Google+ vanity url
We have been using Google+ (said “Google plus”) for a week now and are excited about the possibilities, as we’ve been speculating for years about what a Google social network would look like (and as we suspected, it looks a lot like Facebook with a dash of LinkedIn and a dash of Twitter). We reserve our enthusiasm for the rare exception to the hundreds of tech stories every day, and we have very high hopes and enthusiasm for Google+.
One of the problems, however, that has come up is that the URL for your profile is extremely long and difficult to share. Rather than use a bit.ly URL shortener or other shortener, “Google Plus Nick” is a new web app that offers a “gplus.to/username” address that is short and easy for web users to identify (rather than hope a bit.ly link is not a virus).
On Facebook, to obtain a vanity URL in which you can tell Facebook what you want your URL to be (so facebook.com/yourname rather than facebook.com/longstringofnumbers), you must have a certain number of friends as they are not allotted to new accounts. The Google Plus Nick doesn’t care how many connections you have on Google+, you could be a complete newbie.
To get your Google+ vanity URL
Simply click on your name in Google+ to load the URL in your browser, then copy the long string of numbers from the profile URL, paste them into the Google Plus Nick web app, select your username that is three to 25 characters long (with no numbers or special characters) and click “add” to generate your new vanity URL.
We suggest reserving your own name, brand, or something short and easy to remember, as the whole point of the vanity URL is not only branding but to shorten a URL to make it easier to share.
