How do I change the URL for my Facebook Page?
Customizing your Facebook Business Page URL
Facebook used to have a limit on the amount of “likes” you had to have on your business page before you could change the username or customize the URL. The limitations have been lifted and now you can change the username or custom URL to your Facebook business page whenever you are ready.
If you would like to change the username / customize the URL for your Facebook business page just follow the simple steps below.
- Go to http://facebook.com/username
- Select the Facebook business page you want to change. In my case I have several different pages I manage. You will see a dropdown list of pages you can change just select the one you want.
Drop Down List of Facebook Pages To Select From
- Once you have selected the Facebook page you want to change you will see the screen below
Changing Your Username
- Type in the username you want to use in the field shown in the image below. Try to stay consistent with your brand name. In this case the client’s name is Leon Kittrell so we want to use this same name for my clients business page.
- After you have selected the your username Facebook will let you know that your name is available .
Is the Facebook Username Available
- When you are done you will see the “Success” Window with your new custom Facebook URL.
Success! You are done!
Now you are all done. If you have any questions or would like other help with your Facebook Personal or Business pages just shoot me an email or comment below.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
857 Edgemont Ave Indianapolis, IN, 46208 USA
tami@ariesgraphicdesign.com • 3173454182
How to Manage the New Facebook Lists
Managing Facebook Lists
Many of us that use Facebook lists regularly thought that our Facebook lists had completely disappeared and we were all screaming our discontent by commenting in groups, commenting on each others walls, and even sending tweets. Facebook had just made a change that we felt was an #epicFail. I mean how could Facebook make such a change without asking us first. The nerve of them; just who did they think they were. Our nice neat lists categories we had grouped our Facebook Friends in were no longer nicely listed on the left side of our Facebook profiles and it was totally freaking us out. After doing a little digging I figured out they weren’t actually gone… they’re still there… and Facebook has done some tweaking that you will either love or absolutely hate.
Where are my lists?
You can now access and edit your lists in two different places
- You can go to any one of your friends profile page and access your lists on the top right hand side of the page in a drop down menu. Now you won’t actually see who is on your list there but you can add your friend to a list here.
Editing lists on profile pages
- You can now also access your lists on the left side panel of your home screen where it says lists. You can either click a particular list or you can click the word List and all your lists will come up for you to edit.
Lists panel on the left of your home page
Whats new about the lists?
- Now you can view a feed of people within in a particular list. For instance if you click Family as I did in the image below you can see recent wall posts made by anyone set to the family list.
Family List Screen Shot
- I can edit what posts I see from my family by clicking manage lists. If I don’t want to see your silly game updates I can uncheck game updates and it will be removed from the List page posts. Click “Manage list” on the upper right corner of your list page wall > Choose Update types > then select or deselect the options you want to see on this list wall.
Manage Updates
Select update options you want to see
- I can view those in my list on the upper right side of the list page by clicking “see all” and I can even add more people to the list if I need to.
View those in your Facebook List
- It is now easier to create new lists. You simply click on Lists on the left side panel of your home page or http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists follow this link. There you can click create new list at the top of your lists page to begin creating your new list.
Editing your Facebook Lists
Adding people to your lists can be done in two ways.
- The first is by going to >account >edit friends. You will see a list of friends with a clickable button that says friend next to each name. Click the word friend and determine which list you want to put them in or add new list criteria for that friend if you need to.
Adding people to your Facebook Lists
- Go to a particular list page http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/listsand then choosing a list. After you have chosen a list go to the right side of the page and add friends to the list.
Adding Friends to your Facebook Lists
These new changes have had many of us who use Facebook as a main source of marketing were in an uproar. We talked about this all night long. I remember when I used to love a new changes to Facebook but now that we are all so involved, using Facebook everyday to update and engage our users, that when a change comes about that affects us like this one… we all cry the blues. I hope that these tips help you understand the changes to Facebook Lists. If you weren’t using lists before I hope that this blog will enlighten you on how you can now use them to your benefit.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
Is it Acceptable to Like and +1 Your Own Content?
Just yesterday I was Google+ ing and came across a post from @Kimbeasley. Her post was asking if users should “+1” or “Facebook Like” their own content. Amazingly a few of the commenters thought it was blatant/overt self-promotion to +1 and Like your own posts. One response said that they actually make fun of people who like their own posts. Wow! Really?!?! Ok, if you say so…..
+1 your content
First let me explain what is considered Blatant/Overt self-promotion in regards to social media. Big Fat SPAM! You know the people that post their services and products to your Facebook wall and you barely know them? How about the people who tag you on their pictures that are sales ads? That is Blatant Self-Promotion and it is very, very, very irritating.
There is nothing wrong with self-promotion when it is done the right way. So what are some of the right ways to self promote?
- Posting sharable content (posts that people like and share)
- Posting questions/statements that generate conversation
- Networking and sharing other peoples content (yes sharing others people content is a form of self-promotion)
- Blogging about information that is informative, helpful, funny, or beneficial to those who read it
- Commenting on other peoples posts & blogs sharing your knowledge
- Liking, +1 ing, sharing and tweeting other users content as well as your own
So what about those people who thought +1 ing and Liking your own posts was blatant self-promotion? Well if I post it and I liked what I posted, why not. I would also point out that +1 ing, Liking, Sharing, & Tweeting your own content has SEO benefits. Each social media like/plus/share to your content increases your search engine rankings. This is important if you are a business owner trying to get traffic to your website…. and traffic back to your website is the ultimate goal right? But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion so… if you choose to miss out on the possible benefits… well that is totally up to you.
Lastly and more logically how will anyone know about the services and products your company sells if you don’t self promote. Tastefully promoting your company by sharing beneficial, shareable content is the acceptable way. Do not be scared that someone will be offended if you tweet, like or +1 your own blog posts; doing so only makes good business sense.
Now for a little “Blatant” and “Overt” self-promotion, I will be adding a signature to the end of this blog post. Oops did I offend you?
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIMHow Does Facebook Determine Friend Suggestions or “Friends You May Know?”
Facebook People You May Know
Just recently I was asked by one of my best friends, why Facebook would suggest friends of which she had no mutual friends. We discussed it for a moment looking for similarities in her profile in comparison to the suggested friend and although they lived in the same city there was no congruence’s that would be cause for the friend suggestion. The person in question did not even have their city listed in their profile. So I did some research and found a few blogs and learned that Facebook saves your imported contact lists and based on the email addresses you have uploaded it suggest friends… even those friends you chose not to add or “skip”… Not only it use your email contacts, it also uses the synced Facebook list on your smartphone to determine friends to suggest as well. Not Cool Right?
Not only does Facebook save your contact list to suggest friends to you… it uses other peoples contact lists and figures out possible relationships based on mutual contacts from their email lists as well… Now it made so much sense. My friend did not use Friend Finder but I did and the email address of the person in question was in my list. Now that is just creepy.
So what does Facebook say about Friend Suggestion?
People You May Know helps you find people you are likely to know. We show you people based on mutual friends, work and education information, networks you’re part of, contacts you’ve imported using friend finder and many other factors.
Since our formula is automatic, you might occasionally see people you don’t know or don’t want to be friends with. …..Via the Facebook Help Center
I have 1600 plus Facebook friends and could care less about friend suggestions. If you request to be my friend, I’ll add you; as internet marketer exposing people to my personal brand can only help me and my business. But what about those people who value their privacy and would rather not see friend suggestions of ex boyfriends or their boyfriends ex girlfriends. Facebook does allow users to delete the contacts uploaded with the Friend Finder but this only deletes your contacts… it does nothing for the other possible people you know on Facebook who have your email address in their contact list.
You can also keep people from seeing you as a suggested friend on other peoples profile by following the directions below.
- Choose the “Privacy Settings” option in the Account drop-down menu at the top of any Facebook page.
- Select “View settings” in the “Connecting on Facebook” section.
- Change the settings for “Search for you on Facebook” and “Send you friend requests” to “Friends of Friends”.
It is important to note that I did not find any official Facebook blog stating they are actually harvesting users email contact lists & comparing them against others to determine your friend suggestions. Below is what they do say.
I do not want “People You May Know” to find people based on contacts I have imported using the friend finder.
If you have ever used friend finder, the People You May Know feature may show people who have your email address in their address book and/or contacts that you have in your address book. If you would like Facebook to remove these contacts, please follow the instructions found here. …..Via the Facebook Help Center
If the above suggestions aren’t enough to make you feel comfortable about friends being suggested to you or even whose profile you may show up on as a friend suggestion, maybe you should just delete your Facebook profile all together. Facebook and privacy are two words that don’t mesh very well. Your digital fingerprint is already on the Internet and chances are if someone wants to find you… they will.
Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing http://ariesgdim.com Indianapolis, IN tami@ariesgdim.comFacebook Fans vs Website Visitors…. Which is better?
Today while doing my normal scanning of sites to keep up with the Real-Time news on discoveries regarding business branding and marketing I came across a blog emphasizing the huge traffic disparity between Brand websites and Social media sites. I could preach to 
you until cows turn purple regarding the importance of social media marketing for your brand but we all know numbers do not lie; users love interacting with brands on social media platforms.
One thing you should notice about these top brands is that their focus is not on selling their products online. Their branded websites are more informational than anything else. These are brands that have become social and have brand loyalty based on what they offer their users. Users are able to receive announcements about new products and promotions in the same place they socialize with friends and families everyday which eliminates the need to actually visit their websites but is this really good?
Social media platforms have a multitude of activities to grab your users attention. Posts from their friends, Facebook instant messages, friend requests, email, new events and advertisements from your competitors bombard users. Is this really where you want to have most of your brand traffic going? Yes, social media platforms are important for brand awareness and are a great tool for finding, engaging, and getting to know your user base but in the end, traffic should be driven to your company website.
What could these brands do to drive more traffic to their websites?
Brand/Company websites should integrate social platforms into their website allowing users the ability to be in two places at one time. Allow users to visit the brand website while still remaining connected to Facebook. Something else brands can do is use Facebook announcements, specials and promotions to drive traffic back to their brand website. Lets say Coca-Cola is giving away free samples of a new flavor of Coke. Instead of asking people to like their page or having user sign up to receive their samples on Facebook; Coca-Cola should drive that traffic directly to the company website where the free samples can only be claimed on the Coca-Cola website.
Social Media Marketing is a great marketing “tool” for any brand but don’t forget that building traffic to your own company website should always be your number one priority. You can easily lose a user on a social media platform because they are constantly bombarded with information. You need their undivided attention to sell them on your brand, your product/service or your promotion with out distraction.
Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing Indianapolis, IN Tami@ariesgdim.com
