Two companies that sell the same general product can have two extremely different websites.  Both can work well, but depending on the style of the company the results can be very different.  Manolo Blahnik and Zappos are both shoe companies, but are extremely varied in what type of shoe they sell.  This large difference can be seen directly in their websites.

Manolo Blahnik is a very interesting site that’s main strength is in its emphasis.  When first opening the site, the color is very eye catching and interesting, and creates a great point of emphasis for the website.  Unfortunately, past this initial interest, this site does not have many strengths.  The balance on this site is not working well at all.  On the home page there is an over abundance of open grey space below the main graphic.  Usually this is not bothersome, but because the main site navigation buttons are below this blank space at the bottom, it creates an unbalanced look.  The unity between pages is decent, though there are only three different pages to navigate to.  Besides the over extended blank space, the layout is not completely terrible.  Having the main site navigations at the bottom of the page is ineffective overall.  As they are the main way to travel through the site, they should be at the top or left side, obvious and easily accessible.

Zappos is a much stronger website overall.  Emphasis actually may be the only real weakness on this site.  The site gets to be a little bit cluttered, which takes away from the emphasis on any certain item.  The picture slideshow showcasing the shoes changes quite quickly and does not allow a person to focus on one item.  Balance on Zappos is working quite well.  Despite having so much on the site, taking away from the emphasis, it keeps all the madness well balanced.  The layout of this site is what keeps it well balanced and saves the user from being lost by the clutter.  The classic navigation bar at the top, with a list to the left for each page makes navigation simple and quick.  Each page throughout the navigation is well unified with the whole site, making it easy to navigate.

While Manalo Blahnik is good at drawing your attention in at first, Zappos is overall a much easier to use and functional site.