LinkedIn provides you with a default URL which you can – and should – customize. Some talk about the SEO benefits of doing so, but I look at it this way: Once you’re invested in LinkedIn as part of your professional infrastructure, you’ll probably want to include your LinkedIn URL in your email signature or even print it on your business card. Wouldn’t you rather have a professional looking – and easy to input – URL like http://www.linkedin.com/in/nealschaffer rather than http://www.linkedin.com/pub/neal-schaffer/4a/z89/145/ ?