If you were one of the many who stayed up until midnight on June 13th to grab the Facebook vanity name you wanted,  likely you are feeling satisfied you managed to secure your brand before somebody else did, or you’re disappointed that you didn’t get there in time. With Facebook offering users the opportunity to rename their lengthy profile URLs to something easier to remember puts the social network on par with the likes of Twitter and MySpace, which have always offered this option. For those new to social networking, and who plan to use their profiles to promote their businesses or other pursuits, this news begs the question of which kind of vanity tag to use in social networking.

For larger companies, branding is important – it’s no secret that some brands have become practically synonymous with the products they promote. We don’t always ask for a “soda,” but may refer to every carbonated beverage as a “Coke.” If you’re feeling a sneeze coming on, you might request, “pass me a Kleenex,” rather than the generic “tissue.” In a previous post, we touched briefly on choosing a domain name for your company for SEO purposes. The same rules should apply when considering the suffixed name of your social network profiles as well. As more people utilize Twitter for news and search, so people may be more inclined to follow your posts if you not only provide relevant information, but are presented in a manner that brands your expertise. As individual Twitter profiles gain momentum in traditional search, having a vanity URL closely describing yourself or your business could be helpful in catching the attention of visitors.

Say you operate a local staffing firm. You could use the name of your firm after twitter.com to showcase your actual brand, but if people are searching under more generic terms that could work for you as well.

http://www.twitter.com/virginia_jobs

http://www.twitter.com/atlanta_cars

http://www.twitter.com/jacksonville_apartments

Showing people what you do, rather than telling them who you are up front, could be beneficial in search.