When you first create a business page on Facebook, the URL to your gorgeous new page will be something long and unsightly with lots of numbers at the end.
While you can hide the ugly URL by creating linked text in your emails, blog posts, etc it’s easy to create a username for your Facebook page, and there are lots of good reasons to do it:
- You can tell people about your Facebook business page in conversation, ie, “facebook dot com slash health coach”
- It’s easier for your fans to tell other people about your page
- You can link to your Facebook business page without having to memorize or copy/paste the long URL
- When posting in places where you can’t add a link, you’ve got an easy URL
- Prevents someone else from using your business’ name as their Facebook business page username
- Allows people to find you easily on and off Facebook
- Makes it simple for you to add your Facebook business page link to your website, other social media accounts and everywhere else
So now that you’re convinced, let me show you how easy it is to do.
Requirements:
- You must already have a Facebook page set up for your business (this is different from your default personal profile)
- You must have at least 25 “likes” already for your Facebook business page
How to:
- Log in to Facebook and navigate to your Facebook business page
- Once there, click on Edit Page in the top right corner
- Next, in the left-hand column, click Basic Information
- On this screen, you’ll see an option to create a Username (if you already have 25 “likes”)
- Type in a username of your choice, keeping these points in mind
- You will not be able to change the username you choose
- Make sure that it’s very easy to remember, ie, no unusual spellings, weird abbreviations, etc
- Try your best to have it match the name of the page
- If the name you want is unavailable, consider adding -, or _, or even better, include your personal name along with the business page name
Bonus tip (this is a very good idea, but you can only make this change if you have 100 or less “likes”): Add your name to your Facebook business page.
Instead of, for instance, naming your page “Health Coaching” you would instead name it “Health Coaching with Jane Smith”, or “The Super Moms Health Coach – Jane Smith”.
This way it’s clear who’s behind the page, personalizes it, which is important for solopreneurs like us, and allows my page to show up anytime someone searches for me by name. You can make this change on the same page as the username change.
It’s all about building community on your Facebook business page so you can share what you know and create relationships with people who will become new clients and customers, and these tips will help you do just that.
To your awesome biz,
Heather