Google Analytics for Fan Pages?

In this post, Webdigi details a way to add Google Analytics to your Facebook Pages. For anyone that has used Facebook Insights, the default Analytics Engine for Page, any type of additional Analytics is welcome.

Facebook Insights is limited on a number of fronts, more specifically Facebook Insights data is unreliable for large and small Pages. For all Pages, new data is delayed at least 48 hours and usually much longer. For smaller Pages Facebook will not show demographic data for privacy reasons. I’m not sure why Facebook cannot show data in real-time for large Pages.

A number of caveats about the workaround is that the Google Analytics only works on canvas Pages containing an image tag, which can only be placed on Pages editable through static FBML. So pageviews on the Wall, Info, Photos, Reviews, Discussion tabs will not be counted.

The workaround however is simple enough that it’s worth giving a try, especially if you already have a Google Analytics account set up and are already familiar with the engine. The post assumes you know how to add Static FBML/HTML into your Facebook Fan Page, which probably isn’t the case for the majority of Page owners.