Did You Claim Your Facebook Vanity URL?

06 Apr Did You Claim Your Facebook Vanity URL?

Every Tuesday, here at the American Trust Escrow blog, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Have you claimed your Facebook username yet? If not, you should do so! It makes it easier for friends, family, and clients to find and connect with you on Facebook.

In June of 2009, Facebook gave users the opportunity to claim a “vanity URL” that represents their profile on Facebook. Over 6 million people registered their username within the first week. This optional process gives Facebook users a distinct web address for their profile and makes it much easier to share and promote your Facebook presense with others. If you haven’t registered your username, the URL for your profile looks like the before picture below. After you register your username, the URL for your profile will look something far more friendly (see the after image below).

To claim your username, go to http://www.facebook.com/username and follow the simple process that Facebook has set up. You can select a username that Facebook suggests or create your own. Select “Check availability” to check for available usernames. If the desired username is available, click “Set Username” in order to confirm your choice.

A few notes: Facebook usernames are permanent. In other words, they cannot be changed or transferred! This is an important consideration. How are you branding yourself? Are you using facebook for business or personal use, or maybe for both? Should your username be your full name or something more tailored to business (staceyharmon vs. RealtorStacey). Only you can make that decision. But, keep in mind that it cannot be changed. So choose wisely and make sure it is a username that will represent you over time. Your username must be at least five characters in length and only include alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), or a period or full stop (“.”) Once you have your new friendly “vanity URL”, consider adding it to your email signature to encourage those you deal with to interact with you on Facebook. It is possible to also have a vanity URL for a fanpage, but you must have over 1,000 fans and have registered your page before May 31, 2009 in order to qualify. More details can be found here.

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