photo by megandavid
So the Facebook vanity URL goldrush is on… In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, Facebook has basically announced that since this past weekend you could log in and get a username. Instead of getting to my FB profile with a long-ass url, you could hit up. www.facebook.com/ryanmiller315 – easier to remember, right? It fits on a biz card, or an email signature.
That’s the upside. The downside is that its first come first serve (not really a downside I guess) but once you choose your url, that’s it. You can’t change it. EVER. So before you decide you want your FB url to be BigSexy99, think again. Its like getting a really bad tattoo. My friend Katie has a good post on this as well that I caught as I was writing…
But inevitably there are going to be lots of Ryan Millers out there so the chance that I would get my own name was slim to none. Alas, I’m stuck with something less than ideal.
Where there has been a lot of excitement is when it was announced that brands (fan pages) can also get a vanity url. I could hit up www.facebook.com/cnn – again, easier to remember. The downside? You need to have at least 1,000 fans to qualify. So I really can’t get the hook up for my indie music fan page. That sucks.
But is this huge news for brands? Gary V. did a quick video about this announcement and thinks its a game changer. But I have to disagree. Sure, its convenient and for brands that are already playing in that space, its a nice addition and a welcome tool for establishing a presence on the network. But I don’t think its earth shattering.
Here’s why…
First of all, I think FB is a much better platform than MySpace was, in terms of organization, applications and visual layout. One of the reasons I think people left MySpace in droves was because it was almost too open. I couldn’t deal with dancing hamster backgrounds and Tide Detergent adding me as a friend when I wasn’t a fan to begin with. Facebook however, isn’t nearly as customizable as it could be and while its a good platform to interact with fans that are already on that platform – as a brand I have much more flexability for design and features on my own website (should I have the time and budget to invest in building what I want).
I’ve also read that this will be great from a marketing standpoint… But why would I market my facebook URL as a brand? I know its the next ‘cool thing’ but if you’re a business that is doing work in social spaces, marketing on Facebook alone isn’t going to cut it. Maybe you have a blog, a Twitter account, and a Facebook account… Why then would you market the Facebook page? I think its a better idea to get people to your website and link them off to the platform that they prefer. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be doing outreach on EACH platform, but to pimp your FB page on a billboard isn’t a battle plan.
So how could a brand still capitalize on this if they dont’ have 1000 followers or got beat in the gold rush? My advice is to standardize and redirect. If you’re a business and don’t own a domain name, (ryancmiller.com) spend the $10 and get one. You’ll be glad you did. Then I would make sure that all my pages on social networks are easily accessible from my main website or blog. And finally, if you want to pimp your facebook url but didnt’ get a vanity url – just build a simple redirect page (here’s how) that takes you to the Facebook Fan page when you hit www.yourdomain.com/facebook . Its simple. You can change it. and It Works.
What do you guys think? Does having a FB vanity url matter for people or brands? Is it a game changer? Am I full of crap? More importantly, did YOU get the url you wanted?
really, really smart idea on the http://www.yourdomain.com/facebook
Hey Ryan, nice post. As crazy as it may sound, I was actually able to secure http://www.facebook.com/jacksmith! That has never happened before so I was pretty happy about it. I know, I’m a GEEK! At least that works for my personal profile.
I also like the idea of the re-direct which is what I am doing for The Social Latte fan page with a sub-domain – http://www.facebook.thesociallatte.com I also use that for my LinkedIn, Delicious and soon YouTube channel which makes it easier for people to find me.
Also, Facebook will be lifting the 1000 fan hurdle for Fan Pages on June 28th so be sure to get that address for your indie music page. Here is the post at Mashable – http://mashable.com/2009/06/11/facebook-page-usernames-2/
Once again, thanks for the post!
Jack,
Thanks for the comment. I’m really surprised you got your name as your url. We’re you on at 12:01 or was it just the luck of the draw? I also think its cool that you are utilizing things like redirects and subdomains for the different groups. Makes things a lot easier – plus you really have a lot of control over it. I was thinking if you were running a particular campaign on FB you could change our your subdomains / redirects as needed which would be cool for testing / tracking purposes.
And thanks for the heads up on the fan page restrictions being lifted. Hopefully I’ll be able to secure something good for the fan page. Hope you’re doing well.
Ryan – thanks for the link!
I definitely fell into the crowd of “This is a critical, lifechanging development! Brands MUST get their names!” But after reading this post I think you’re idea of redirects (and the way that Jack has used several for each network) makes a TON more sense.
If you’re a big brand though I still think it would be key to grab that name off Facebook if only to keep someone else from getting it and potentially hi-jacking (at the worst) or confusing (at least) your customers who get to those pages on accident looking for you.
I agree, it’s not a game changer. It’s notable, arguably important but once it’s taken care of it’ll be business as usual.
Internet marketing is one big web; and everything is interconnected somehow. So if you’re only marketing your facebook url; you’re severly missing out. An online business (or any with a website) should leverage all forms of social media and link/redirect one to the other in each of them.
I agree with you on creating a (customizable AND interchangeable) redirect page on your website. That’s a great way for someone who doesn’t have a fan page to work it.
But I also agree with Katie D; when she advises to grab the FB name “if only to keep someone else from getting it and potentially hi-jacking (at the worst) or confusing (at least) your customers”
Great post.
Robyn & Katie,
Thanks for your comments. Its much appreciated. Katie, I do agree that brands shouldn’t just abandon getting their FB extension. I really didn’t think much about brand squatting on those URLs.
I wonder if as a user I could have had my PERSONAL url be: facebook.com/toyota . Wonder what would happen then? Will FB eventually create a market for these kinds of things? Is Toyota SOL? Or will I as a user get overridden even though I was there first. Wondering if there are any examples out there.
Robyn, did you secure your name yet? Just curious. And Katie, have you run into any clients that missed out on their own names? What would you advise them to do in that case?
Thanks again for the comments, everyone. Your insights and conversations are usually way more interesting than my posts!
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