Just like a customized license plate on your car, your Google Plus URL can now be personalized.
Having a personalized URL can really help with your branding. It will be easier for people to find and remember your Google Plus URL. And it will be easier for people to search though your account for what interests them (photos, video, about section.)
But more on that later. Now let’s see how you can trade in that boring old hard-to-remember Google Plus URL for one that’s impossible to forget
Who Gets a Google Plus Personalized URL?
First of all, it seems as if just about everyone is entitled to a personalized URL on Google Plus. But you need to be a member in good standing.
Here’s what’s required:
- Have 10 or more followers (not much of a trick on Google Plus).
- Have an account that’s at least 30 days old.
- Have uploaded a profile photo.
- Be a verified local business, if you have a local business account.
- Have a link to your website if you have a non-local business account.
You won’t have to scratch your head to figure out whether you’re eligible or not either. Just check the top of your account to see whether you’ve been pre-approved.
How to Get Your Personalized URL
It’s not quite accurate to say Google lets you pick your new URL.
Instead, when you click the “Get URL” button at the top of your Google Plus profile, you’ll see the one or more possible URLs Google’s approved for your account. Choose the one you like best, but be aware. If you’ve got a name like “Joe Smith,” you might be prompted to add a few letters or numbers to distinguish it from other similar URLs out there.
You’ll need to approve Google’s terms of service for the new URL and might be asked to verify your account with your mobile phone number.
You can also make minor changes in layout, for example, capitalization and accents. Just understand that once you’ve confirmed the new URL, it can’t be changed.
Easier Search of Your Profile
We told you in the beginning your personalized URL would be easier for your connections to find. But the new URL makes it easier for friends to search your account too.
There’s a neat trick you can use to find the content you most want to see on a Google Plus account using the new personalized URL.
For example, let’s say you want to see someone’s photos or video on their Google Plus page. Just add the keywords “photos” or “video” at the end of the new Google personalized URL like this:
- google.com/+customURL/photos, or
- google.com/=custonURL/video
Google says you should find the content you’re looking for quickly. Find out how a personalized Google Plus URL will change your Web presence.
Image: Google
Got one for my business. Super cool feature.
Aira Bongco
I agree. You get to choose not only your brand name but your target keywords. I don’t know if this can do something good for SEO but an extra personalized URL is always a good thing.
Jacqui
Hi!
I tried to personalized our business Google+ page but how come there’s still those 21 numbers before the business name? its like plus.google.com/b/21numbers/+company name
How did u removed those numbers?
Chris
After changing your Google+ URL, when you are logged in and managing your page, it will still use a sequence of numbers before your Custom URL. Try opening a new browser window and type in your Custom URL manually and it will bring up your page.
I have a Google Plus account, but I rarely RARELY use it. I’m not sure of what use a G+ account is to me, to be honest. However, it’s always good to have a custom URL, I guess, if Google’s offering it, so will check it out at some point.
You probably don’t know they might charge for the custom url in future. Who did this? Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest? None.
they says, “Don’t be evil!”.
Really 😛
I wouldn’t put it past Google to start charging for it in the future. Anything’s possible with them. It would be interesting to see if people would actually pay for it though and the amount of people that would. I know I wouldn’t.
Agree with you Anand. Google seems to want the user to surrender completely. Felt surprised, when I read they’re gonna charge for it, and thought everything they do with their services for so called improvement, is meaningless.
Hi Rahul
Anand suggested that Google might start charging for it one day, not that they’re definitely going to. / Unless I’ve misunderstood your comment; are you saying you read somewhere that Google is going to charge?
Hi Ebele
Yeah, read on a forum about that, but they have deleted the thread as the info there was a bit misleading, in fact, I ran into quick conclusion by reading that thread, my bad.
But still, from a user’s point of view, I found this custom URL game is little overdone. I was looking for a username, certainly not followed by some extra characters :-/
Rahul: Ah, I see. Good thing they deleted the thread or else it would have spread like wildfire regardless of whether what it alluded to is in fact true or not. You know what the internet’s like.
I don’t know – is it that it’s a little overdone, or that the general focus on it in terms of news and discussion is a little more than it deserves?
Nancy Badillo
Hi Shawn,
I am so happy that I ran into this post! I didn’t know you can customize your Google Plus URL. At the moment my Google Plus URL looks spammy with all the numbers they have given me to identify my page. I will try to do it today and see how it goes! Thanks for the knowledge. 🙂
Eds R.L.
Hey. Thanks for sharing. I was wondering when they will do this. It’s such a hard time getting to your own site and seeing it as how others see it if you don’t know the URL. And with those numbers part of the URL, it was just not possible. Good thing this is now being implemented.