For those of you who use Google+, Google has announced that they will soon be offering vanity URLs. A vanity URL is the ability to have a short URL with your username at the end of it. For example, http://facebook.com/jeradhill instead of a long URL that is typically difficult to remember.
Typically, your Google+ URL looks something like this: https://plus.google.com/112658917943348584591. There have been other companies that have released redirect methods, but nothing from Google.
Here are some thoughts when it comes to choosing a vanity URL.
- Secure your URL right away!
Those of us with names that are spelled in a unique way have a bit more time, but if you are Joe Smith, you better secure /joesmith if you want that to be your vanity URL. Even though there are fewer Jerad’s out there then there are those with other spellings, I decided to use my last name to avoid confusion. My last name is easy to say and spell so I went with /jeradhill across all social networks I am a part of. - Keep it consistant!
I have decided to use /jeradhill for all of my usernames to keep it consistant. If somebody can not find me through a search, they can just add /jeradhill to the end of a social network and find me. - Make it easy to know what/who you are!
Some people get so creative with their usernames that nobody knows who they are. On the other hand, some people stick with the one they made when they were 15 and it makes them sound like a kid. If you are on a social network as yourself, use your name. If you are a fan of something and you believe it will be a lifelong decision, go ahead and use /magnoliafan as your username. If you are a business, use your business name. Make it easy for people to figure out if it is you, a business or a thing. - Update your links!
Google+ will most likely still honor the old links but if you are like me, you like to have your updated links show up in the browser bar when somebody clicks on them.
If you are on Google+, make sure and add me to a circle!