by Mari Smith - How To Secure Your Facebook Username (Vanity URL)

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:

http://www.facebook.com/PizzaHut http://www.facebook.com/Target http://www.facebook.com/AshtonKutcher� http://www.facebook.com/VinDiesel http://www.facebook.com/gary [Our own @GaryVee

Personal profile example:

http://www.facebook.com/james [Facebook staffer]

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.

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:

Your Fan Page must have been LIVE (published) on Facebook prior to May 31st, 2009, AND 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 tw fef o 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:

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!

Coming Soon: Facebook Usernames [Facebook blog] Facebook Usernames Coming Soon for Pages [Facebook blog] Facebook Begins Rolling Out Free Profile Usernames For Vanity URLs [AllFacebook.com] Facebook Usernames: Good Idea or Not? [Mashable.com] You Have Three Days To Pick Your Facebook Vanity URL. Choose Wisely, Or You’re Screwed. [TechCrunch.com]

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