Unlike Twitter or LinkedIn, as I write this post Facebook does not have user friendly or Vanity URLs for members. On Twitter, you can find me at www.Twitter.com/andreastenberg. On Facebook it’s http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=785250004&ref=profile.
All this changes at one minute after midnight (your local time) Saturday June 13th. If you’re reading this on Friday June 12th, that’s midnight TONIGHT!
At that point you’ll be able to register your own user name for your personal profile and your fan page.
This is big news. Having a “vanity url” makes it easier for people to find you and for you to share your Facebook profile. Once you reserve your vanity url you’ll be able to easily direct people to your Facebook profile. It will also allow Google to more easily index you Facebook page, which should help with Google ranking.
The key to remember is once you’ve registered your user name, that’s it. You’re stuck with it. You can’t change it so consider what you choose carefully.
If you have a common name like Jane Smith, you might want to have some backup options in case www.Facebook.com/janesmith is taken when you register.
Some options you have when registering your user name:
- You can use periods, so jane.smith works.
- Your username has to be a minimum of five characters so you couldn’t register “Jane” but you could register “JaneSmith“
- You can use numbers so you could try jane97.
- You can only register one name for your profile (and you’re only allowed one personal profile).
- Generic user names (like “dogs” or “house”) are not available.
In addition, Facebook says:
If you signed up for a Facebook Page after May 31 or a user profile after [Tuesday June 9th] at 3 p.m. EDT, you may not be able to sign up for a username immediately because of steps we’ve taken to prevent abuse or “squatting” on names.
If you have a Fan Page – a page for your business – there are some further restrictions. Facebook says:
Your Facebook Page must meet two requirements: it must have been live on Facebook prior to the May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have had a minimum 1,000 fans at that time.
This limitation 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.
How to Register
At one minute after midnight on Saturday June 13th (ie, stay up late Friday night) go to http://www.facebook.com/username/. I suspect there many be some traffic issues as everyone tries to reserve their name so be prepared for things to slow down.
You will be taken to a form that looks like this:
Choose one of the options Facebook gives you or type in your own. Double check that the spelling is correct then click “Set User name”.
If you have a fan page and meet the requirements, repeat this for the fan page.
So set your alarm and go get that Facebook user name.
Andrea J. Stenberg
If you need more information about how to reserve your Facebook user name, check the Facebook Blog or the Facebook User Name FAQ.
