Facebook used to require pages and individual users to have at least 25 friends in order to claim a customized address extension. That meant any newbie had to accept an ugly URL usually including a long number. NOTE: This has changed back since this post was published. You do still need 25 fans in most cases.
No one can remember URLs like this and they’re too long to put on your marketing materials.
Now you no longer need 25 friends for your profile or page to get an easier-to-remember address.
Go to facebook.com/username to choose custom URLs for your pages.
Brian Carter is author of the books The Like Economy and Facebook Marketing.
I should point out that is being rolled out over pages. Not all existing pages are eligible for usernames just yet. I have tried to secure a username for my personal page and have been told that I am not eligible just yet (with less than 25 fans), but another page I created only two days ago was eligible. I assume (from that) that older pages will be eligible later, if at all.
Comment by Nathan — September 14, 2011 @ 4:23 pm
This is a fantastic move…It keeps people from stealing Your Username.
What do You Think?
"Happy Social-Networking !"
"Social Media Keith"
FastTrack 4 Social Media Certifed. http://FB.com/LORD.Marketing.south.bend
Comment by Keith D Shrock — September 14, 2011 @ 6:02 pm
I think you do again. Facebook is saying "is not eligible for a username at this time"
Comment by @BragInteractive — September 14, 2011 @ 6:05 pm
Worked on one page, but not when I tried a second one.
Comment by Joshua Carter — September 14, 2011 @ 6:15 pm
I'm sure you're following the FBChallange group, but sometimes 25 likes are needed, sometimes not. Folks are still trying to make sense of it.
Comment by Garry — September 14, 2011 @ 6:56 pm
Works if you own/manage active Facebook Pages.
Pages you've just setup or which have minimal amounts of traffic, likes, impressions, etc, you won't get given that option. It will say that "<site name here> is not eligible for a username at this time. In the future, <site name here> will be able to set a username."
Comment by Pedro Da Silva — September 14, 2011 @ 6:56 pm
Thanks for that! It let me update the name for X1 of my 50 fanpages. Then disallowed all others, saying:
xxxxxxxxxx is not eligible for a username at this time. In the future, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx will be able to set a username.
Hmmm, lets see if I can do it tomorrow lol
Comment by dstarr — September 14, 2011 @ 7:26 pm
Ok, this seems to be a nogo. I WAS able to grab the vanity URL for a brand new page, created a few hours ago. I created a new page just now and was NOT able to grab a URL. The page still needs 25 likes. My other pages also need 25 likes.
It seems this may have been a glitch? A temporary trial? One page per user?
Comment by greg2213 — September 14, 2011 @ 7:42 pm
Hi Mari, I just tried it to change my page username and it still says you need 25 fans to change username? Not sure how to get past that as I just created my first fan page. Any help would be great thank you! Kristen
Comment by kristencreative — September 14, 2011 @ 7:56 pm
This is a nice change! I know some pages don't even realize that they had to have 25 fans to begin with. I see some that haven't even claimed their URL yet and have hundreds of fans.
Comment by Brandy — September 14, 2011 @ 8:49 pm
Wow, what a horrible idea.
Comment by Tim — September 14, 2011 @ 9:22 pm
Just created a new fan page and it still has the 25 fan requirement. So either the info is bad, or the change is incomplete or specific to certain accounts…
Comment by Bill — September 14, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
Hmmm.. i just tried and im still getting the same old notification…
________________________ is not eligible for a username at this time. In the future, ___________ will be able to set a username.
I wonder if your post didnt alert facebook to this glitch and it has since been rectified?
Anyone else confirm this is still possible to lock in a unique URL without having 25 fans/likes?
Comment by Joseph — September 14, 2011 @ 9:57 pm
Here in Portugal it doesn't work yet! Still waiting . . .
Comment by Ruy Redin — September 14, 2011 @ 10:25 pm
It worked for the first one that I set up but said that the second one required 25 likes to get a username. I wonder if they are disallowing more than 1 sign up per session?
Comment by Steve — September 14, 2011 @ 10:35 pm
Not sure about this. I just tried to create a custom URL for a page of mine that has only 14 likes, and Facebook told me that I didn't have enough fans to do that.
Comment by learnspanishmexico — September 14, 2011 @ 10:50 pm
If only they let you change your Facebook page name in legitimate circumstances… Our business name changed and we are no longer allowed to use part of our old name but I can find no way to remove the offending words.
Comment by Paula Morgan — September 14, 2011 @ 11:52 pm
I still get the response "Username:Your page needs at least 25 fans to have a username. Learn more." when I have less than 25. Are you sure this info is correct?
Comment by Scott — September 15, 2011 @ 12:51 am
This worked for me for part of today. However it is no longer working. I am back to getting "you need 25 Likes" on pages with less then 25 likes. Looks like it was a glitch in the system.
Comment by Jeff Carter — September 15, 2011 @ 1:20 am
It's confirmed. One page per account. I guess FB doesn't want 50 million new pages going nowhere.
Comment by greg2213 — September 15, 2011 @ 2:15 am
Once I go there … what do I click on to select my custom names?
Comment by David Kamnitzer — September 15, 2011 @ 2:18 am
You can only do one though (per day?) – then it reverts back to saying you need 25 fans
Ian
Comment by Ian Raven — September 15, 2011 @ 3:01 am
is this for USA only as here in UK tried it on some demo pages and its still saying they need 25 likes
Comment by Mike — September 15, 2011 @ 4:56 am
How many Fans do you need? I have a page with only 2 likes, Facebook is stating that my page is not eligible for a username at this time. In the future, it will be able to set a username. However, I have another page with 19 fans and I registered its username!
Comment by @Abdisk — September 15, 2011 @ 5:31 am
That's nice. Finally!
Comment by @Tomorrow_People — September 15, 2011 @ 5:31 am
It appears that the free vanity URL only works for your first page – after that you still need 25 likes – see here for an example and please like this page while there – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Safeworlds-e-commer...
Comment by Mark — September 15, 2011 @ 5:41 am
That may be good but my page fans do not want their own pages.
Comment by Invoice Templates — September 15, 2011 @ 5:51 am
Can you only bypass the 25 likes rule with one page? I got my one company's page but tried for another one for a new blog and the 25 likes rule was back in place…
Comment by Scott McIntosh — September 15, 2011 @ 8:33 am
Unfortunately, after going through a number of the Pages I manage in order to add usernames, I have now reached a point where it seems as though this new feature has been disabled. Possibly this was a feature that Facebook is looking to roll-out in the future, but was accidentally activated – as so many features that we have grown to love today were leaked long ago.__When checking the Facebook Help Center for guidelines about Usernames, the answers of "If you were not able to get a username, your page may not be eligible to have a username at this time. Pages with more than 25 fans can get a username. " is still showing.__As soon as this feature is available across the board for all Facebook Page administrators, I would be willing to guess that the number of visits to Facebook Pages will greatly increase – where startups will be able to automatically list their Facebook Page on marketing materials, instead of waiting for 25 fans to get them to that point.
Comment by @AmberRosePR — September 15, 2011 @ 9:21 am
Doesn't work … Here's Q & A from facebook: I tried to get a username for my Page but Facebook said the Page was not eligible. What are the requirements?
If you were not able to get a username, your page may not be eligible to have a username at this time. Pages with more than 25 fans can get a username.
Comment by Ken g — September 15, 2011 @ 12:47 pm
This was briefly working but has stopped now
Comment by @suburbanfly — September 15, 2011 @ 12:50 pm
yeas these are the best news , i just made my account today
Best Headphones
Comment by Hussein Said — September 15, 2011 @ 1:01 pm
I'm pretty sure there's still some elusive criteria, as I ran into issues giving more than 1 of my pages Usernames..
Comment by Jeremy Rivera — September 15, 2011 @ 1:55 pm
Hmmm. Frustrating. I managed to pick up Usernames on 2 newly-created FB pages last night. But not realizing this was a temporary thing, I went to bed with the intention of doing more today. But alack and alas, they're back to requiring 25 Likes. Hopefully Mark & his boys/girls will open it back up, soon. Personally, I don't see the point: it's presumably to offer some kind of social proof of popularity, but everyone knows you can buy 25 Likes or more at Fiverr .. so what's the point?!
Comment by Richard Bowen — September 15, 2011 @ 4:10 pm
Yep same problem, one got through but not the second
Comment by @PrepaidPlans — September 15, 2011 @ 5:09 pm
I did 2 and then, no more possible
Comment by Kim Bélanger — September 15, 2011 @ 5:10 pm
I was able to convert ONE of my pages but when I tried to do it for the second, I got the old "minimum 25 likes required" error message. I'm guessing that FB doesn't want people going nuts and swiping all the choice pagenames right away.
Comment by ozarknature — September 15, 2011 @ 6:25 pm
I love this!
Comment by Jennifer — September 15, 2011 @ 6:37 pm
I love this
Comment by Jen — September 15, 2011 @ 6:37 pm
Same, one page was able to, none of my other pages were able to. Im happy though, I got one username for my client's page for them
Comment by David Jardine — September 15, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
I ran into the same thing too… hmmm ~ 25 limit back??
Comment by @dwaynekilbourne — September 16, 2011 @ 12:30 am
Interesting. I just tried it on one of my new pages and it worked!
Comment by Jan Wong — September 16, 2011 @ 1:20 am
Hi everyone. It appears to still work but it is one username per user. Eg – if you have 4 pages you will only get to immediately assign 1 username for 1 of those pages. The other 3 will then need to have 25 likes before you give them a username. Makes sense.
You can get around it slightly if you have a friend who is willing to act as an extra admin for your page. Simply add them as an admin and ask them to apply the username for you provided they havent already used up theirs.
There are of course other naughty ways of creating dodgy accounts to then act as admins but i'd advise against that…
Comment by Michael Brooks — September 16, 2011 @ 3:49 am
Hi Guys, You do not need 25 likes for only your first fanpage, if you want more than one fanpage on one account then you still need 25 likes.
Regards
Tony
Comment by Tony — September 16, 2011 @ 6:02 am
That's great news if it works…. I will keep @Michael Brooks in mind!
Comment by gecofor — September 16, 2011 @ 10:50 am
No actually I think it makes it easier for squatters to steal your username and worse than that Facebook does not give a damn about whether you have a domain registered in that name or anything.
If you want a really stupid example visit http://www.fb.com/ipad2 , what were you hoping to see something about the IPAD2, well Apple are big enough to claim a trademark and kick the squatter off, but as a website owner I may not have 10k handy to get a trademark and I doubt if you can even trademark a website that is not a brand.
As an FB user what might my expectation be if I typed http://www.fb.com/ipad2, do you think it MIGHT be something to do with the IPAD2 or some locked down page of a squatter? This does not deliver Quality, Relevance or Authority and if FB wants to encroach on Google then it needs to understand this.
The Google panda update was all about giving users better search results because affiliates who could not be bothered, created crap sites and spun ezine articles.
Now it is happening with facebook, I suspect that this is a move to give facebook more web real estate, more users and more buzz, but I think this will backfire because it will lower the value of the site content. FB is about genuine social interaction, it is not bitly and it is not Google, the 25 likes at least put the brakes on for those less determined, actually I would like to see it go to 100 likes!
I think this is a really STUPID move on Facebooks part.
Comment by Wilson — September 16, 2011 @ 8:27 pm
I am with you guys; I can't get my username either unless I have 25 fans still.
Comment by Lonney — September 17, 2011 @ 7:53 pm
Hi Brian,
Important note! I'm past the limit but will be sure to forward to my network.
Thanks for sharing.
Ryan
Comment by Ryan Biddulph — September 18, 2011 @ 12:18 am
I just did one successfully with 0 fans…
Comment by localbizbooster — September 18, 2011 @ 3:40 am
Well, I just discovered that you no longer have to "like" a page to comment on the wall or photos! I don't like this change, and see no way of fixing it!
Comment by Kristin Chevalier — September 18, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
My http://www.facebook.com/johnnymalloys custom URL takes a user not signed into Facebook to http://www.facebook.com. Does anyone know how to correct this?
Comment by Mike O'Malley — September 19, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
My http://www.facebook.com/johnnymalloys custom URL takes users who aren't signed in to http://www.facebook.com. Does anyone know how to correct this so that user is taken to page?
Comment by Mike O'Malley — September 19, 2011 @ 7:32 pm
My http://www.facebook.com/johnnymalloys custom URL takes people to http://www.facebook.com instead of the page (when they are not signed in). Does anyone know how to correct this?
Comment by Mike O'Malley — September 19, 2011 @ 7:42 pm
The only way around that is to set the age limit to 13+ but since it's a bar I doubt Facebook will allow that, in which case, the only way Facebook has of verifying a users age is for them to be logged in. Otherwise, when they land on a page with an age limit they wont' be able to view it.
Comment by @hughbriss — September 20, 2011 @ 3:37 pm
Hey All,
I just tried this and it's one per Facebook account.
If you've already done this once within your FB account, then you will not be able to do it again.
You'll have to either use another FB account that has not yet taken advantage of this, get 25 Likes on that page, or wait 'til FB rolls this out for all pages to get your vanity URL.
Yay! Finally!
Comment by @techgirllive — September 20, 2011 @ 5:47 pm
Ok it is only one fanpage per user that can get a vanity url without 25 fans. The trick is to add other facebook users as admins to the fanpages you want to change without fan limit. Worked for me.
Comment by Octavius — September 21, 2011 @ 10:19 am
I would like to put a blogname on a page so that it is separate from my personal page, but it always asks for my email address and would accept the blog email address. I am a total klutz at this.
Comment by Jean — September 27, 2011 @ 11:21 am
I wonder if pages that now sign up to customize their URL are allowed to later change their URL if their fan number is under 75 — like before. (I think 75 was the number…) Has anyone tried this scenario yet?
Comment by sierratierra — September 28, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
Being able to give a user name to a page with less that 25 fans seems to obey random criteria. I'm setting up two new pages and for one of them I could add a username with no problems; for the other one, which has similar characteristics, there was no way.
Comment by Sonia Garmar — September 28, 2011 @ 6:01 pm
I just wrote about this on the exact same day this was posted, but I didn't even see this post until now!…apparently we're on the same wave length!
Through the experiment on my blog, Facebook only allows you to do it once. However, if you can make someone else an admin and they haven't tried to change any other page's username that has under 25 likes, they can change the username. You just can't do it more than once. You get one free pass.
Comment by Morgan — September 28, 2011 @ 6:01 pm
Why isn't for all countries?
Comment by Ruy Redin — September 28, 2011 @ 10:41 pm
Just reserved a name for a brand new page with no likes – no problem – got it right away. Tried to do it for another new page and the message about needing 25 likes popped up. I'll try to reserve the second tomorrow.
Wonder if they're trying to avoid people going crazy by reserving names 'just in case'.
Comment by Sue — October 3, 2011 @ 5:27 am
You still need 25, just created a page, and they won't let me name it.
I have done dozens of pages, this is no mistake, Facebook wants 25 (I can get them) but this article is wrong. So if you are banging your head wondering what's wrong with you, the answer is nothing, the article is bogus.
Comment by Jeff — October 5, 2011 @ 7:52 pm
Thx man,
I have been going crazy thinking I could get my user name NOW before 25 names and found that NOT to be true for some user names.
Comment by austin — October 5, 2011 @ 11:39 pm
Well… I created three new fan pages. One two weeks ago and two last week. The first one, no problem getting the custom URL. The more recent two, it now says I need 25 fans to be eligible for username. Is this part of the roll out or did they reverse their decision? Anyone know?
Comment by Laura Rubinstein — October 9, 2011 @ 8:03 pm
Quick confirmation : 1 page per user gets a vanity URL without 25 fans. I got one and when I tried another, it said I need 25 fans. I logged in as my wife and created one and I got the URL right away. Its a very fair process and I like it so far.
Comment by prs — October 10, 2011 @ 2:05 am
Chris Great post and just reminds me of how many pages/posts that we really need to build to have a niche site worthy of eyeballs.
Now about the FB controversy.
OK people I have 3 pages and 1 personal page (personal page is the starting point).
You start with your personal page then you can build as many pages as you want from that.
You get 1 page after your personal page which you don't need 25 followers but after that all pages require the 25 followers. Sorry, don't shoot the messenger.
There is a number of FB training programs which you can take to learn the ins and outs of FB.
Comment by Thom Leonard — October 11, 2011 @ 2:49 pm
Sorry, this information is not quite accurate. I just tried to create a page for one of my clients and it says that it's not eligible.
Comment by Debra Edom — October 13, 2011 @ 5:27 am
Worked for me. I set up page for my non-profit, put in address and contact info, posted 1pic, which cross posted to my personal page, also "liked" it. When I checked back, it had 18 impressions but no additional "likes."
I used the link and secured the username.
So I tried it again immediately with another page, with no pic and no contact, and was unable to secure.
Go figure.
Comment by scott — October 18, 2011 @ 11:29 pm
wlwlwl Thank you for your attention
Comment by Vicky Enoch — October 22, 2011 @ 11:41 am
Thanks
Comment by Vicky Enoch — October 22, 2011 @ 11:44 am
wlwlwl
Comment by Vicky Enoch — October 22, 2011 @ 11:45 am
All works fine, but only one username per admin. So if you own more than one page, create another FB account and make it admin.
Comment by Vladimir Baranich — October 23, 2011 @ 7:54 am
i was able to create a new username for my page but when i log out of FB and add that 'approved' username/url to my address bar, it goes straight to the FB home page… is there a bug?
Comment by pam — November 4, 2011 @ 3:37 am
I've just created a page with 0 fans and it allowed a username.
Comment by Paul — November 21, 2011 @ 3:53 am
You can go to http://fiverr.com and just pay 5 bucks to easily get enough fans for a vanity url almost overnight, or more within a few days. For 5 bucks, I recently got 50+ fans literally overnight on each of 5 fan pages.
Comment by Dale — November 26, 2011 @ 2:07 am
Just trying on a new Facebook page and… It is "not eligible for a username at this time." Requirement: 25 fans. December 2011. Canada.
Comment by @darcykieran — December 8, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
Well, all I can tell you is that on 12/19/11 I'm being told that _I_ can't have a username for by business until I get 25 likes. I have one other page and it's only got 8 likes and it's got a UN. What's up with that?? <mad>
Comment by KLT — December 19, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
This maybe true but Facebook collects your Cell number to validate yourself! I FOUND THIS VERY STUPID ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT IT DOESNT WORK. WHEN YOU GIVE YOUR CELL NUMBER TO FACEBOOK TO VALIDATE YOURSELF YOU DONT RECIEVE A NOTIFCATION TEXT THEREFORE YOU CANNOT CREATE A USERNAME FOR YOUR FAN PAGE. THERE SHOULD BE AN ALTERNATE OPTION SUCH AS SEND IT TO YOUR EMAIL.
I FIND THIS NEW TOOL BY GIVING OUT YOUR CELL NUMBER TO FACEBOOK MORE PRONE TO SECURITY HACKING ATTACKS!
FACEBOOK……..IF USER ARE ABLE TO LOG ON TO THEIR PROFILE WHY THE F*CK WOULD YOU NEED THEM TO VALIDATE THEMSELVES BY ASKING MOBILE INFORMATION? FOR WHAT SO YOU CAN SELL IT?
REDICULOUS!!!!!!!
Comment by greatrealestateadvice — January 1, 2012 @ 1:52 pm
I wonder if that's the glitch
Comment by Lee — January 6, 2012 @ 2:27 pm
I created my Vanity URL http://www.facebook.com/VarietyGiftsandServices, but nobody is able to reach my Facebook page by typing in this URL. The only way for them to find me is if they are signed into their account and then do a search for my business. This defeats the purpose of the Vanity URL. Is this a fault with Facebook or is there something else I need to do? Friends with older business Facebook pages don't seem to have this problem. Thanks.
Comment by Rhonda — January 9, 2012 @ 2:55 pm
Hi. I have the same problem as you. Did you find a solution please?
Comment by Danielle — January 17, 2012 @ 8:28 pm
I never realized that until now. Thanks for info
Comment by freelancer — January 30, 2012 @ 10:01 pm
Well it is easy most of the time any way as you just use the community page feature and that gives you the ability to have a custom username with out having to have 25 fan like
Comment by James — February 4, 2012 @ 3:22 am