Figure 4-1. Bluefly.com main home page
A well-stated value proposition throughout the site promotes visitor “confidence.” It does not necessarily build your visitors’ trust in your company. As mentioned earlier, confidence is only the second step toward the establishment of trust. If users have enough confidence, they will like you and make a purchase from your site.
Bluefly.com positioned itself as a company that offers only the latest high-end designer fashions. This is not enough to define the value proposition internally; it has to be present throughout your site. Bluefly.com does this beautifully, as you can see in Figure 4-1.
Several elements on the main home page of Bluefly.com communicate the value proposition clearly:
The website’s tagline below the logo, “the ultimate hook-up for the fashion obsessed”
The “New This Week” section allowing visitors to navigate to the latest items just released in the market
The main image displaying the latest models from the fashion world
Every element points to that value proposition. What does this mean for Bluefly customers? Visitors to the site are well aware of what this site has to offer. There is very little chance that visitors will leave the site because they do not know what Bluefly offers—the company clearly states what sets it apart from other apparel stores. This clear value proposition serves another vague purpose: since it caters to the fashion-hungry, visitors to whom this doesn’t apply will bounce off the site quickly. If a visitor does not fit within Bluefly’s niche market, this will become apparent as soon as the visitor sees Bluefly’s home page.
Figure 4-2 shows the main home page for Bookpool.com. The value proposition of the site is stated clearly in its tagline, “Discount Computer Books.” Every image or incentive on the page drives the point that it is a discount computer bookseller:
The main image of the site offers an incentive of a 45% discount on books by different publishers.
The site allows visitors to browse through technical books on Windows Vista.
The navigation panel on the lefthand side of the screen presents different categories of technical books.
Compare Bookpool.com to Powell’s Books’ main home page in Figure 4-3. Visitors to the Powell’s Books website have no indication of what distinguishes this bookstore from the competition. Why would a visitor, who hadn’t encountered Powell’s Books before, select Powell’s over any other bookstore? The main home page does not communicate a clear value proposition. The only hint of a possible value proposition is the rather difficult-to-read tagline saying that the company was established in 1971. Is that enough for visitors who do not know Powell’s Books to judge whether it is a reputable and trustworthy bookstore?
