Branding Yourself on Facebook… Every Little Bit Counts

Today, I received a Facebook message from a friend who had a question about creating a Page. One of his questions was concerning the use of custom URLs.

He wanted to create one that would be short, easy to remember, and search engine friendly… Something like http://www.facebook.com/wholefoods.

Unfortunately, for those without massive budgets and/or star power, something like that seems to be off-limits, at least for now. What’s a guy to do in the meanwhile?

Obviously, you wouldn’t want to settle for the usual line of gibberish (like “profile.php?id=613890331/?sid=234218″) that follows the facebook.com domain.

So, how can you make lemons out of lemonade, and manage to create a URL that’s both brandable and search engine friendly? By using a php redirect on your own domain. That is, in my opinion, the best way to create a URL that’s both memorable and functional.

For example, my website is www.deontee.com. Currently, I have www.deontee.com/facebook pointing to my profile. I do the same for every other major social networking site I’m on, as well. This can be accomplished by using a simple php redirect script.

I don’t want to make this sound too technical, but all you have to do is:

1. Create a blank directory named “Facebook” (or any other service’s name) on your website.

2. Make an index file that only contains code for the php redirect script (shown below), then place it in the newly created directory.

<?php
header( ‘Location: http://www.yoursite.com/your_facebook_profile_link.html’ ) ;
?>

3. Upload the changes and you’re good to go.

Use the link you just created to promote your Facebook and social media profiles. I recommend this method over using applications which serve the same purpose.

While, many of them do act as a decent redirect service, using them means you’re missing out on a great opportunity to build your own brand. Instead, you’re just helping to build theirs.

Like I said earlier, for us regular folks, Facebook isn’t to concerned about providing members with custom URLs — at least, at this time. But, by using a simple redirect trick, you can build your brand, create a memorable domain, and make a search engine friendly URL.. And all it takes are 3 simple steps.

About The Author

Carol Hansen, a Twitter specialist focusing on building and monetizing your network. You can connect with Carol on Twitter or Facebook and follow her latest projects, blog posts and cool tips on building and monetizing your Twitter following.

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