How To Secure Your Facebook Username (Vanity URL)

Posted on June 10th, 2009.

[IMPORTANT UPDATE 6/12/09 4:30pm PDT: Though it's still not possible to register your Facebook Username for Fan Pages starting tonight, June 12, at 12:01am EDT, the GOOD NEWS is that Facebook will open the doors for those Fan Pages with less than 1000 fans on June 28th. See Mashable's post on this subject: Good News: Small Brands Can Get Custom Facebook URLs Too].

Facebook Vanity URL - Facebook Usernames First, what is a Vanity URL and why would you want one? Instead of your Facebook Profile URL and Facebook Fan Page URL being a big, long unwieldy URL that you can never remember, as of this weekend you’ll be able to register facebook.com/yourname for your PROFILE *and* facebook.com/yourcompanyname for your FAN PAGE(s).

Fan Page examples:

Personal profile example:

Having your own Facebook username for both your personal Profile and your Fan Page(s) will help streamline your brand and “findability factor” (and, dare I say, Google indexing!)

Facebook says:

[Regards usernames for personal profiles:] From the beginning of Facebook, people have used their real names to share and connect with the people they know. This authenticity helps to create a trusted environment because you know the identity of the people and things on Facebook.

Your new Facebook URL is like your personal destination, or home, on the Web. People can enter a Facebook username as a search term on Facebook or a popular search engine like Google, for example, which will make it much easier for people to find friends with common names.

Important points to note When Choosing Your Username:

Prior to this Friday night, be sure to review these points:

  • Think carefully about the username you choose. Once you’ve selected it, you won’t be able to change or transfer it.
  • Your username has to be at least five characters in length, e.g. you couldn’t register “jim” but you could register “jimmy.”
  • You CAN use numbers (0-9), e.g. “jim007″
  • You CAN use periods, e.g. “james.bond”
  • Choose a name that exactly matches your real name for your personal Profile and your business name for your Fan Page.
  • If your real name has been registered already by someone of the same name, get creative with the period or numbers.
  • Generic usernames (like “flowers” or “pizza”) are not available… at this time, according to Facebook.

Also, if you signed up for a Facebook Page after May 31, 2009 or a user profile after June 9, 2009 at 3 p.m. EDT, you may not be able to sign up for a username immediately because of steps Facebook have taken to prevent abuse or “squatting” on names.

Register just one username for your one profile:

Facebook Terms of Use stipulate you can only have ONE account which comes with your ONE personal profile. If you already have two set up, you’ll need to choose the one you want your new Facebook username to point to, as you can only have one. (Granted, I imagine those with multiple profiles will have entirely different logins and email addresses so could theoretically register more than one username. However, such folks run the risk of having those multiple profiles deactivated).

Registering a username for your Facebook Fan Page:

In order to register a username for your Fan Page, you have to meet these TWO criteria:

  1. Your Fan Page must have been LIVE (published) on Facebook prior to May 31st, 2009, AND
  2. You must have a minimum of 1000 fans also prior to May 31st, 2009.

You can set up usernames for any Fan Pages that you administer. If someone else administers your Fan Page for you, make sure they are aware of the importance of the day/time coming up this weekend to register the name you want… assuming you meet the two criteria.

Secure your Trademarks:

If you have a registered Trademark and wish to ensure nobody else registers this name, fill out this important trademark form.

Three Steps To Registering Your Username

Step 1: Login to Facebook then go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ on or after Friday, June 12, 2009 at 9:01 Pacific Time [that's Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 12:01am Eastern Time]. See what day/time this will be in your part of the world here.

Step 2: You will see a form that will look something like this:

image

Either choose the name Facebook suggests, or type your own in, then click the Set Username.

Step 3: Repeat for any Facebook Fan Pages you administer (assuming the Pages have more than 1000 fans - I sure hope they do away with this limiter for all folks new to Facebook and just building a fanbase).

If you cannot get the username you want for your personal Profile and/or Fan Page, you can still get creative with numbers, a period, abbreviations, etc. You could also make your own redirect link, e.g. http://marismith.com/fanpage and http://marismith.com/facebook. Or, use the Memorable Web Addresses app to create likes of http://profile.to/marismith and http://companies.to/marismith. You could use any of the link shortening services like http://budurl.com. And, you could always buy a domain such as yournameonfacebook.com.

Of course, if you’re a big brand or recognizable name, securing the right Facebook username could make a difference.

Will you be ready? I sure hope so. Good luck … and start your engines! :)

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58 Responses to “How To Secure Your Facebook Username (Vanity URL)”

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This is great.

I just hope I could secure my favourite username…

Roseli A. Bakar
June 10th, 2009

Do you think “ILoveMariSmith” will be snatched up pretty quickly? Im going for it! :-)

-James W

James
June 10th, 2009

Thanks for the useful info mari. I will be sure to choose wisely.

Patty Reiser’s last blog post.. Tooth Fairy comes to town

Patty Reiser
June 10th, 2009

They should not let “dot .” makes another new usernames as Google do that.
For example in Gmail “ab.12″ is same for “ab12″ or “a.b12″

AlizzA
June 10th, 2009

Thanks, Mari, this is very, very helpful. You sure are a Facebook wizard! What baffles me is why didn’t they do this from the get go. It’s so intuitive and obvious to have your URL be: http://www.Facebook.com/YourName. When I first joined Facebook a few months ago, I was very confused as to the URL for my page. Also, I’m baffled by the requirement to have 1,000 people for your pan page prior to May 31. So what do those of us do who are building our fan pages? My regular page has way more people than my fan page — I didn’t even think of building a fan page until recently. Hope to have you on my radio show again soon!

Connie Bennett’s last blog post.. Break Your Sugar Addiction Now

Connie Bennett
June 10th, 2009

Mari,
Great straightforward explanation of how to enable the new vanity URLs. It’s nice to have all of the info accessible from one page without having to bounce around to find it.
I was planning on writing a post about this for my blog today and after reading your I didn’t see any reason to reinvent the wheel.

Doug

Doug McIsaac
June 10th, 2009

Very detailed and helpful post, awesome! thanks for sharing!

silverpeanut
June 10th, 2009

Hi Mari, thanks for the info on 1000 min fans on FB “fan” pages. I had not heard about that yet. And I agree, I hope they lift that for those of us building a fan page following.

I appreciate you and all your tips!

Madalyn Sklar
June 10th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by RebeccaZwar - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by RebeccaZwar
June 10th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by denisewakeman - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by denisewakeman
June 10th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by barefoot_exec - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by barefoot_exec
June 10th, 2009

Mari, the way you communicate the valuable information you share is so great - I almost forgot that I tapped you to do that for me before you blew up!

You’re a geek that doesn’t do “geek-speak” and thankfully the rest of us can understand you.

You rock!

Graham White
June 10th, 2009

Great Mari, thanks so much, Warm Regards, Gordon

Gordon’s last blog post.. Success University, The People’s Network and ILG

Gordon
June 10th, 2009

Miss M to the rescue again!

Great info, Ma’am.

Thanks for being YOU!

~Ronald
TrueBeliever & HopeDealer

Ronald Earl Wilsher
June 10th, 2009

That’s good news! but I bet they will run out as fast as hot bagels with cream cheese at the office.

dave
June 10th, 2009

So glad to see your post on this topic! The trademark requirement is a bit odd when it applies to famous artists, fan sites with no affiliation to its management and grabbing URLs are a problem in Social Media. Writing to my artist pronto to inquire if they trademarked their name. Fingers crossed. : )

Nancy Seeger
June 11th, 2009

I love the username option, and I hope like you do that they get over the 1,000 fans limit!

Eleanor Prior’s last blog post.. GizaPage-Professional Organizer For Social Media Profiles

Eleanor Prior
June 11th, 2009

For those of late to joining the fan page game (I’m not admitting anything here), d’ya think we’ll have another chance to register vanity url’s for fan pages?

Morgana’s last blog post.. Taking Care of Yourself - Three Steps to Leave Underearning

Morgana
June 11th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by ssmirnov - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by ssmirnov
June 11th, 2009

As for the secure your trademarks form - if you secured it, would you have to create it? Could you potentially use it at a later date?

Curious
June 11th, 2009

Super helpful, Mari.
This is important, folks. I will be at my desk the minute this starts.

~~@CraigTeich

Craig Allan Teich’s last blog post.. Do You Need a Coach or a Consultant?

Craig Allan Teich
June 11th, 2009

I have to admit, I was on the fence about this for a bit.

After reading this post along with the guidelines they have implemented, I am a fan.

It’s going to be great to have that easy URL and the branding for pages will be awesome.

Thanks for the great info Mari.

JR Rivera’s last blog post.. What are Social REALTORs?

JR Rivera
June 11th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by deakaz - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by deakaz
June 11th, 2009

I’m confused about the Fan Page. Is there no way to register a vanity url for the fan page UNLESS it has more than 1000 fans?

Anne-Marie
June 11th, 2009

[...] Facebook is getting a lot of publicity right now about their vanity name deal. I am sure you have seen this already, if not check out this great post by the Facebook Queen, Mari Smith. [...]

Land Grabs and Count Downs | The Blog Herald
June 12th, 2009

[...] How to secure your Facebook username (Vanity Url) [...]

How to select a Facebook Username / Vanity URL — Network Marketing & MLM Training from Home Business Blogs
June 12th, 2009

[...] Thanks to Mari Smith for including this link in this post. Category: Internet Law, Marketing & Branding, Trademark, creative businessTags: facebook > mari smith > Trademark [...]

Trademarks on Facebook : The Business of Creativity
June 12th, 2009

Thanks for the heads up and the great ‘how to’, . As always right on top of the trends with useful info.

Cathy

Cathy Brennan’s last blog post.. Are You Afraid of Your Shadow?

Cathy Brennan
June 12th, 2009

I hope Facebook reconsiders the 1,000 fan minimum. Our page doesn’t have that many, but we are a well established brand. Come through for me facebook!!

Katie
June 12th, 2009

Thanks Mari - I have been lax about the fan page working more on the group - I can see now I’ve been going in the wrong direction! Must get busy and get focussed!

Anita Kaiser
June 12th, 2009

[...] This post was Twitted by LNReynolds - Real-url.org [...]

Twitted by LNReynolds
June 12th, 2009

Facebook says this limitation on the Fan page is temporary. All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009. http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=900

Kristie Wells
June 12th, 2009

[...] Facebook is getting a lot of publicity right now about their vanity name deal. I am sure you have seen this already, if not check out this great post by the Facebook Queen, Mari Smith. [...]

Herd Mentality | Toledo Business Referral Networking
June 13th, 2009

[...] Facebook made the announcement last week it caused some discussion which prompted many Social Media Marketers to share their [...]

Facebook Vanity URL | Social Networking News Daily
June 13th, 2009

Facebook Vanity names. It’s not vain, it’s marketing 101. Brand yourself.

Ashley Bolivar

Ashley’s last blog post.. Bing Pays to Fast Forward Commercials on The Daily Show

Ashley
June 13th, 2009

I got my name as the username.

You don’t need 1,000 Fans to get your own username.

Your Facebook account must be registered before June 9 as the only criteria.

Mike

Mike’s last blog post.. iThemes is now GPL

Mike
June 13th, 2009

[...] Facebook is getting a lot of publicity right now about their vanity name deal. I am sure you have seen this already, if not check out this great post by the Facebook Queen, Mari Smith. [...]

Land Grabs and Count Downs | BLOGCHINA
June 13th, 2009

Thanks for the clear explanation of why this is important. I’m happy to finally get rid of the random string of numbers in the current URL. I shared your post on my FB page because it’s the clearest explanation of how to secure a vanity FB URL. Thanks again!

Jennifer Akers
June 13th, 2009

[...] mentor and Facebook expert Mari Smith says, “Having your own Facebook username for both your personal Profile and your Fan Page(s) [...]

social media round up | oneicity // income solutions for non-profits
June 15th, 2009

Great post! I noticed Twitter was trending facebook the night of the big URL grab. Very exciting to be able to get your own name.

Cindy
June 16th, 2009

Turns out it is possible to have 3 and 4 letter usernames on Facebook. Not to sure if this is a bug or a easter egg or whether they intend to stop it but if you are still looking for a username why not grab a 3 letter for bragging rights

http://blackhat.me/3_letter_username_facebook/

blackhat.me
June 18th, 2009

Facebook usernames go fast! the day they opened it, I was patiently waiting for it but someone got my name first! I thought I’d go with my own name for personal branding purposes but I was forced to settle with my nickname+number. not good, I know..

carol
June 26th, 2009

[...] fanpages.  Read more about it here  Mari Smith The Pied Piper of Facebook also explains it all here. Previously to get a vanity url for your fanpage, you needed a minimum of a 1000 fans, initially I [...]

Facebook vanity urls for smaller business owners | the-personalassistant.com/blog
June 26th, 2009

[...] sure to first read my original blog post: How To Secure Your Facebook Username (Vanity URL) - summary criteria repeated below for quick [...]

Registering your Facebook Username - Second Wave, Verified Accounts | Facebook, Twitter, Social Networking to Grow Your Business! by Mari Smith
June 27th, 2009

Social media has become a rage so much so that even the best companies are hopping on the bandwagon but it has been abused as well, what do you think? Where is social media headed?

Implantingideas
June 29th, 2009

Mari - I’ve come back to your posts several times. You’ve got so much information in each & it’s all helpful and objective. I appreciate your information — it’s cutting down my learning curve!

Liz Weber
July 4th, 2009

Using a user name is very important i think. Because you can avoid fake profiles. Choosing a brand name like our nick name will be good because that can be remembered by our friends.

Akila
July 8th, 2009

Help. I started creating a FB account for our NPO, presuming I could later change the login name/pw to a generic one at the office. But, now it’s completely linked to my personal account and if I change one it changes the other. Worse, if my colleagues need to update FB, they have access to my personal page, too. Question: If I deactivate the organization’s page, will the name be available later (when using the Executive Director’s FB account)? We are afraid to deactivate it and potentially lose the name without knowing what might happen. Thanks for any insight!

Virginia
July 23rd, 2009

[...] sure to first read my original blog post: How To Secure Your Facebook Username (Vanity URL) – summary criteria repeated below for quick [...]

Registering your Facebook Username – Second Wave, Verified Accounts @ cash tower
August 18th, 2009

I always use my own name as user name.I feel good to tweet on this nice post, keep it up good work. Thanks

facebook applications
September 15th, 2009

Great info. Thanks for sharing

Facebook Applications
September 24th, 2009

Help! When I go to link it says it needs to verify me. When I enter phone number it says it was recently used. I used it to start SMS on my fanpage this morning! How Can I get this to work? I want to reduce my fanpage and personal profile URL. Thanks!

Janet Bocciardi
September 26th, 2009

Many online marketing companies are rendering Facebook to promote their business and generate traffic to their site. But doing excessive activities can result in getting your profiles banned. Let’s know what “not-to-do” when marketing via Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/ydpwxub

imannat
October 5th, 2009

I would suggest a username that you often use when doing transactions over the internet. this way, your facebook become identifiable to others. ;)

carol
October 12th, 2009

Hi Mari, you may want to update this post. The 1000 fan limitation was temporary. All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day have been eligible to claim usernames since June 28, 2009 as long as they have more than 25 fans.

anders
October 16th, 2009

I’m having a problem registering for my Facebook Username (Vanity URL). Since the rules for less than 1,000 fans is now in effect, has FB changed their policy to include pages that were NOT live (published) prior to May 31, 2009? This may explain why I can’t get a confirmation SMS text to my cell phone since I only became live late last month.

Please advise with thanks. I am a great believer in social media and would really love to get this issue resolved ASAP. Many thanks for your assistance!!

Coach Lon
October 19th, 2009

Point to Point information. thanks so much

Smart Web Solutions
November 1st, 2009

Oh boy, I’d better make sure I get in there early or my username could go pretty quickly!

facebook applications
December 1st, 2009

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