All Collections
Swat.io Publisher
Facebook
Link preview: Customisation using domain verification
Link preview: Customisation using domain verification

Can I customise the link preview for Facebook link posts? How does the domain verification work?

Updated over a week ago

This feature is only available for Swat.io Pro and Enterprise plans, you can find detailed information about the pricing HERE

In order to curb the spread of fake news, Facebook no longer allows customising link previews in link posts for links to arbitrary web pages - these are always compulsorily created from the information provided in the Open Graph tags, see also this article.

However, for domains over which you have control (such as your own website or blog), you can perform a domain verification. A domain verification proves to Facebook that you have control over this domain (e.g. my-website.com).

If the domain verification (more details, see below) is successful, you are allowed to customize link previews for links leading to the verified domain, both on Facebook directly and via Swat.io.

Blocking of link-previews related to “press publisher domains”

Another measure taken by Facebook to counter the spreading of fake news in Europe is the fact, that links to news articles from so-called "press publisher domains" in some cases no longer show preview images or text excerpts. This is an automated process performed by Facebook, that can only be bypassed by a successful domain verification. This verifies, that you are posting your own articles and also allowing you to edit the link-preview.

You can always check whether your link preview is not shown for that particular or another reason by entering the exact link in Facebook's sharing-debugger. In case of a news domain, it would show the following warning message:

☑️ How do I perform domain verification?

The domain verification works via the Business Manager, here you can find the official documentation for it.

  • Click on "Domains" in the main navigation and press the "Add new" button.

  • Enter the domain name you wish to verify. It is recommended to enter your top-level domain to verify all your sub-domains in one step, e.g. enter yourdomain.com to include www.yourdomain.com, blog.yourdomain.com, etc.

  • You can now choose whether you want to verify via a DNS text record or by uploading an HTML file to your website. More detailed information can be found here in the instructions in the Business Manager:

  • Finally, select all Facebook pages under "Assigned items" which should be associated with your domain. Editing link posts will only be possible on these Facebook pages!
    Without this step, customizing link previews is not possible, as Facebook requires you to specify which of your Facebook Pages should have permission to customize link previews for links to that domain. See the following screenshot:

Once all these steps are done, you can now customize and design the link previews for link posts to this domain on the added Facebook Pages, both directly on Facebook and on Swat.io.

For advanced users: You can also link affiliates to your verified domain to help selected affiliates optimize link posts on their site.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact our support team either via chat or via support@swat.io!

Did this answer your question?