And you know where to look if you need more help! (Thanks, Claire!)
Hope that’s helpful.