by Lon Reed

How your 'Name' appears on your Facebook Fan page is important! And we're not talking about your 'Username' often referred to as your distinct URL - though this is definitely important as well.

The Name is what appears at the top of your Facebook page (beside the 'like' button) and your Username is what shows up in the url/address bar. The Name is crucial because it is the important info utilized to create search results when customers do a search utilizing the Facebook search feature.

For this reason, you want to consider carefully what your page name should be. For sales representatives like realtors and mortgage brokers, do you have a name that is well known in your field when customers conduct a search? Or do you work for a well known business that customers may search for? In other words, is there an advantage to including both the company name as well as your personal name in your Facebook 'Name'?

It makes sense to 'Name' your page whatever your customers are likely to think of or be searching for on Facebook, or as close to this as reasonable.

If you are a realtor or a mortgage broker or a specialist of some sort, you may want to integrate something about your specialty when you Name your Facebook business/fan page. It will make it much easier for people who don't know you and have not heard of you to find you by your specialty.

For example, say Jane Smith is a realtor in the Carterville, IL area. She may choose to set her Username (which is unchangeable once set, at this date) as CartervilleHomes (assuming this Username is available ). When creating her Page Name she may choose that she would prefer to use Jane Smith as the Name that appears at the top of her Facebook business/fan page (s). Again the Name is different from the Username or distinct url-- and the Name CAN be changed as long as you do not have more than 100 fans/likes. The Username can't be changed once set.

Here's the conceivable issue with just Naming the Page Jane Smith: People searching under Carterville Illinois Homes or Realtors are not likely to find Jane's Facebook business/fan Page. If she names her page: Jane Smith, Realtor - Remax Realty, Carterville, Illinois, she now has several possibilities for the Facebook search to grab onto and hence a better likelihood of being discovered by someone looking for a realtor in her area.

Here then are a couple details to consider when naming your page:

  • Page names aren't limited to just one business or person. They don't need to be approved as unique by Facebook. Unlike the 'Username' that is only available to one user (referring to the distinct URL)
  • You may change your Facebook page Name as long as you don't have 100 or more fans - after that the name is unchangeable
  • Once you set your Facebook Username (distinct URL), it can't be changed. There are some restrictions on what Name you can use with your Facebook Page and if you use a name that is not yours to use your Facebook privileges may be revoked by Facebook.

To change your Name or to reserve your unique Username, click on 'edit info' on the top of your Facebook Business Page and it will open up the 'Basic Information' link where you can change your Name or select your distinct Username. While your Facebook 'Name' is key to the Facebook search function, the 'Username' makes it much easier to promote your Facebook Page using an easy to remember Facebook URL/address. Your Facebook URL is as well important for other non-Facebook search engines such as Google or Bing.