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It is over 2 years since Facebook allowed the use of vanity URLs on Fan pages, a lot of businesses on the world’s largest social network are still not taking advantage of the huge benefits it can afford their business.

What is a vanity URL

A vanity URL is an easy to remember URL that points to a page that is related and indicated in the name of  the URL. The main purpose of vanity URLs is for advertising campaign or to promote a product, event or service.

This means instead of having a long & ugly default URL (https://facebook.com/pages/yourbusiness/7724434522218) assigned by Facebook when you created your account, you can now personalize your Facebook address by selecting a unique username and have a short and memorable address to direct fans to, e.g. https://www.facebook.com/username.

Several things for you to remember:

• You need to be admin of the page in question
• You can’t change the username of your page once you set it.
• You can’t transfer the ownership of a username to another party.
• You can’t violate anyone else’s trademark rights.
• If you are acquiring a username to sell it in the future (squatting), you will lose it.
• Usernames may be reclaimed for other unauthorized usages.

Facebook lists the following restrictions:

• Create a username that is as close as possible to your public figure or business name (e.g. ThieryHenry, McDonalds).
• If you own the rights to a given name, make it your username so that others cannot obtain it.
• Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”).
• Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable.
• Your username must adhere to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
• If your trademarked name has already been taken, you can notify Facebook of this intellectual property infringement.
• For more FAQ, check out the Usernames for Facebook Pages Help Center.

How To Create Your Vanity URL/Username

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/username.

2. Choose the page you will like to create a vanity URL for by selecting it using the drop-dowm arrow.

3. Enter your desired username in the box opposite.

4. Click on Check Availability to see if the name is still unsed. If your desired username is used then play around with the word until you are able to get an available username.

5. Read the notes on the Username Available window and then click on Confirm to continue.

6. Click Okay on the Success window to complete the process.

Your vanity URL will now be displayed with a note that you can direct your fans to that web address.

Vanity URL Tips

• Make your vanity URLs memorable & easy to remember
• Keep them short
• Consider including descriptive keywords that accurately describe the page or the product.

Have you recently implemented this process to create your Facebook vanity URL? Let us know in the comment section below.