Website ads
A website ad is a Facebook or Instagram ad that sends people to a page on your website, such as a product page or a landing page. It runs on Meta's Traffic objective. You create it in Ads Manager, without opening Meta's own Ads Manager.
| Where | Ads Manager → Create Ad, with Ad Type set to Website Ad |
| Objective | Meta's Traffic objective, set automatically |
| Runs on | Facebook or Instagram |
| A tap opens | The web page you choose |
| Needs | Ads Manager set up, and enough ad credits. See Set up Ads Manager. |
| Tracking | Your Meta Pixel, installed on your website. Optional. |
| Budget | Daily Budget or Lifetime Budget |
Before you start: the Meta Pixel
The Meta Pixel is a small piece of code on your website. It tells Meta what visitors do on your pages. It is optional, but without it:
- Meta cannot track link clicks or landing page views.
- Your ads cannot be optimised.
To install it:
- Go to the CTWA tab → Click events → Setup, and copy the Meta Pixel code.
- Paste the code before the closing
</head>tag on every page of your website where you want to track visits. Publish the change on your website.
- Go to the Overview tab and click sync to check the installation. If it worked, you see a confirmation screen.
Create a website ad
1. Choose the ad type
- Open Ads Manager and click Create Ad.
- Under Ad Type, select Website Ad. The campaign switches to Meta's Traffic objective.
- Select your Meta Pixel. If you have added more than one, pick the one you want to use for this ad.
2. Choose the audience
- Use a saved audience, or create one.
- Location: the countries, cities or regions where the ad appears.
- Demographics: the gender and age range.
- Select the Meta platform to run the ad on: Facebook or Instagram.
- Advanced Targeting (optional): add interests, behaviours or demographic traits. Each one appears as a tag. The estimated reach updates as you go.
- Click Next. You can also save the audience, to use it for another ad.
3. Set the budget and schedule
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Daily Budget | What you spend each day |
| Lifetime Budget | What you spend over the whole campaign, spread across the dates you pick |
| Start Date | When the ad starts |
| End Date | When it stops. Optional. |
| Custom Schedule | Run the ad only at specific times or on specific dates |
Click Next.
4. Add the creative
| Field | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Ad Name | A label for your own tracking |
| Primary Text | The caption above the image or video |
| Headline | A short line below the media |
| Call-to-Action (CTA) | The button, such as Learn More, Shop Now or Apply Now |
| Destination URL | The page people land on. Check it is correct and starts with https://. |
| Media | From the Media Library, uploaded from your device, or a media URL |
A preview beside the form shows how the ad looks in each placement.
No creative? The AI Ad Creative Generator, below the media option, makes one from a prompt.
Check everything and click Publish to submit the ad for approval.
Meta reviews the ad before it goes live. Follow its status in Ads Manager. See After an ad is published.
When to use it
Use it when your website does the selling: a product page with photos, reviews and a checkout, or a sale landing page. If your product needs a conversation first, a click-to-WhatsApp ad usually fits better.
Install the Pixel first. Without it, Meta cannot track clicks or landing page views, and the ad cannot be optimised.
Send people to the exact page. An ad for one product should land on that product, not your home page. Every extra click between the ad and the product loses people.
Match the button to the page. Shop Now for a product page, Learn More for a page that explains. A button that promises one thing and lands on another loses trust.
Pick a lifetime budget for a fixed campaign. A sale with set dates suits a lifetime budget, because the spend is spread across those dates for you. For an ad with no fixed end, a daily budget keeps each day's spend the same.
Updated about 1 month ago