Facebook pixel error

Facebook pixel helper is a browser extension that is used to verify Facebook Pixel setup on your website. In this guide, I will show you how to use Facebook pixel helper to preview and debug pixel setup.

If you’re still curious to know more even after reading this, visit our home page.

1. How to Install Facebook Pixel Helper

To check your Facebook Pixel setup you first need to install this extension on your browser. If you don’t have installed it yet, click the below button and install on your browser.

Once you install, the Facebook Pixel Helper icon will appear on your browser.

2. How to test Facebook Pixel Installation

After adding Facebook Pixel code on your website, you have to verify that it is working properly. To do this, open your website in a new tab. If the Pixel code is inserted correctly on your website, the Facebook Pixel Helper will automatically detect the code and will display information about your pixel.

If your pixel helper is displaying information like above, then your Facebook Pixel is working perfectly.

But if you see any error or want to know more about debugging pixel helper problems keep reading this guide.

3. Facebook Pixel Common Errors

There might be multiple types of errors according to your pixel setup. But below are the most common type of errors and ways to resolve them.

Duplicate Pixels Found

The very important thing you need to keep in mind is that if you can have multiple pixels on your website but not multiple similar pixels. Which means if you add the same pixel code multiple times on your site, it will result in duplicate pixels error.

If you are installing Facebook Pixel with Google Tag Manager, you don’t need to add the pixel code on your website. GTM will automatically fire the pixel code on your site.  

Solution: If you are seeing a duplicate pixel error, dig in your website code and make sure you don’t have added the single pixel code on multiple places.

Pixel did not load

This errors shows up when pixel helper detects the pixel code on your website, but the HTTP call was never made.

There are commonly two reasons for this error.

1. Error in your pixel code

Solution: Check your pixel code to make sure you didn’t made a mistake while copying and pasting the code. Compare the code on your site with that on provided on your Facebook account.

2. Pixel fires on dynamic event

Solution: in this case the error will automatically disappear upon clicking on the button.  

Not a Standard Event

This type of error occurs when the event found by pixel helper is not one of the standard events. For example, the event is named AddCart instead of AddToCart. It is recommended to use standard events as much as possible. But if you named that event for a reason you can ignore the error.  

Multiple Times Pixel Activation

This error occurs when the pixel with the same ID and event is sent multiple times to Facebook. This should only occurs once upon page loading and is an error.  

Solution: If you are seeing this error make sure to send the pixel id and event once and upon page loading. If it is sent with different data custom data parameters, those parameters should be merged into single pixel event.

Invalid Pixel ID

This error occurs when the pixel ID you send to Facebook doesn’t match with any ID on their system.

Solution: Check your Facebook ads manager and confirm the pixel ID is not different 

Troubleshooting Suggestions

Pixel helper is not just build to confirm installation and report errors but it can also suggest that something could be changed to improve performance.  

Pixel took too long to load

This error shows up when you place the pixel code somewhere between the body or footer tags. The recommended way is to place the pixel code before the closing </head> tag.

Posted on December 9, 2019
(Last Updated: May 02, 2022)

All eCommerce retailers, particularly eCommerce marketers, had troubles running Facebook Ads at some point. If you didn’t, then you are one of the very few luckiest ones. Though starting with Facebook Ads is not rocket science, it requires a comprehensive knowledge of Facebook Events Manager and all its buttons, and, thus, may be puzzling for those who are new to Facebook Ads. Whilst, every company wants a quick start, they also want to get things right. When it comes to Facebook Ads, there is one factor which is crucial to get right from the start: The Facebook Pixel.

When helping clients to optimize and manage their Facebook Ads, we often get questions regarding the pixel: 

• How do I set Facebook Pixel up?
• Does Facebook pixels need to be on every page?
• How long does Facebook pixel keep data?
• Why my Facebook pixel isn’t working correctly, etc.

Therefore, we prepared this article to answer most commonly occuring issues for e-commerce retailers and digital marketers running  Facebook Ad Campaigns. Or shall we actually start saying Meta Ad Campaigns?  

Table of Contents

• What is the Facebook pixel?
• Benefits of Using Facebook Pixel
• Setting-up Facebook Pixel
• Troubleshooting problems with the Facebook Pixel

What is the Facebook pixel? 

This pixel is simply a code that you add to your website — you may already be familiar with the concept from Google Shopping tracking codes. It works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they interact with your website and your Facebook ads. Once a visitor takes an action on your website, the Facebook pixel “fires”, and you can see & analyze the actions that took place. It can be when a visitor adds an item to the shopping cart or makes an order — you determine which actions you want to track.

Benefits of Using Facebook Pixel

There are many benefits to using a Facebook pixel. One of these is being able to understand your visitor’s behavior and preferences, and converting them into prospects for remarketing campaigns. To motivate you to dig deeper into Facebook Pixel basis, here is a brief overview though, just to show the diversity of the pixel’s usage.

Once added to your website the Facebook pixel collects data which helps you:

• Track conversions from your Dynamic Ads.

  The Facebook pixel allows you to see how people interact with your website after viewing your Facebook ad. You can even track customers across their devices. This lets you see if people tend to see your ads on mobile but switch to a desktop before buying. Or, maybe it’s the other way around. This information can help you refine your ad strategy and calculate your return on investment.

• Construct detailed audience targeting.
  Facebook can use its targeting data to help you build a lookalike audience of people who have similar likes, interests, and demographics to people who are already interacting with your website. This can help expand your potential customer base.
• Retarget people who took a specified action on your website.
  Facebook retargeting pixel data and dynamic ads allow you to show targeted ads to people who have already visited your site. You can choose to get really granular here. For example, you can show people an ad for the exact product that they abandoned in a shopping cart or added to a wishlist on your website.
• Optimize your Facebook Ads
  As Facebook collects data on who buys from your site and how much they spend, it can help optimize your ad audience based on value. That means it will automatically show your ads to the people who are most likely to make high-value purchases.

Creating and adding your Facebook pixel to your website

Now we know the WHY’s of using the pixel, let’s take a look at the HOW’s of getting started and putting it to work on your own or your clients’ website. Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Create your pixel

 Start by navigating to your Events Manager on your account, where in the left-hand menu you will see Connect to Data Sources, click Data Sources. 

On the next screen choose Web and click Get Started.

Select “Meta Pixel” and click “Connect”. After, choose «Meta pixel».

Almost there.  Don’t forget to give the pixel a name, before you click «Create Pixel».

Before you proceed with adding the pixel to your website, you will see an option to check your website for easy setup options.

Enter your website URL to see whether you can have a fast integration with one of the Meta supported partners.

A word of advice on the pixel name

In Events Manager, you have one pixel for each ad account you manage. However tempting it is to call your pixel something short and easy to remember (e.g. Dave or Bob), the name should represent your business, rather than a specific campaign. You can see below that we opted for the very original name of WakeupData Advert’s Pixel 👌

N.B. You can use Facebook Business Manager to add more than one pixel per account. 

Step 2: Add that pixel’s code to your website

There are two ways you can add the pixel code to your web page, you can: 

• Manually add pixel code to website, or
• Use a Partner integration.

>>> Tips on which option to choose:

• You might be using an e-commerce platform like Shopify or Woocommerce. In this case, you can install your Facebook pixel using these third-party tools — without having to touch the website code.
• If you have a dedicated developer, you can simply select the option to email him or her instructions with all the details they need to install the pixel. And the integration will be taken care of for you.
• If the first two options are not possible, it will have to be your task to add the pixel code directly into your web pages. This, and the first integration option, we will review for you next.

Now you have the option to choose whether you want to use automatic advanced matching. This option matches customer data from your website to existing Facebook profiles.

As stated in the screenshot below, it helps track your conversions more accurately and also reach more people through your remarketing campaigns.

Click Continue and the Pixel is added.

Installing pixel code using a partner integration

The other way to install the Facebook pixel is via a partner integration. If your eCommerce website runs on one of Facebook’s partner platforms, you can easily choose this option. 

If you decide to go with a partner integration, you use a correspondent unit and click “Use a partner”.

After that you will be displayed a table with possible partners to choose from. Partner integrations are not all alike, you should expect to see differences from one partner to another. However, there is a setup instruction for each partner you can follow. 

Check out this Facebook article on third-party integrations for more details.

Once you have followed the instructions of a particular partner platform, your integration is completed. Congratulations!

Step 3: Ensure you are tracking the right events for your business

In Facebook/Meta Ads Manager account navigate to Events Manager and click the Data sources icon. After that you can select a pixel you want to use.

Click Settings and select Open Event Setup Tool under Event Setup.

Next, you enter your URL and click Open Website. The Event Setup Tool will launch in your website browser. Once you’ve done that, Facebook will provide you with a selection of possible events. Review them and choose the ones you need by clicking Confirm or Dismiss. When you are done choosing events, click Finish Setup.

Step 4: Check that your Facebook pixel is actually working

But before you start relying on the data from your Facebook pixel, you should confirm that it’s also tracking properly.

1. Add the Facebook Pixel Helper extension to your Google Chrome browser. (It’s only available for Chrome, so if you use a different browser, you’ll need to install Chrome to use the Pixel Helper.)

1. Visit the page where you have installed the Facebook pixel. If the extension finds the pixel, the </> extension icon will turn blue, and a popup will indicate how many pixels it finds on the page. The popup will also tell you if your pixel is working properly. If not, it will provide error information so you can make corrections.

Step 5: Add pixel notice to your website

To comply with Facebook’s terms (and, in some cases, the law), you need to make sure visitors to your website know you’re collecting their data.

That means you need to provide clear notice that you’re using the Facebook pixel and that their information may be collected through cookies or other methods. You also need to let users know how they can opt out of having their data collected.

To get all the details, go to the Facebook Business Tools Terms and scroll down to point 3: Special Provisions Concerning the Use of Facebook Pixels and SDKs. Or, check out Facebook’s cookie consent guide for sites and apps.

Troubleshooting problems with the Facebook Pixel

So now that we’ve had a quick look at what the pixel actually does and how to set it up, let’s take a look at some common pitfalls that may occur and ways to avoid them.

Troubleshoot Pixel Helper errors

First thing, unless you are running Dynamic Ads, you can ignore this message. It will be a yellow sign on the Pixel Helper — meaning it’s optional and doesn’t mean your pixel is not working.

One can easily get the most from their Facebook pixel and save themselves the trouble of losing a part of the data by installing Facebook pixels and setting events right from the start. 

We hope this article has given you some insights into the setting up of your Facebook pixel, and provided some solutions regarding how to troubleshoot a few of the most common issues. 

If you have any questions about the Facebook pixel, Facebook should have detailed explanations on any further issues. Also, don’t hesitate in reaching out to us if you have any questions about Facebook pixel, Dynamic Ads or product feeds.

Table of Contents:

What is FB Pixel & how does it work
Missing or mismatched content_ids

Incorrectly formatted content_ids

Misspelled content_ids parameter name

Missing or incorrect content_type
FB Pixel not matching products with catalogue
Final thoughts

What is FB Pixel & how does it work 

According to Facebook, Pixel is ‘an analytics tool that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website’.

Facebook Pixel works by placing a code on your designated website. From there, it automatically gathers data such as conversions from Facebook ads and general demographic information.

To use Facebook Pixel with Shopify, you will need a Facebook ads account. You can then proceed with adding your pixel ID to your online Shopify store preferences. This can be done as follows:

1. Go to online store > preferences
2. In the Facebook Pixel section, add your Pixel ID
3. Click save

Pixel will now begin to track the events below.

After setting up Facebook Pixel in your Shopify store, you may wish to check for any potential issues prior using the data you collect. This is where the Facebook Pixel Helper Tool comes in. The tool can be downloaded or used as a Google Chrome add on. Pixel Helper will help you learn how to improve the performance of Pixel by checking everything is working correctly, and troubleshooting any errors you may have.

Here are the most common issues with Pixel events:

Missing or mismatched content_ids

This error relates to dynamic ads. When you install FB Pixel, the goal is to receive actions and events that take place on your website. For this, your code needs to have the unique ID for your products/variants on your website, also known as the content_ids parameter. This ID must exactly match the item in your product catalogue, so Pixel knows which items are the same. If the item is missing or mismatched then that product will not work for dynamic ads.

Incorrectly formatted content_ids

Correctly formatted ID’s should look as follows:

For a single product: ‘12345’

For multiple products on the same page: [‘12345′,’67890’]

Incorrectly formatted ID’s may include excess numbers or symbols. They may look as follows:

[«12345,67890»]’ FB Pixel interprets this ID as one item with the ID 12345,67890.

«[«12345″]»: This is interpreted as one item with the ID [«12345»].

«[«12345», «67890»]»: Facebook Pixel interprets this as one item with the ID [«12345», «67890»].

[«[12345,67890]»]: This is interpreted as one item with the ID [12345,67890].

Misspelled content_ids parameter name

This error is due to the misspelling of event parameters in your Pixel code. An example of this is the content_ids parameter being mislabeled as «content_id» when only listing only one ID. The name of the parameter should always be content_ids, ending with an «s».

Missing or incorrect content_type

The content_type parameter helps FB Pixel to differentiate between different types of product. Content type options are: 

• A single product
• A group of products (or a group of variants)
• Vehicles
• Hotels
• Flights

Whilst using the content_type parameter, ensure it is included in every standard event and make sure that it’s used correctly, as a string.

The content_type parameter must always be entered in one of the following ways:

• product: For a single product in your catalogue

• product_group: For a group of products within your catalogue. This is ideal for variants of a product, as well as different sizes. For data feed files, this is known as item_group_id.

• hotels: This matches content_ids with hotel IDs in your catalogue.

• flights: This matches content_ids with flight IDs in your catalogue.

• vehicles: This matches content_ids with vehicle IDs in your catalogue.

Return to top of page or get your Facebook product ads ebook here.

FB Pixel not matching products with catalogue

If Facebook Pixel is not matching your products with your catalogue the issue tends to stem from uploading the incorrect product ID.  If you’re providing Facebook with a complete set of your products, including variations, you’re likely providing a unique ID per each item (called variant_id in Shopify). Here’s where the issue begins: Shopify automatically inserts parent ID (common to all variations of a given parent product) to pixel, instead of the variant ID.

Hence, if you send product variants with unique variant IDs, none of the IDs will match — variant ID is not equal to parent ID for any of the products.

What’s the solution?

To make sure the product IDs in the Facebook catalogue match the FB pixel,  you need to use the ID attribute in your feed (not the variant ID). Next, to avoid variant ID’s being replicated (from sending multiple variations with the same parent ID) you should use variant merging. Here are the steps to get it done:

1. Go to the shop section in your DataFeedWatch interface
2. Select your Facebook Product Ads channel
3. In the Mapping page, click Merge Product Variants tab
4. Select one of the merging options for each field
5. Click save and finish

Another common issue related to product ID is when the field is completely missing. This could be due to the same issue as above. However, it can also be down to the categorisation of a feed. If you set your feed to take the product ID from the GTIN field, when the ID is in the barcode field, Pixel will receive a similar error. 

Errors may appear as seen below

Return to top of page or get your Facebook product ads ebook here.

Final Notes

Pixel is a great tool for measuring the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns for Facebook sellers.However, product ID errors can prevent you from having a greater understanding of the successes and flaws of your campaign.

Running into feed errors on other Shopping Channels as well?

Check out our other articles about fixing common errors across top eCommerce channels:

• 35 Most Common Merchant Center Errors + How to Fix Them
• Top 9 Bing Merchant Center Errors and the Best Solutions
• How to Identify and Fix Common Amazon Errors
• Three Major Product Data Errors to Avoid

Return to top of page or get your Facebook product ads ebook here.

The Facebook Pixel Helper is a tool that helps you check whether your pixel is working properly or not.

Installing it is pretty easy. All you have to do is go to the Chrome Web store and add the extension to your browser.

Once you’ve installed it, you can run a test to see if everything is mapped out properly. Sometimes, there are some common errors that might come up. Here are the most common and how you can troubleshoot them.

Error 1: No pixel found

When you click the Pixel Helper icon and see a message that no pixels were found on that page, it means you haven’t finished installing your facebook pixel.

To make sure you’ve finished the pixel set up instructions, visit the pixels tab in your ads manager and go through the whole process to ensure that you’ve set it up completely and correctly.

Error 2: Pixel did not load

This means that the Pixel Helper has managed to find what looks like the Facebook pixel code on your site, but the pixel isn’t passing back data from your site. There are two reasons this might be happening:

i) There is an error in your pixel code.

To fix this, go back and check your pixel code to make sure that you didn’t make an error while copying and pasting the code. Compare the code on your site with that provided on your facebook account to make sure they match correctly.

ii) The pixel has fired on a dynamic event

If you’ve set up a dynamic event, for example, when someone clicks a button on your website, sometimes the pixel might fire on it, creating an error.

To fix this, just click on the button where you’ve attached your pixel code then click on the Pixel Helper again to see if the problem has been fixed.

Error 3: Resembles a standard event

When you see this error, it means that the Facebook Pixel Helper has found a custom event that seems similar to a Facebook Standard Event. This could most probably be caused by a typo. For example, instead of “AddToCart”, it is “AddtCart”.

To fix this error, go back to your pixel code and make sure that the event is named correctly.

It’s recommended to use standard events whenever possible. If you actually intend to use that custom event with that particular name, you can ignore this warning.

Error 4: Pixel activated multiple times

This error occurs when your pixel with the same ID and event has sent the same signal multiple times to Facebook. This is disadvantageous as it could affect the accuracy of your site’s reporting.

To fix this error, make sure that you’ve only included the Facebook pixel base code on your site once. Then send the pixel ID and event once and upon page loading. If it is sent with different data custom data parameters, those parameters should be merged into a single pixel event.

Error 5: Invalid pixel ID

When you see this error, it means that pixel ID in your Facebook pixel base code isn’t recognised by Facebook.

To fix this, check your Facebook ads manager and confirm that your pixel ID is not different. If it is, you’ll need to replace the pixel ID in your pixel base code with the pixel ID assigned to an active ad account.

CONCLUSION

That’s it for the 5 common Facebook Pixel Helper errors and how to troubleshoot them. If you would like my help in implementing this and other strategies to sell your high ticket products and services, get in touch with me by clicking the button below to apply for a complimentary consultation.