Facebook has announced the launch of the Facebook Connect Wizard and Playground. These are tools that are designed to make it easier for website owners to integrate Facebook Connect into their sites.

Facebook says the benefits of Facebook Connect include increased traffic and engagement. "Establishing a presence on the social Web requires fundamental building blocks. Facebook provides these essential tools, including identity for a great registration system, and immediate access to 300 million active global users," says Facebook platform engineer Alex Himel. "Facebook Connect gives entrepreneurs of all sizes — and with varying developer resources — the ability to build traffic efficiently through reaching a relevant audience, while offering an engaging user experience."

Of course the more sites that utilize Facebook Connect, the more traffic and engagement Facebook itself gets as well. The concept is not unlike Google’s Place Pages (among other products) in that regard. A reader recently commented, "Google wants people to spend more time on Google. Yahoo wants people to spend more time on Yahoo. Facebook wants people to spend more time on Facebook. Several of these large online "media" [companies] are doing everything in their power to keep the eyeballs on their website…"

Like Google’s Place Pages, however, Facebook Connect does have the potential to benefit businesses in some ways. "From making the registration process easier for users, to bringing friends together, to gaining distribution from sharing back to Facebook, there are many benefits that come along with Facebook Connect, and we’re focused on helping you optimize your website and service to provide a more social experience for users," says Himel.

The Facebook Connect Wizard consists three steps:

1. Enter Basic Info about your site
2. Upload file
3. Social Markup

The Playground provides code samples for adding profile pictures, user names, and friends to your site. Facebook says they will continue to add more code samples as they see more usage.

Earlier today, Facebook announced translations for Facebook Connect, which allows sites and apps to be translated into over 65 languages.