For a year now we’ve been able to get custom URL’s for our Facebook profile and fan pages. Instead of something like
facebook.com/pages/someannoyingoverlylongstring
we can get
facebook.com/Anti.Social.Development
I get asked how to get one frequently so I decided to quick write this up and make the information readily available. This certainly isn’t an original post but I’m sure some will find it useful.
As of this writing, your Facebook fan page must have 25 fans before you can get the custom URL. Of course, this could change to one million or 10 with 6 of them being Samoans. It’s all up to the whims of Facebook and of course, they will have a very good reason for changing it (that is sure to be beneficial to their advertisers).
Once you have 25 fans, go to http://facebook.com/username Since this feature has been around for a year, you might have trouble getting the exact username that you want but you can try using periods and dashes. This same page is used to set up profile and fan page usernames.
And be careful using a “trademarked” name. Harman ran into some trouble with Harman International and Facebook threatened to take his username away. In this instance, however, the little guy got to keep the username. That’s a rarity.
photo credit: violscraper
“…Facebook fan page must have 25 fans before you can get the custom URL…”
Nice tip. I hadn’t heard of this before now. For us, having a keyword rich url could have it’s benefits in marketing.
.-= Colleen´s last blog ..Utter Disappointment And The Classiest Acts That Followed, Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers, Jim Joyce =-.
Hi Colleen – Thanks. But you never know – Facebook might change that number tomorrow ;-)
“the little guy got to keep the username.” I love happy endings. :)
.-= vered – blogger for hire´s last blog ..Shiny Happy People (Stock Photography Rant) =-.
Hi Vered – I thought the guy was going to lose the name and I’m so glad that he didn’t.
Not being with FB yet, I didn’t know this either, thanks! I will keep this around just in case. :)
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..The Future of DEDC – Part 4 – FINALIZED!…..? =-.
Check TweetMeme; big problem. I keep getting the error “already tweeted” and it refuses to tweet again.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..The Future of DEDC – Part 4 – FINALIZED!…..? =-.
Hi Dennis – I just tried Tweetmeme and it worked for me. My guess is that it was either a glitch with tweetmeme or related to the issues that Twitter has been having the last couple of days.
Yes, it is working OK again.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Attention Commenters: VALID Email Addresses PLEASE! =-.
I tried to give my fanpage a custom url but I failed now I understood that I should have at least 25 fans before giving a custom URL. Thanks for letting us know…
.-= Nasif´s last blog ..Blog Blazers Ebook Giveaway Contest =-.
Hi Nasif – Great – I’m glad the article helped.
This is great functionality for facebook to allow this. Advertising on there is very smart considering the traffic that site gets. It’s really a great way to network and promote your site online.
Nice tip! I was searching how to change the URL to a nice one. Your article helped me achieve that.
Thanks! :)
Also… keep in mind once you create a custom name, you can not change it. If you make a typo, it’s stuck. If you delete the page, the name can not be reused.
Detailed at http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=15077
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Being First is Not Always Best =-.
Hi Ari – Yes! Should have definitely added that to the article. If there is a typo the only thing that can be done is to start over.
gotta try this one, nothing to lose.. gotta reactivate my FB account again now..
.-= rainer´s last blog ..Windows 7 God Mode =-.
Hi – I’m hoping for a bit of advice, I’m about to change my page name, would it be better (for searches) to go for la.vidalerie or la.vidalerie.jewellery.making.holidays also can people who have the old url still find you with it ?
Thanks v much in advance – Karen
Hi Karen – I think the second one is too long – maybe end it after jewelry. I believe the old url redirects to the new one but I can’t find an example to test it.
I am the admin for our City’s fanpage. When I go to http://facebook.com/username it asks me to create a profile. I was under the impression that a fan page can’t have a profile because that function is reserved for individuals.
Is there another way to get a custom URL for our page?
Hi – Does the page have 25+ fans?
A fan page is associated with someone’s personal profile – it doesn’t exactly have a profile but the person who created the fan page needs to have one. Maybe that person needs to create the username…?
I’ve trying to get a unique url for a page I am an admin for it’s not letting me verify that I am a human. (imagine that?) Why is it asking to verify? Has it been always like that? I don’t remember ever verifying for the url name before. And if it’s not letting me use my mobile to do that it’s asking to enter the ‘network’ of a place of work or a school. It’s business page. The profile page is set up just for that purpose! It’s driving me mad. Got any ideas how to get the unique url? I checked the help center and of course, if was no help at all…….so I cane to “the source” – ANTI Social Development!
Hi Karen – Is it for the ecokarenspage or a different one?
I have not heard about asking for verification before – I’ve been looking into it but so far haven’t come up with anything …
It’s for a different one. It’s for a friend. The Perennial Chef. I’m an admin and I have the log in info for it. I’ve tried both ways but it’s asking me to verify that I am a human with a mobile phone number. It says it’s trying to text me a code but it’s failed numerous times.
When I got my own url, it just lead me to a field where I can type in my url but now there’s this verifying thing. I wonder if it’s because it’s set up as a store/business????
Hi Karen – Ok, I think I know what the issue is. A fan page is tied to a personal profile – in this case it’s probably the personal profile for your friend. She has to be the one to set the username – since that page isn’t tied to your profile it’s probably not going to let you set the username.
I’ve logged into the profile using his log in info and it didn’t work either.
Hmm … this is really odd. I’ll see what I come up with.