Vanity URLs are easier to remember and easier to read. According to some SEO chatter, they are also more likely to get clicked when they are spotted in search results.
This new URL format is very simple and is also very easy to create since the vanity name in the URL is created using the title of your web page.
Let's take this blog post as an example. The title of this post is "Vanity URL" so the vanity URL for this page is:
http://www.ittrium.com/vanity-urls
Compare this URL format to an older URL format such as the following and you'll see why customers are excited about the new URL format.
http://www.ittrium.com/ittrium/visit/1x2376x1x66y1x2924x1x69y1x2933x1x86y1x9ebx1x86
The new vanity format also supports an automated 301 redirect feature that will direct your visitors to the right page if they can't remember the entire URL. The following URL illustrates this feature.
If you follow the link, you'll notice that that your request is redirected to the correct page on the site which is the /vanity-urls page, not the /vanity page.