Don't waste any more time with denials!
Get your Facebook Page Name Request Approved
In our previous article “How to Change my Facebook Page Name“, we talked about the basic steps on how to do that. We also mentioned the importance of HOW you word the name so that your FB name change request actually gets approved. Facebook makes it look simple and straight forward, but it often is not at all.
Facebook has a strict policy to avoid confusing people who are browsing FB pages. They want to make sure that if you change your Facebook page name, all of the Facebook users do not get confused and they know exactly what is going on. If you had a bunch of page followers for “Sunset Space Expo” and then you suddenly changed it to “Red Rider Flowers”, you can see how people would be confused. That is what Facebook wants to avoid, but it makes it very hard to deal with and their instructions are not very helpful.
When you submit a request to change a Facebook page name, you should know that a real live human almost never looks at your request. It is pretty much always a computer (artificial intelligence AI) that gets your request and makes the decision. This means that it cannot always recognize when the first name means about the same thing as the second name. Example: “Jan’s Fish Supplies” implies the same type of business as “JJ’s Aquatic Provisions” But the system won’t realize it and it will deny your request because… the words are very different.
So what do you do to get your Facebook page name request approved?
This article assumes that you already know how to submit a Facebook name change request. If you do not know how to get started, please read our other article that explains how to make a Facebook page name request (click here). Please note that the process for submitting your request is the same for both processes listed below. Only the way you word your page name is different.
If you are making small changes and keeping most of your page name the same, you are probably ok and can just submit your request without having to do two separate phases.
Example: “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Janet’s Pet Store” or “Jan’s Fabulous Pet Store”
If you are trying to make bigger changes, you have to do it in at least two phases of page name change requests.
First Phase
Think of the first phase as a way to let people know the name is drastically changing. Kind of like a warning or a notice that the name is changing.
Let’s say you want to change the name from “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Posh Pets Galore”. Here are some examples of the first phase you MUST do.
Example 1: “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Posh Pets Galore – Formerly Jan’s Pet Store”
Or, Example 2: “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Jan’s Pet Store and Posh Pets Galore”
You see how the two names are used as one whole name change request together? That introduces the new name to Facebook while still showing the old name. That is the key. You must include the old name with the new name. You must let your followers know there is a change in progress.
Now you wait for approval. If Facebook is ok with it, it should get approved within 3 days.
If that does not work, then you have to try smaller changes. Try adding only one new word in each name change request. In this example, that would be “Jan’s Pet Store Posh”. If that is accepted, then you must make the name change over several requests by adding one words at a time.
If that still does not work, then you have to try adding one new letter at a time. Example “Jan’s Pet Store P”. I know, this sounds ridiculous, but sometimes it is the only thing that works.
Keep in mind that special characters are not allowed in page names. A special character will result in denial.
There is also a limit on how many characters can be in a page name. You should see that number on the name change section. If your old name and new name are too old together, try to start by removing some of the words from you current name as your first steps.
Once a request is approved, you must wait up to 7 days before starting another name change request. Facebook blocks the option to make more requests after an approval. I have seen in rare cases when a page has thousands of followers, they block the option to make another request for longer (months). Keep that in mind so that your page is not stuck with a confusing name for a long time. In some cases, it may still be your only option.
If your request is denied, you usually only have to wait up to one day to try again. Sometimes they will let you try again immediately after. Do not try to submit the same exact name more than once. They might block you for doing that.
Second Phase (after approval of the first phase)
After you have waited at least a week or more after approval of your previous name change requests and managed to get both your old name and new name on the page (this gives users time to see the first phase and is required by Facebook), start the second phase of the Facebook page name request process. The goal now is to remove any reference of the old name, so that you finally have your new FB page name showing. All you should have to do now is go through the same steps to change the page name again, delete the old name, and enter only the new name by itself. Just make sure you do not try to make any new changes to the name, except to delete part of it as instructed below.
Example 1 (name from earlier): “Posh Pets Galore – Formerly Jan’s Pet Store” to “Posh Pets Galore”
Example 2 (name from earlier): “Jan’s Pet Store and Posh Pets Galore” to “Posh Pets Galore”
Submit your changes and wait again for the review process. If they are ok with it, it is usually approved fairly quickly. Often in the same day, but up to 3 days. If it is denied, you may have to try removing only one word at a time. If that still does not work, try removing only one letter at a time. It is basically the same principles as before.
The same steps apply if your names mean something entirely different. You must do both phases.
Example: “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Fly High Hotel”
13 Responses
I learned how to do this the hard way, by getting my request to change our Facebook page name denied numerous times. We re-branded the business and the name was completely different. Facebook just would not let me make the change any easy way. I had to research and look through many comments and articles before I finally figured out why it was getting denied. I hope that these articles help someone else make the change a little less painfully.
If you have questions or comments, please share!
Hey, sorry but your article is just as confusing as the Facebook responce, additional clarification or graphics in your post would be more helpful, especially after clicking through 3 pages to get to this final page. Precisely where are you trying to state that you type Example: “Jan’s Pet Store” to “Fly High Hotel”? Are you saying you type this into the request box or are you trying to state you type this onto your facebook page so your users can see it.
Facebook rebot is replying with this
We’re unable to update your Page’s name because the requested name goes against our guidelines. If you’re requesting this name change for a rebrand, please reply to this message and include a document that shows the new name of your business.
Examples of appropriate documentation include:
– A press release or news article about the rebranding
– Articles of Amendment for a name change
– A link to your official website that states the change
– A link to a post on your Facebook Page that announces the change
Once we receive this information, we’re happy to move forward with the name change you requested.
I am sorry to hear that the article was confusing for you. The article makes the assumption that you are reading it because you already tried to change your page name before and it was denied, therefor you likely know the process to submit a page name request. It assumed that you just needed to figure out how to get it approved, instead of denied.
I have revised the article to explain that if you do not know how or where to submit the request, you read those instructions in our other article. The process for submitting your page name request is always the same no matter what, EXCEPT how you word the name when you input it. The only differences that we are outlining is how you phrase (word or term) your name.
So to specifically answer your question, you are always entering your new page name into the field where Facebook asks for your new page name.
You can try to provide Facebook with the items they are requesting in your comment, but our experience has been that it is not useful and does not work. The method we outlined was actually discovered by other people first, we confirmed it worked for us, and we are sharing it. If you find that submitting the information Facebook is asking for also results in an approval, please comment back and let us know. We will update our article to include that it could possibly work for some people.
Thank you for commenting and letting us know your frustrations. Please let us know if it all works out for you.
Your instruction is very easy to understand. I have not got a chance to try your method as I have to wait a while before I can make another try but I think it would definitely work since your explanation makes sense. Facebook have made stupid rules. I have tried many times to change my page name with no vain. It is a painful process but luckily I found your article.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
I am glad that you found the article helpful. If you do try it and it works out for you, please share your results in the comments. Or on our Facebook page. Thanks!
https://www.facebook.com/blueteraweb/
We have been trying to change our facebook business page name for one month. We have made the request upwards of 8 times between three admins. None of the requests have actually been denied…its’ like they are just timing out without being addressed. Any suggestions?
Can you please send me an email telling me what your Facebook page name is or send me a link to it, so I can take a look at the page? [email protected]
I’ve tried four times to update my business name and have been unsuccessful. I am rebranding my page, as we re-opened our business in a different state with a different name. We will not be able to rename to something similar due to our previous business name (current fb page name) being used by another business in town, hence the completely different name. I’ve submitted a copy of our Certificate of Filing, the proof of the llc, and still getting denied. This is ridiculous. All of our work examples are on this page, it would be a major loss for us to not be able to change the name. Both admins of the page are not able to to suggest a name change now. It is not even an option at this point. Any ideas on what to do if you are not allowed to submit a new name at all?
I am sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble. You are not the only one. So many people are struggling with this problem. Did you try to implement the methods that I have described on this website? If so, we do have some more in depth methods that we use for people who still can’t get it approved. It does not involve the appeal process and it may take some time. We find that the appeal process is rarely ever approved. Their system for name changes really needs some improvement.
If you would like us to do it for you, I would be happy to help. You can order the service here…
http://help.bluetera.com/product/change-facebook-page-name/
Hi Jessica – my company is having the same problem as mds129. We have submitted close to 10 request over 4 months. The requests doesn’t get denied, but seems like they get dropped/time out. Was wondering if you had any advice on how to handle this?
Hello! We have seen that happen before and were able to get it to working in a couple of different ways. Some work when we implement our strategies for a name change (offered in our name change service). Some started working after submitting a bug report through Facebook pages. This seems to be a glitch or error in their system and we are not sure the cause. We would be happy to help further if you purchase our Facebook Name Change Service.
Hi Jessica!
After being denied by Facebook the change of my page’s name I found this article of yours (after my appeal). Just followed your guidelines, now let’s wait for facebook’s response! I’ll keep you informed!
Anyway, thank you so much for your time to create this guide, because the same as you, I got no conclusions from facebook’s help about their guidelines
Hello! I am sorry to hear you are having trouble, like so many others. I hope that this works for you. If it does not, we have discovered other, more advanced and complicated, techniques to get it approved. Some pages require far more effort than others. Definitely let us know if you get it changed though. It is great to hear about those who have success. I am sure a lot of other readers would appreciate it too. Good luck!