19 Sep Creating a Custom LinkedIn URL

Connecting with prospective employers, partners & business associates is a multi-layered process. Exchanging business cards, VCards & emails is essential in building your networks & relationships. It can be especially difficult to convey strange strings of letters & difficult spellings (ever try & spell birdsallinteractive.com in a crowd?). This is why I try and grab a custom URL whenever possible. Your LinkedIn profile is no different, and it only takes a moment to change it from a random string of numbers to your actual name (or preferred handle).

Customize your LinkedIn profile URL Step-by-Step. Custom public profile URLs are available on a first come, first served basis.

1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Edit Profile.
2. Click Edit next to the URL under your profile photo.
3. In the Your public profile URL box in the bottom right, click “Customize your public profile URL”.
4. Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box.
5. Click Set Custom URL.

More information about LinkedIn custom URLs:

• Your custom URL can have between 5 – 30 letters or numbers. Do not use spaces, symbols, or special characters.
• You cannot change your URL more than 3 times in 6 months. If you’ve already done this, you’ll have to wait 6 months before you can change it again.
• Some URLs may be unavailable. If a member uses a URL and then changes it, the URL they first chose will be unavailable for use by another member for several months.

What’s in a Name?

In an ideal world, you could secure your preferred name across all social networks & use the same profile picture. This makes you super easy to find, and takes the guess work out. It’s really hard to locate your twitter feed if your name is John Doe, but your Twitter handle is @lovesfootball16 and your Facebook URL is facebookcom/footballrocks. If you want to check your name’s availability before you commit, there are several free services. I like Namechk, although it isn’t always 100% accurate & they do need to add some of the newer apps, like Vine.

My Twitter & my Facebook : are pretty straight forward, and easier to spell than Maureen – so I typically register just my last name.