While Facebook already provides a page insights tool for Page administrators to track traffic to their page, there is still a lot of information which is unknown. So how can administrators determine how well their landing tab is performing? There are a number of techniques to monitor your Facebook Page traffic, four of which are described in this article.
Webtrends Tool
Last week, Webtrends announced the release of an analytics packages that helps users track activity on their Facebook Page. The tool, found here, enables developers to track interactions on their custom tabs. Unfortunately, Facebook does not enabled third-party services to track any interactions on the main Facebook Page. Today, Webtrends also announced the expansion of their Facebook product in order to monitor Flash applications within Pages or as stand alone applications.
Facebook Insights
As I previously stated, Facebook limits what information third-party developers can monitor. That’s why the company’s Insights product continues to serve as an important tool for all Page administrators. We previously wrote about the most important things to monitor within your Facebook page insights. Ultimately, you can track demographic data, interactions by media type, and more, all of which are only accessible through the Facebook Insights product.
Core Metrics
Core Metrics, one of the larger enterprise analytics services, recently announced the launch of new services integrated into many of their existing products that enable marketers to measure their ROI from Facebook. The aim of the Facebook integration is to determine “the role Facebook plays in influencing subsequent website visits, behaviors, and conversions.”
Essentially, Facebook clicks are tracked and then can be connected to actual on-site business objectives, such as new subscriptions and sales conversions. This appears to be a more robust solution than many of the other products, but it may be data overload for the average Facebook Page administrator.
Core Metrics –
Google Analytics
While Google analytics is targeted at website owners, the analytics service can be used by Facebook Page administrators as well. Unfortunately Facebook has not enabled their
All of these methods have some strengths over another. The Google analytics method is what I use at the moment. It works well and is free but sometimes end browser caches images and can cause issues.
The Webtrends method does not have the caching problem but you have to pay for it. As far as I know it does not capture browser, location, etc of the user at the moment.
Facebook Insights take days to update and does not show you the number of visits to your pages and non-fan interactions.
You will have to mix and match to get the best analytics. Facebook Insights and Google Analytics are both free, Webtrends and core metrics for people who need even more.
Comment by Reviewer — March 11, 2010 @ 7:06 am
Thanks for this list! At Bulbstorm, we've been working to implement better tracking on the fan pages we manage — particularly as it pertains to viral/organic traffic not associated with Facebook ads.
We lose some visibility into traffic sources between users hitting our "mandatory fanning" tab and actually entering our promotional applications. In-app behavior is easy enough to track. I think the workaround from Webdigi may be a good solution for tracking behavior out-of-app.
Looking forward to implementing!
Comment by Matt Simpson — March 11, 2010 @ 7:50 am
It's all great for custom tabs, but there is still no way to have itemized interactions with the standard tabs.
Comment by Facebook User — March 11, 2010 @ 7:55 am
Denis, you're right about the standard tabs. Since there is no way to edit the page, only Facebook would be able to grant a vendor unprecedented access.
Comment by Justin Kistner — March 11, 2010 @ 8:28 am
nice, is there a way to get an email alert every time someone comments on a fan page?
Comment by adelaide dancing — March 11, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
I use only Google Analytics for my websites. I am not too sure about other methods. Perhaps, I will try other methods.
Comment by Charmaine — March 11, 2010 @ 10:27 pm
You are missing the new Omniture / Facebook offering on tracking Facebook traffic with Omniture tools. That was a huge announcement last week too.
Comment by Gabi Endress — March 12, 2010 @ 11:14 am
Our apps – http://apps.facebook.com/welcometab & http://apps.facebook.com/signupformtab come with in-built analytic to show real-time visits.
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Comment by awang noh — March 30, 2010 @ 3:38 pm
That workaround for GA was once called a pixi code back in the day used mainly for tracking stats on offers that used big time media buying.
Comment by Caleb — April 7, 2010 @ 4:51 pm
Thank you so much for this insightful write up. It makes Fb metrics easier
Comment by Yinka olaito — May 6, 2010 @ 4:59 am
Brilliant, I am definitely having a look at embedding images to get more traffic analysis. Thanks guys!
Comment by pure funk dance — November 15, 2010 @ 3:35 am
No doubt analyzing the fan page visitors is very essential.I haven't gone through all of them ..i.'' be using them all now.Thanks.
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Last week, Webtrends announced the release of an analytics packages that helps users track activity on their Facebook Page. The tool, found here, enables developers to track interactions on their custom tabs.
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