Why You Should Change Your Facebook Page Name

You may not even realize that you can change your Facebook page name. It’s a really simple yet powerful action you can take to protect your brand, get more easily found in search, and it’s faster to type. Check out the information below on how to change the name, what to think about before doing it, and why you can’t change it.

Why should I change my page name?

• It’s clean branding. See below.
• It’s easier to type than the one they assigned you (which will still work, by the way.)
• It presents a great opportunity for businesses to consider incorporating generic keywords for increased search engine optimization (SEO).
• Owning your digital name and URL is a good idea in every location that your customers are.

How do I change my Facebook page name?

• You must be an admin of the page
• Navigate to the About section in the left sidebar menu
• In the General section, choose Edit next to Username
• Facebook’s instructions

Why can’t I change my Facebook page name?

You need 100 fans before Facebook will consider changing it. This is to prevent username squatting or people that use up names and hold them hostage for the highest bidder. Can you imagine if someone was able to get the page name facebook.com/starbucks before the brand did? This happened to Madonna years ago when someone else got to her website domain first. It was a struggle to get it back.

You can’t use entirely generic words in your username such as: pizza, apple, travel etc. You can use them if they are combined with your business name or contained in the name already.

Things to think about when changing the name

You can change the name once every 60 days. But after changing it 2 or more times it will be extended to 120 days. They may take away the ability to do so. Here’s the Facebook Help contact form to ask for help.

You won’t be able to make a significant change which Facebook cites as, “name changes and migrations that do not result in a misleading or unintended connection. Additionally, you may not request a name change or migration that would result in re-categorizing a product Page to a brand Page, a generic or opinion Page to a brand Page, or a Group to a Page. All migrations are at our discretion and are final.”

Some pages will attempt to switch from Bob’s Burgers to Anne’s Engines and this upsets the followers. It’s also designed to cut down on switcheroos and malicious action/intent. Imagine a page for cancer relief and support that gets changed to a diet drink sales page (it happens.) your brand’s Facebook audience will be notified of the change via email 14 days prior to the name change taking effect. Users then have the option to visit your brand’s Facebook and unlike the page.