In a most recent update, Google has rolled out custom URLs for Google+ pages. Also known as vanity URLs, the custom URLs redirect the user to a certain webpage when it is entered in the address bar. The new structure will help users to easily access any Google+ page by just memorizing the custom name set by the owner. The former structure of Google+ URLs, that consisted of a long random number, were literally impossible to memorize. If a user wanted to redirect to a certain Google+ page, he/she would have to find it somewhere on webpage put by the owner or alternatively search the page name. The new structure is convenient enough for a general user and can easily be memorized.
If you are still clueless about the situation, here is the old and new URL of Earnistan’s Google+ Page.
Structure of Old Google+ Page URL: https://plus.google.com/b/109393249971790464594/
Structure of the new custom Google+ Page URL: https://google.com/+Earnistan
How to get a Custom URL for Google+ Page
The custom URL is not new to Google+. If you are a frequent user of Google+, you must have seen vanity URLs of large brands, famous people and well established accounts. From now, this feature will be available for the public. You will just have to go through some steps to get a custom URL for your brand or business page on Google+.
The easiest way is to see if you have received an email from the Google+ team. In my case, I had received an email and I didn’t have to go through a lot of pages to make it happen. Here’s what I got in the email.
If you haven’t received an email, you don’t have to worry. There are over 250 million registered users on Google+ and you might get the email within the first week of public launch. Still no success? There are other ways too that you must try before waiting for the email.
Go to your Google+ page. On the top, you will see a notification. If you don’t see a notification there, probably you are not eligible to claim a custom URL. Google+ will only allow pages with at least 10 followers that are over 30 days old. Also, it is mandatory that the page has a profile photo. For a local page, the business must be verified and for a non-local page, a website must be linked to the page. If you don’t meet the criteria, you won’t be eligible to claim the Google+ vanity URL/Custom URL.
If you see the message, proceed by clicking “Get URL” and a new message box will pop up.
Next, you will be provided with the old and new URL of the Google+ page. If you think you are good to go, check the Terms of Service checkbox and click “Change URL”. There is a safety exit in form of “Not now”.
In the next step, it will ask for confirmation of the page URL. Note that you cannot change the page name once you set a custom URL, however, you can just change the case of letters for upper to lower or vice versa.
Once you click “Confirm choice”, the system will take a few seconds to claim the custom URL and generate a congratulation message.
You now have the all new custom URL for your Google+ page.
Please let me know by commenting if you are facing any issues. You may also check the official help page for Google+ custom URL.
