Get your own Google Plus Custom URL

Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 2m 457 #googleplus

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Not many people or companies may realize it, but Google Plus is offering custom URLs. There was nothing more annoying than numbers. If Google is so big on SEO in URLs, than why would they not provide a way to make their own links useful as well? For my own Google Plus number was 104461986149633049374 which is a number that only someone with a photographic memory or a lot of time could remember. I personally never bothered to remember it and would have to often time in Google.com/+/ and scroll to my About page to get my URL number which would appear in the address bar.

Google Plus started rolling out, slowly, but surely custom URLs. You can only change the URL once, but once is better than never. My new URL is: https://plus.google.com/+MatthewGatesGooglePlus/

I personally chose this URL because it was easy to remember. I could have chosen something longer or shorter or different, but I chose this one and it is unique to my Google Plus account.

Having a custom URL is SEO friendly and better for visitors and customers to remember how to find you on Google Plus and will help your visibility in search engine rankings.

You account must be meet these requirements if you want a Google Plus custom URL:

• Ten or more followers
• Account is 30 days old or more
• Profile includes profile photo

To get your own custom URL:

1. Sign in to Google+. Place your cursor in the top left corner for the Google + main menu and then click Profile.
2. Click the About tab, and under Links > Google+ URL, click Get URL.
3. You’ll see the custom URL you’ve been approved for, which you aren’t able to change. You may also need to add a few letters or numbers to make it unique to you.
4. Click the box next to “I agree to the Terms of Service” then click Change URL in the bottom left corner.
5. You may be asked to verify your account using your mobile phone number. To do this, you’ll need to:
   1. Enter your mobile phone number when prompted, then click Send code in the lower left corner.
   2. Check your phone for the code that was sent to you.
   3. Enter that code in the box on your screen, then click Verify in the lower left corner.
6. This URL will be linked to your Google+ Page or Profile, so be sure everything is exactly the way you want it. Once your URL has been approved, you cannot request to change it. When you’re certain, click Confirm choice.

For more information, visit Getting Started with Google+ Custom URLs

Matthew Gates is a freelance web developer and currently runs Confessions of the Professions.

(