The Blue Book of Building and Construction, which serves the commercial construction industry with its database of general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, has launched a new feature on its website (www.thebluebook.com) designed to help construction professionals better manage their vendor contacts online.
The new offering, "My Blue Book," is a free application that enables registered users to customize the selection, sorting, viewing and storage of information found in The Blue Book database. Additional functionality has been included, such as the addition of "My Contacts" and "My Preferences" tabs that allow users to access their private vendor information.
This is a great idea from The Blue Book and will certainly be well-received by users. Online personalization is huge these days. Users want the features and functionality that online databases afford, but they also want to be able to manage their data in a way that meets their own personal needs. Enabling users to do just that will make them even more likely to utilize your content in the first place, make that content even more valuable, and will also motivate those users to return to your site again in the near future. Personalization can most definitely equal loyalty and retention.
Hopefully, The Blue Book isn't finished adding these personal touches to its website.