How to claim a username for your Facebook Page

A URL (web address) that is easy to remember has obvious benefits. If it’s easy to remember, it will be easy for people to find your website and return to your website.

More churches and ministries are developing a presence on Facebook and there’s lots of good reasons to do this. I’ve written a number of articles on the possibilities of Facebook – check them out here.

When you create a page on Facebook you will get a URL that is impossible to remember without a memory like a steel trap. However, it’s easy to create your own URL so that:

Here’s how:

  1. When you’re logged into Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/username/.
  2. On the landing page you will be able to set a username for your personal profile on Facebook. Beneath this is a link to ‘Set a username for your pages’. Click on this link.
  3. You will now see a drop-down menu listing the pages you are an administrator for (you can set a username for a group or event yet). Click on the page you would like to set a username for.
  4. You can now set a username. Think carefully about the username that you choose – you can only change it once (previously you couldn’t change it at all!).

Want help? Learn more about usernames.

I’ve used this process to create usernames for my church’s page (http://www.facebook.com/churchbythebridge) and the Communicate Jesus page (http://www.facebook.com/communicatejesus).

It makes it easy to then promote your Facebook page offline – my church has just created two posters for our noticeboard to promote our presence on Twitter and Facebook to passers-by.

  • http://sweetcharts.wordpress.com joelpj

    Hey mate, do you know of a web service that automatically secures a username across a whole variety of sites?

    for example – whenever a new “social media service” arrives i jump on quick and secure “joelpj”. I’ve been able to secure pretty much every major site, but it means i have to be up on the current trends.

  • Steven Kryger

    Check out KnowEm.

  • http://chrisashton.com.au/ chris

    Thanks for this Steve – my name was already taken so I can now be reached at http://www.facebook.com/chris.likes.schnitzel.

    :-)

  • http://st-eutychus.com Nathan

    I’m not sure if this is still the case – but I think you need at least 25 fan. To be able to set your username.

  • Jean

    Steve, when I go to that page there is no link marked ‘Set a username for your pages’. I am an administrator of a page, yet I can’t change the URL. Where do I go now?