Install the Meta Pixel base code in your website's header through Tag Manager or directly in your theme files. The pixel is a JavaScript snippet that tracks all page views and standard events automatically. For WordPress sites, plugins like PixelYourSite handle this cleanly, but manual installation gives you more control over what fires when. Create custom conversion events in Facebook Events Manager for actions that matter to your business. Standard events like Purchase, Lead, and CompleteRegistration work out of the box if your site structure matches Facebook's expectations. For anything custom (like "downloaded PDF" or "watched 60% of video"), use the Event Setup Tool or add event code manually. Each event needs clear triggers, either URL-based (thank-you page loads) or click-based (button with specific class). Verify pixel firing using the Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome extension before spending a dollar. Check that events fire on the right pages, pass the correct parameters (value, currency, content_ids for e-commerce), and show up in Events Manager within a few minutes. If events don't appear, your pixel either isn't installed properly or your triggers are misconfigured. Link conversion events to your ad campaigns through the optimization settings when creating or editing ad sets. Choose your custom event as the conversion objective so Facebook's algorithm optimizes delivery toward users likely to complete that action. Start with at least 50 conversions per week per ad set for the algorithm to learn effectively. Below that threshold, you're basically guessing. At Ottawa SEO, we run conversion tracking for lead gen and e-commerce clients across 500+ domains. Common mistakes: not excluding internal traffic (your own team triggers test conversions), failing to set up proper attribution windows (7-day click is standard, but 1-day often reflects real influence better), and tracking too many micro-events that dilute signal. Track what directly ties to revenue or qualified leads. If Facebook sees 200 «engaged users» events but only 3 actual sales, its optimization gets confused. Keep it simple until you have volume.