You’ve got your Facebook business Page set up and you’re rockin’ and rollin’. But have you made it easy for others to navigate to your Page?
When you create a Page, your Page’s URL looks something like this:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/PoolGuyTexascom/143239745732795?sk=wall
When it could look something like this:
https://www.facebook.com/PoolGuyTexas.com
These short, simple URLs are referred to as vanity URLs or custom URLs. Facebook calls the name you choose to put after facebook.com a “username,” which is what we will refer to it as in this post. After registering your username, your new Page URL would be facebook.com/username.
Requirements to create a username for a Page
- You must be an administrator for the Page.
- Your Page must have more than 25 fans/likes.
Choosing a name
The following five bullets are recommendations straight from Facebook’s website when choosing a username.
- Create a username that is as close as possible to your public figure or business name (e.g. AshtonKutcher, PizzaHut).
- If you own the rights to a given name, make it your username so that others cannot obtain it.
- Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”).
- Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable.
- Your username must adhere to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
Generic words such as coffee and flowers are not available at this time as usernames.
My word of advice is to make your username your company name. That makes it easy on customers to find you and keep track off you. If your name is too different from your actual company name, it could confuse fans.
Don’t try to be fancy with it. Simple is ideal. Also, you can only have one username per Page.
Warnings
You get one shot at your username. ONE. Once you click “Confirm,” you CANNOT change your username. You’re stuck with it no matter what. If you have a typo, it doesn’t matter. Your custom Facebook URL will reflect that.
Keep in mind that you CANNOT transfer your username to another Page. The username is assigned to the Page you created it for.
Also, if you delete the Page for any reason, the username will not be made available to others “for security reasons.”
Copyright or trademark infringement
If you suspect that someone is using your trademark in his username, you can fill out Facebook’s form for reporting an infringing username. (Note: This form is good for username infringement only. There are other forms for Page name infringement.)
How to register your username
- Log in to Facebook and go to facebook.com/username.
- Choose the Page that you want to register a username for.
- Follow the instructions to register your name.
- Make sure you spell your name correctly!
One last thing, these steps also work if you want to create a vanity URL for your personal Facebook profile as well.
Leave a comment if you have any trouble securing your vanity URL and I’ll do my best to help you.