Make a Personalized Facebook URL
A vanity Facebook username or URL can help you further your brand, make the address easier for your clients and customers to remember, and help you to remember it when linking it to your website or including it on business cards and other correspondence. The service is free from Facebook, and you can learn how to make a personalized Facebook URL to use on both your personal profile and any fan pages you may be in control of.
Contents
Steps
Personal Facebook Pages
Personalize your URL through the Browser Address Bar
- Go to Facebook. Visit Facebook’s website using any web browser on your computer.
- Log in. Use your registered email address and password to log in. The login fields are found on the upper right corner of the page. Click the “Log in” button to proceed.
- Enter “www.facebook.com/username” on the browser’s address bar. This will take you to the username creation page of Facebook.
- Do this only if you don’t have a personalized URL yet. Otherwise, you will be brought to page indicating that you already have a vanity URL.
- View username options. Once you reach the page, you will be presented with some options that you can use for your username. The last option here is a free text field where you can enter your own username, if you don’t like any of the proposed ones.
- Select a username. From the options, click the one you’d like. If you want to create your own username, select the last option and enter the username you want.
- Check availability. Usernames are unique. You have to check for your username’s availability first before it can be yours. Click the “Check availability” button right below the options.
- Confirm the username. If the username you’ve selected is still available, you will be informed via a message box. Click the “Confirm” button on the box to officially make it yours.
- If it’s unavailable, you will be brought back to the username selection page so you can choose another one.
- Direct friends to your personalized URL. You will see a confirmation page indicating your new vanity URL on Facebook. You can now share this with your friends and have them directed to your personal Facebook page.
Personalize your URL through Settings
- Visit Facebook. Open any web browser on your computer, and visit the Facebook website.
- Log in. Use your Facebook account and password to log in. The login fields are found on the upper right corner of the page. Click the “Log in” button to proceed.
- Go to General Account Settings. Click the down arrow on the rightmost part of the page header. This will bring down a menu. Click “Settings” from here, and you will be brought to the Settings page for your Facebook account.
- The first section on the left panel of the Settings page will be the General Accounts Settings. The right side will display all settings for this section, including the Username section.
- Click the Edit link beside your current vanity URL or Username. The Username section will be expanded, showing you your current username in an editable text field.
- Type in the new username you want to use. Your username can only be changed once, so this is your last chance to do so. You’ll be stuck with what you enter here for the rest of your Facebook life.
- Check availability. As you enter your new username, Facebook will automatically check for its availability. If it’s unavailable or doesn’t meet the requirements, an error message will appear right beside the text field.
- You will see a message “Username is available” when you’ve entered something acceptable and available.
- Click the “Save Changes” button right below it when you’re done. Your new username will be saved.
Facebook Pages
- Log in to your Facebook account via your computer with the account that administers your Facebook Page. Do not use any Facebook app for your mobile phone, as this will not connect you to a browser where you can visit the URL required to set the username.
- Visit https://facebook.com/username in your browser.
- Choose the fan page or profile you want to create the Facebook page URL for. If you are naming a user profile, you will be eligible to create a custom URL right away. If your page has less than 25 fans, it will not be eligible for a custom Facebook page URL.
- Type the name you want to use for the page, and click the "Check Availability" button. This will let you know whether or not the name has already been used by another Facebook member.
- Check and double-check your name and spelling because you can only make your own Facebook URL once per profile or fan page. It cannot be changed unless you start over again with a brand-new profile or fan page.
- Click the "Confirm" button when you are satisfied with the username.
Tips
- The Facebook help center states that generic words are not available for use as a profile name. Users are encouraged to use a name that closely matches their business name or brand to make it easier for friends and fans to remember.
- Use your new custom Facebook URL everywhere to increase traffic to your profile or fan page. Use it in email and forum signatures, print it on your business cards, and include it in all your advertising and marketing materials.
- You must be a page administrator to choose the Facebook page URL for it. If you are not an administrator, you should speak to the current administrator and either ask to be made one or suggest the name to him or her.
- If your website is not ready yet or is undergoing a redesign, you could always have your domain forwarded to your Facebook page to let people know what's going on and keep them up-to-date about you or your brand until the website is complete.
- When this feature first became available on Facebook, users needed to have at least 1,000 fans to utilize it. If you have less than 1,000 fans and have yet to name your page, you can check your eligibility again.
- Changing your vanity URL can only be done from the Facebook website.
