How to Change Your Facebook Business Page Name

How to change my Facebook Business Page name

There are multiple reasons why you might want to change the name of your Facebook Business Page. For example, if you're changing companies. Or, it's best practice to ensure all of your online profiles have the exact same name for local SEO purposes. 

Often times we get the question: HOW do I change my Facebook business page name? Great news: Facebook has a guide for that.

But we know that sometimes our clients hit roadblocks. We have a few tips and best practices of our own to add.

Tips on How to Change Your Facebook Page's Name

To start, you must be an admin on your Facebook Business page. Check your page role here. 

Also, there are a lot of guidelines for how to name your page. Seems pretty self explanatory, but, we have to say it: Page names must accurately reflect your page. If it's not crystal clear, this can cause your name change to be rejected. Therefore, making very drastic name changes can sometimes get declined. 

Page names can’t include:

• Terms or phrases that may be abusive or violate someone’s rights.
• The word “official” if the Page isn’t the official Page of a brand, place, organization or public figure.
• Improper capitalization (example: tHe best CaFE). Page names must use grammatically correct capitalization and may not include all capital letters, except for acronyms.
• Symbols (example: ® ) or unnecessary punctuation.
• Descriptions or slogans (example: The Best Cafe – We serve the best coffee in town). People who manage Pages can add this information to a Page’s About section.
• Any variation of the word “Facebook.”
• More than 75 characters

Page names can’t consist only of:

• Generic words (example: Pizza). Pages must be managed by official representatives of the topics they’re about.
• Generic geographic locations (example: New York). However, you can create a Page name for an organization that represents a geographic location. For example, “New York City – Mayor’s Office” and “Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain” are acceptable Page names.

When choosing a name, it should be short and memorable. But, be sure to check with your compliance team as many companies require specific naming conventions.

Important: Facebook limits how frequently you can change your business name. Therefore, when changing your name, triple check your spelling and grammar before clicking "Request Change." It can take anywhere from 3-7 business days for Facebook to review your change. 

Reasons why you may not be able to change your Page name:

Timing:

Facebook has both short-term and lifetime limitations on changing your page name. While they haven't officially announced any specifics, the logic is pretty straightforward. Constantly changing your name is confusing for your followers. It could also flag your page as spam.  

If you recently changed your page name, likely you'll have to wait several business days before attempting again. 

Page Limitations:

• Not all admins of your Page have authentic profiles.
• Your Page has admins that continue to go against Facebook policies.
• Your Page has a misleading name.
• Your Page posts content that may mislead people who like or follow your Page.
• The content posted on your Page goes against FB hate speech policies.

Here is the full breakdown of limitations.

Rejections:

Submitting your change request means the Facebook team will be reviewing your content. If your page is not 100% compliant with Facebook Terms of Service, this review process could flag the Facebook team and get your page shut down. 

Also, in this process, you'll need to alert Facebook as to why you're changing your page name. If you say that your business name has changed, you will be required to provide documentation. If you don't have appropriate documentation (such as a utility or phone bill - who has that?!) some people prefer to choose "Other"  and explain in the text area. However, this may provide a higher risk of being rejected so choose wisely. 

Possible Solutions:

If you have a page limitation or faced a rejection, here are a few possible options.

• Wait it out. We suggest waiting at least 7 business days if you recently requested a change.
• Contact your Facebook ad rep. Be careful here: they'll likely pitch you on spending more money or adjusting your campaign. If you're using Do-It-For-Me Facebook services, that won't be necessary as we've got your campaign dialed. However, if you're a paying customer, Facebook won't want to lose your paid campaign because your page doesn't reflect the correct name ;)
• If you’ve never changed your page name, but don’t see the Edit option, try changing your page category to Brands & Products or Companies & Organizations. Once you save changes, the option should appear. (Note: if you have a verified page - you may lose this status.)