What is the difference between the Facebook username and page name for Facebook business pages?

We get asked to set up business Facebook pages on a pretty regular basis. There’s a few steps involved and one of the most important things is understanding the difference betwen the Username and the Page Name.

Why does knowing the difference between Facebook username and page name matter? It matters because you will want your business facebook page to properly represent you – especially in the name. A few factors to think about include:

• How long do I want the vanity url (username) to be (ie: https://www.facebook.com/Lexabi)
• Do I want the page name to be different from the username?
• Can I use the same name that I’ve used for my other social media?

If you’re fairly new to social media, we strongly recommend you do a bit of homework before naming any of your social media. In fact, some people will do this research before even coming up with a website address and it can even alter the name you’ve chosen for your business if you’re really new!

To create consistency and allow people to find you easily, having the same name on all your digital media is quite important. Here’s the homework:

• Write down the name of your business
• Explore different versions of your name that you would consider acceptable; list them in order of preference (use our form below if we’re helping)
• Now, go to the social media platforms you want to open and search for the the names you’ve listed.

Did you find them available, or not? What will you do if all your choices are taken?

Here’s an example of what we did:

• Business name: Lexabi Communications
• Website URL: Lexabi.com
• Facebook: /lexabi
• LinkedIn: /company/lexabi
• Instagram: /lexabicom (they didn’t have lexabi available and we found Lexabicom an acceptable alternative)
• Twitter: /Lexabicom
• Pinterest: /Lexabicom

Here’s a few things you need to know before you begin:

• You cannot make a Facebook Business Page without a personal profile. Facebook needs an admin profile for a business account.
• You can only have one username for your Page or profile, and you can’t have a username that is already being used (see above).
• Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A–Z, 0–9) and periods (“.”). 
• They can’t contain generic terms or extensions (.com, .net).
• Usernames must be at least 5 characters long.
• Periods (“.”) and capitalization can’t be used to differentiate usernames. For example, johnsmith55, John.Smith55 and john.smith.55 are all considered the same username.
• Usernames shouldn’t impersonate someone else.

If you see someone else’s username/page name going against any of these guidelines, it’s likely that they set up their Facebook page a long time ago and the rules have changed. Rules change… all the time. There was a time when you could only change a username twice, nowadays, you can change it every 7 days (click here to read their guidelines).

If you’ve been sent here by us, here’s where you really want to start paying attention.

Have a look at the graphic below and then scroll down past that, to fill out the Username and Page Name information. Submit that to us in order to get your page in production. Once we receive this information, we’ll be in touch to confirm your choices.