Guide to Setup Facebook Instant Articles for WordPress

Table of Contents

The Blogging industry has grown vitally in the past decade and it is the most trending industry as well. The combination of Digital Marketing and Blogging works great in these days. Facebook made serious improvements and developments which made the people love & stick with their products. This blog post would cover the concept of Facebook Instant Article with an in-depth guide on how to setup Facebook instant articles for a WordPress Blog or a website. 

The Facebook Platform is the most crowded Social Media Network with billions of Active Users. They have started introducing a great feature named “Facebook Instant Article”. It is the most awaited feature as it helps people access and read articles quicker and more easily.

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What is Facebook Instant Article?

The Facebook Instant Article is one of the essential features which let the users read the articles/news/stories/blog very quickly (instantly). The users will no longer have to wait for the articles to be loaded. It works on the concept that these Instant Articles are Pre-Loaded in advance. So, if a Facebook User clicks the article from their News Feed, he/she would get the Article loaded at blazing speed.

It is similar to the Google’s AMP – Accelerated Mobile Page. The Facebook Instant Article helps the people read their favorite content instantly and save their valuable time.

And I guess you’re already aware of Facebook Instant Articles as they are now being used by many sites. Well, this feature wasn’t available for every Publisher in the initial stage. It was exclusively available only for Few Authority Brands such as Buzz Feed, NBC News, National Geographic & more. The Guardian provided the First Instant Article to the world.

During Facebook’s F8 Conference 2016, the company officially announced the Facebook Instant Article feature and legally granted the users to access the Facebook Instant Article feature globally.

Later, more publishers started trying this feature which crafted the Facebook News Feed a better one than before.

Why should you try Facebook Instant Article?

An example of how an Instant Article looks. (Pic from Business Insider)

The Facebook Instant Article improves the User Interface and Engagement of Facebook Users. It also helps the People improve their Brand Visibility to the next level via Social Media Optimization.

I have tested this feature and I’ve got massive result along with the Viral Traffic.It also helps me monetize my articles with the Facebook Audience Network. I haven’t found any error while clubbing my Facebook Audience Network along with Google AdSense advertisement in my content. Thus, I have found better results after integrating this awesome feature in my blogging career.

It brings the great Brand Exposure in very short time without any hassle. The quality content would definitely drive viral traffic for sure.

You can also customize the Instant Article for Facebook with their flexible customization module. Making a backup of the customized layout is possible and that saves huge time for my next update. There is also a plugin for WordPress and that will post your updated Blog Content directly to your Facebook Page.

Apart from WordPress, the Facebook Instant Article also supports other major CMS – Content Management System such as Drupal, Medium, Atavist, Steller and so on. The recommended Analytics integration by Facebook is also mentioned in their official documentation release.

Things to be noted before Applying for the Facebook Instant Article service

There are some eligibility criteria and major steps that need to be taken into account before registering for Facebook Instant Article Program.

I have given some of the essential and crucial factors in this section. It helps you clearly configure the Facebook Instant Article with your WordPress site.

1. A Facebook Fan Page.
2. A Facebook Pages App (Included below in the Step by Step Process).
3. A WordPress Blog. You can also integrate with other Partnered CMS as mentioned by Facebook.
4. 10+ Quality Contents.
5. Patience (Waiting for the Approval) 😀

Step by Step Guide to Setup Facebook Instant Articles for WordPress Blog

The below steps would make you understand the Configuration and Integration of Facebook Instant Article with your Blog.

Step 1: Creating your Facebook Page (Skip this if you’ve already done this)

To apply for the Facebook Instant Article, you should have good looking Facebook Page. The Facebook Page should reflect your Brand Profile with Genuine and Updated Data. It will make your Facebook Fan Page suited for the Facebook Instant Article Program. The following are some of the most recommended things that a Facebook Fan Page should include

• Good Logo/Image as Facebook Page Profile Picture that represents your Brand/Identity.
• Cover Photo that compiles your Brand Activity.
• About Section with Clean History or Brand motto.
• Edit the Button on your Page – Create a great CTA – Call To Action (Trusted Source).
• Valid Street Address, Website Link and Contact Number.
• Updated Fresh Contents.

Step 2: Sign Up for Facebook Instant Articles

Initially, Sign Up for the Facebook Instant Articles program, Click here to sign-up.

Facebook Instant Article

Step 3: Select your Desired Page for FB Instant Article Setup

On the next screen, you’ll be requested to Select the Desired Facebook Page. Read the Instant Articles Terms and Select your page.

Proceed the process by clicking the “Access Instant Articles Tools”.

Facebook Instant Article 1

Step 4: Claim your Website URL

Kindly, Click the Configuration section under Instant Article Menu from the left pane. Now, Copy the Meta Tag and paste it under your WordPress Header Section. You can do it instantly if you’re using any custom themes.

If you aren’t able to insert the Meta Tag in your Website’s Header Section, install a simple plugin (headers and footers plugin) that allows you to insert the Meta Tag in your header region.

After placing the Meta Tag, you’ve to enter your Domain Name inside the Field box as shown in the below screenshot. Finally, hit the Claim URL button.

Facebook Instant Article 2

Step 5: Configure your Plugin via Facebook Developers App Account

Visit the Facebook Developers Account and click the “Add a New App” as displayed in the below screenshot.

Facebook Instant Article 3

Step 6: Create a New App ID

Now, enter your Display Name and Contact Email. I suggest you not to use any generic words like “website”, “1” and “test”. You should enter the data which would be familiar for you to identify in the future and differentiate the website as well.

Facebook Instant Article 4

Step 7: Copy your App ID and App Secret

Open your Notepad or any other note taking software. Copy the App ID and paste it into your Notepad. Now, click on

Now, click on “Show option” on the App Secret field box and then copy it to your Notepad.

Note: You must enter your Facebook Password and complete a CAPTCHA to get the App Secret value.

Facebook Instant Article 5

Step 8: Make your New Applet as Public

Click on the App Review section on your Developer’s Account left pane. Now, toggle the App to “Yes” as expressed in the below screenshot.

Facebook Instant Article 6

Step 9: Add Website Platform

Head to the Left Pane of your Facebook Developer Account. Go to

Go to Settings -> Basic and enter the valid data including App Domains, Contact Email, & other required data. Choose

Choose “Apps for Pages” in the Category section. Now, Click the +Add Platform. Choose WEBSITE as your new platform.

Facebook Instant Article 7

Step 10: Skip Quick Start

After adding the new platform, you’ll be able to view the below page. Check whether your website URL is present in the Site URL field box as shown below.

Facebook Instant Article 8

Step 11: Configure the App Domains and Website Configuration

After providing necessary data, hit the Save Changes button to configure that. You may also skip the Quick Start if you wish.

Facebook Instant Article 9

Step 12: Download Instant Articles for WP Plugin

You should Install Official “Instant Articles for WP” Plugin to integrate your WordPress Blog for Facebook Instant Articles. Click here to Install Articles for WP WordPress Plugin. Now, activate your installed plugin. I hope you’re aware of

Now, activate your installed plugin. I hope you’re aware of installing and activating the WordPress plugin.

Step 13: Configure your Website RSS Feed

Switch to the Facebook Developer Page on your browser. You should enter the RSS Feed URL of your weblog by suffixing your site URL with /feed/instant-articles 

For example, www.trafficcrow.com/feed/instant-articles. Replace trafficcrow.com with your website URL. 

Finally, click the “Save” button to finalize your feed configuration.

Step 14: Login with your Instant Articles for WP Plugin

Visit the interface of Instant Article for WP Plugin right from your Admin WordPress Left Pane. The below screen will be appearing on your WordPress Admin Area. Now,

Now, enter the App ID and App Secret which you’ve already copied into your Notepad. (See Step 7 for more)

If you don’t know or failed to create the App ID and App Secret, just generate a new one by clicking on “Get App ID” on your screen.

Facebook Instant Article 11

Step 15: Login with Facebook from your WordPress Plugin area

Click on the “Login with Facebook” button on this step and proceed.

Facebook Instant Article 12

Step 16: Allow Permission for the New Applet

Then, you’ve to click “Continue as YOUR NAME” button and allow the permissions further.

Facebook Instant Article 13

Step 17: Customize your Instant Article Layouts

Switch to the Facebook Developer Page Tab from your browser and just head to the Styles section. You’ll be able to make customization as per your wish.

Facebook Instant Article 14

Step 18: FB Instant Article Customization Editor Page

This step will give you the rough idea about Customization of your upcoming Instant Article Post.

The Logo customization, Font, Structure, Heading, Colours, and other essential customization could be done here.

The live customized effects could be reflected on the Right Side Virtual Layout dynamically. It helps you craft the layout of the Facebook Instant Article in a smart way.

Facebook Instant Article 15

Step 19: Submit for Review

Switch to the WordPress Plugin area and Click the “Submit for Review” button to finish the setup.

Facebook Instant Article 16

Note: You have to open the recent 10 published blog post and simply, click the “Update” option before submission for the review.

Step 20: Successfully submitted your Instant Article Request

Finally, you’ve successfully completed setting up the Facebook Instant Article via this tutorial post. If you find any difficulties in configuring the things, comment on this blog post and I will try my level best to solve your queries ASAP.

Facebook Instant Article 17

What to do after submission?

I hope that the above step by step section vanishes all your doubts and queries related to the Facebook Instant Articles. Now you’ve set up the automation. Your upcoming post would be displayed as Facebook Instant Article via your integrated Facebook Page without any manual process.

You should care about your Facebook Fan Page Audience while implementing the Instant Article as it may hurt them in some ways. You can toggle the Automatic Posting On or Off at any time.

Check the Analytics and learn through the Insights. It would help you maximize your Social Media Presence and also aware about the well-performing post.

The common issues and errors regarding the Facebook Instant Article could be easily debugged under Facebook Instant Article tab on your Page’s Left Pane.

The most engaging post performs well and it is best suited for the News Brand and Entertaining Brand. Also, the Business Brand could reach more audience than people think.

Just try this Facebook Instant Article Feature and evaluate your Brand Performance as well.

How to Monetize Facebook Instant Articles effectively?

The best way to monetize the Facebook Instant Article is Facebook Audience Network. It helps you monetize your Instant Article without any hassle as the Advertisements will be tailored perfectly inside your Facebook Instant Article.

You may also inject the Solo Advertisements, Banner Ads and Own Ads that complies with the Facebook Policy and Terms. There isn’t any cut off revenue on these types of advertisement output.

The Facebook Audience Network would be the spoon-feeding tactics when it comes to monetizing the Facebook Instant Article. It is tailored and the advertisements are served relevantly from their 4million+ Facebook Advertisers. The clubbing of Google AdSense and Facebook Audience Network never created any issue till date.

Ready to Get Viral Traffic & Grow high?

Yeah, you’ve successfully set up the Facebook Instant Article I guess. This will really help your Business/Brand grow high. Viral Traffic is guaranteed for your Quality Content without any doubt. If it looks interesting, then people would circulate your article around the globe.

Thus, you can improve your Brand Visibility and also develop steady Social Media Presence very quickly. The follower’s satisfaction is the next important thing to be considered before taking any action. So, collaborate with the followers and provide high-quality content without fail.

The catchy headings matter a lot for the viral traffic for your Facebook Instant Article. So, concentrating on the Blog Title would enhance your CTR and also the Viral Sharing Strategy.

The inbuilt Analytics Report would make your raw data into a valuable insight. Also, the partnered third-party Analytics Platform would help you crawl more demographic insights.

Conclusion (Upgrade your Level Instantly)

Finally, you’ve come to the end of this Facebook Instant Article Guide post on this amazing blog. I hope, you’ll implement this feature for your Branding Strategy and also serve your Social Media Followers with the instant treat. Every step by step process were personally carried out for the tutorial purpose. You are suggested to do the same for getting the viral traffic for your Instant Article.

I believe that this feature has served millions of publishers with awesomeness over Facebook Platform. It is the upgraded tweak every publisher should try. It also allows the publishers monetize their valuable content. Thus, I recommend the publishers implement this Facebook Instant Article feature for your career growth. You’ll not get rich overnight with this program but I am damn sure you could earn some passive income as like I earn through the Micro Niche Marketing Method.

Disclaimer – Some functionality doesn’t work well if your web content doesn’t have the basic blog post structure. I felt some issue on few blog post that was crafted using Thrive Content Builder. The major disability of Facebook Instant Article is that you’ll be restricted to share the instant article outside the Facebook.

If you’ve any doubts or queries, kindly comment below. Do share this article if you like it as well.

About The Author
Sathish Arumugam
Sathish is a professional blogger, web designer, entrepreneur & digital marketer. He founded Traffic Crow & SGS Mediasoft to share his immense knowledge (Almost 8 Years) through blogging and internet marketing. You may connect with this web enthusiast on Facebook and Google Plus

28 Responses

  1. Nice blog post about Facebook instant article well it can help us in many ways to do branding of our product. Nice blog post keep the good work going.

  2. How to solve this error while claiming the URL in Step 4 :
    “The fb:pages tag on the url doesn’t contain this page’s id. The url has fb:pages tag but they don’t have this page’s id. Please work with your developers / webmaster to add this tag to your website.”

  3. How is sponsoring an article? Does they include ads ? Or do i have apply for that first .PS im new to this???? dont know anything

  4. I am facing some problems with facebook Instant articles, I have checked the documentation provided that is helpful, but is there any chat support or email support where some of my specific issues can be addressed. I am enclosing an image

  5. Hey Sathish,

    Facebook instant article feature is something every blogger should be using. I recently applied for it. And it’s still under pending status I hope to get it approved without any errors.

    I just saw your guide about FIA. It’s good to find a detailed guide about it. It can be helpful for many bloggers who are not aware of FIA. I used a different approach without WP plugin while applying for it I used header script just to avoid installing more plugins in my database.

    Thanks for this guide. I hope you got it approved by now.

    ~Alok

  6. i stuck in the 17th step you can see screenshot i.is.cc/2bEKkCh0.png it is not going further plze help

  7. Amazing post bro, but have one question.. Pls clear my doubt… Can I setup Facebook Instant Article for my Blogger(Blogspot) blog.
    Thanks,

  8. Hi Arumugham,
    Good to see you on Ifti’s page with a wonderful and informative post.
    Though I know about this, never knew that we can connect this to our wp accounts.
    A well-written piece with a lot of screenshots and pics etc.
    Good one.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Wish you and Ifti a great time of interaction ahead.
    Best Regards
    ~ Philip

  9. Hi Sathish,

    Good to see you on Iftekhar’s blog, I would say that you are doing a tremendous job. I know the existence of FaceBook instant articles but unaware that we can set up for the WordPress blog and monetize as well.

    You have done an in-depth guide, hats off to you awesome efforts. Stay active forever and keep your good work.

  10. Just awesome am waiting for this article from so many days i didnt found any guide which helps me to set up instant articles..now am happy thank you.

  11. Great article buddy, but i want to know is there something like minimum page likes we must have before applying to Instant Article.

  12. Awesome and fully detailed article.

    I was looking for the guide from a long time and I found many on the internet but this one is easy to understand.

    Thanks mate, I’ll surely Apply your guide.

    By the way, is it important to have old Facebook Page and 10+ Posts? Or we can apply on baby blog?

    I want to configure it to my new blog, should I wait for 10+ articles and some Facebook fan page likes or go for it?

  13. Hello Sathish bro,
    This is Just Amazing Article, Very Informative Well Written,
    Keep Up The Good Work, Appreciate For The Share,
    Have a Nice Day Ahead,

    JazakALLAh,

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