Data Entry for Social Network Sites at using remote connection to USA: How to Give Your Facebook Page a Custom Username

Are you seeing a “Create Page @username” on your Facebook cover photo and you aren't sure what that means? Would you like to create a custom URL for your Page so that it can be easily found?

If you have not yet set up a custom username for your Facebook Page, you may be seeing some new text under your Facebook Page name. Don't worry, as an Admin of your Page, you are the only one who sees that cryptic message. But it's a good idea to get your Username set up so that your Page is more “findable” (which should totally be a word).

What is a Facebook Custom Username?

First of all, what does a custom username do for you? Didn't you already name your Facebook Page? Yes but the custom username is also the custom URL or web address for your Page. So instead of a long Page web address like http://ift.tt/29MJzFW, you can specify a shorter name that is easier to put on business cards like: http://ift.tt/29Nna8q. Ahhh much better.

Just to be clear, the Create Page @username is only visible to Admins and the category still appears to other people:

To view your Page as a Page visitor, just click on the 3 dots and select View as Page Visitor.

When you do that, you will see that your Facebook Category is still showing and you can switch back to the regular view to manage your Page.

One important thing to note is that when you do choose a Username for your Page, the category will be removed and your Page username you choose appears under your Page name. So Facebook seems to be de-emphasizing the categories of Pages.

Facebook Page Username Tips

Facebook is now asking people to set up their Page username in the Setup process (shown in step number 3 of my How to Set Up your Facebook Page blog post) so many people are setting it up earlier.

Be careful when setting up your Username because Facebook only allows you to change it one time! And after that, it can be very challenging to change it again.

A few things to consider when choosing a username:

No spaces or underscores but you can have periods separating words

You cannot have .com at the end of your username (and that would be confusing anyway)

Capitalize the words for readability (this will not affect if people type in lower case letters for the address)

Usernames can be a maximum of 50 characters (although shorter can be better to prevent mistakes)

Your preferred web address may not be available

It's hard to transfer usernames but if you “release” a username it can be “reclaimed” by another Page or profile. This happens often when someone accidentally set their personal Facebook profile up with a name that they may have wanted to use for their business. Usually there is just a short waiting period that seems to vary.

Note that I can't help with Facebook username issues – that has to be handled by Facebook and you can message the Facebook Help Center for that.

How to Set your Facebook Page Username

To set your Facebook Page username, you can either just click the hyperlinked “Create Page @username” on your cover photo and a popup box appears, or your username settings are in your About section of your Page.

When you click there, a popup box appears.

If your preferred username isn't available, you will get a message that you cannot use that username.

I suggest capitalizing the first letter of each word for readability (it won't be case sensitive when people type it in to their browsers).

Then just select Create Username and you are done!

The only thing I'm not in love with is the fact that it's a bit redundant if you are choosing a username that is similar to your Facebook Page name. But it's Facebook – it could all change tomorrow.

Once you set your Username, your old links to your Facebook Page (with the longer address) will still work. But now, you can use your shorter name to direct people to your Facebook Page.

Hope that is helpful and let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

And go grab my free e-book: How to Set Up a Facebook Page: Your 10-Point Checklist.