dell.ca vs. hp.ca

Miguel MendozaSCS2118: Website Review October 27th, 2010

Scope of work: this report will analyze two business-to-business (B2B) company websites to determine which one is better and why. The two companies sites that will be reviewed are global providers of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) and Dell Inc. (Dell)

Analysis criteria: 1. Design: graphic design, aesthetics, user friendliness, consistency, layout2. Ease of Use: navigation and links, information architecture, sitemap3. Copywriting: messaging, key words, relevancy, quantity, readability4. Content: video, photo, audio, white papers, articles etc. 5. Interactivity: calls to action, contact us, email lists, newsletters, downloads, chat 6. Innovation and distinctiveness: what makes the site unique, what makes visitors return?

Design & Ease of use Copywriting & content Interactivity & Innovation Analysis & RecommendationsOverview

Click on any section >

Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is a global provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors. The Company’s offerings span multi-vendor customer services, including infrastructure technology and business process outsourcing, technology support and maintenance, application development and support services, and consulting and integration services; enterprise information technology infrastructure.HP's posted net revenue in 2009 was $115 billion

Dell Inc. (Dell) is a holding company, which conducts its business globally, through its subsidiaries. It offers a range of product categories, including mobility products, desktop personal computers (PCs), software and peripherals, servers and networking, and storage. The services include a range of configurable information technology (IT) and business related services, including infrastructure technology, consulting and applications, and business process services. Dell's fiscal 2009 revenue was $61.10 billion



Design

Graphic Design -The whole page is a flash visual showcase of products -Sophisticated, high level of design – good first impression-works like a landing page-poor use of white space – home page-other pages: less sophisticated and confusing design

-Simple, clean design, easy to find the key info- Excellent use of white space-well executed flash visual showcase of products at middle of home page

Aesthetics -Most of site has minimal images, more lean on text-internal pages are a mass of text with links – confusing-Try to fit everything in a 1024 x 768 screen (avoiding scrolling)

-Excellent balance between images and text-It’s clear what they want to sell-Appropriate use of tech related colours

User friendliness -Logo at top left as expected with link to home page-Includes search box as expected in top right-Home page difficult to find FR version – Internals OK-Primary navigation at top as expected -Secondary navigation confusing

-Logo at top left as expected with link to home page-Includes search box as expected in top right-Primary, secondary and third navigation are where they are expected to be – very easy to browse the site

Consistency -Site pages are inconsistent in design (Its like jumping to other site)-Excellent use of tags

-Use of fonts and images consistent across all pages-Excellent use of tags

Layout -Not all section landing pages are consistent, some have right and left sub-navigationto further organize content

-Very consistent layout-Easy to get use to

Ease of UseNavigation and Links

-internal pages are a mass of text with links – confusing-not consistency use of Breadcrumbs-Sub-navigation on section landing pages isn’t consistent-Good use of keywords in links

-Navigation is easy to use, clean, and intuitive-Good use of Breadcrumbs-Good use of keywords in links

Information architecture

-Site architecture very confusing -Content is organized in logical order-include links to relevant information-Navigation links are descriptive

Site Map -No sitemap present -Site map always available at the bottom navigation-Very consistent


Copywriting

Messaging -Confusing message, multiple messages -Consistent message: straight message = price + reliability + quality for your business

Keywords -Good use of keywords tag, but limited -Good use of keywords ( e.g.. “business”, “laptop”)

Relevancy -Content on pages is relevant to user, but takes too long to get to the point

-Content on pages is relevant to user

Quantity -Limited use of keywords-Good amount of text

-Excellent balance of keywords and images-Excellent use of text

Readability -Titles could be confusing (e.g. Use & learn) -Easy to read and call to action driven

Content

Video -Only for product demo – difficult to find -Good use of video resources – Support and Learn-Excellent use of 360 applications to see the products

Photos -Limited use of photos -Excellent use of photos – several photos and options per SKU – high res. And low res.-Perfect for product showcasing

Audio -No evidence of audio - No evidence of audio besides chat and videos

White Papers / ArticlesCase studies

- Excellent source of white papers, articles, webcast and case studies-Not easy to find

- Excellent source of white papers, articles, webcast and case studies


Call to Action

Contact Us -As many ways as possible to contact HP: phone, email, chat , mail

-As many ways as possible to contact dell: phone, email, chat , mail-By category: Sales, Support, Financial Services, Customer Service, Warranty, etc...-Very easy to find

Email list -Offer to sign up for e-mail on news and announcements-Offer sign to for Social Media

-Offer to sign up for e-mail on news and announcements-Offer sign to for Social Media

Newsletter -Stay in touch with HP section: Get Connected with HP eNewsletters, Alerts and more

-Email updates opt-in for B2B

Downloads -Huge section for Support & Drivers and Learning centre -Huge section for Support & Drivers and Learning centre

Chat / Blogs -HP has a huge Social Media and Networking community-Not easy to find since the headline is confusing ( SHOP & Learn)-Confusing, not sure if its a HP community or a third party community powered by HP ( Revision3) – see appendix

-Amazing use of Social Media and Social network resources: they have a whole section called DELL COMMUNITY with support forums ( by product), 6 blogs and the DELL IDEA STORM, to view, post or vote for comments. You can even see you ideas in action-President very involved in Social Media (refer to appendix)

Innovation or distinctiveness

What makes site unique -Is not a unique site, its like multiple sites in one-The only unique is the Brand and the product information

-Clean, easy to navigate, one stop for everything, easy to find the information, no over design

What makes people return -Only If you are looking for HP product info or support for a HP product

-One thousand options to customize your products + support + community-Up to date-Multiple Resources


What makes dell.ca a better site

Reflect their business

-Dell.ca conducts its business mainly online which means all their sales and marketing efforts are behind their web sites. Their business is to sell ONLINE so they have created the perfect website

User experience -The user experience is unique through a web site rich in information and support-dell.ca is inclusive: FR, Quebec government section, +20 different countries and languages, etc.

Community -dell.ca community showcase is amazing: Forum, blogs, social media, idea storm, owner showcase, etc...

Design -Clean, fresh, up to date, good use of tech related colours-Excellent balance between text and images

Content -Content is RELEVANT to the user-Easy to find the info and deals

Support -dell.ca support goes from chat to mail, from small business to large enterprises and the government

Copywriting -Is easy to read, straight forward message, dell.ca speak the user language - period

-DELL is beyond doubt a better site. Their is no comparison between dell.ca and hp.ca-Dell.ca is a HUGE e-commerce platform that reflects their core business ( their business is Web-based) while hp.ca is a support site for their brick platform (their business is retail based). dell.ca product showcase is amazing while hp.ca is OK

Recommendations for improvement

Is very difficult to make recommendation to a site very close to perfection:-Ensure all pages use breadcrumbs-Improved consistency in TOP navigation: when using top navigation ( Shop / Community / Support) you have to click on the dell logo to go back to home page and select the B2B option-Sometime the site jump to the US version when using top navigation-Try to minimize the amount of info – sometime could be overwhelming – too many options-Enable chat application for already customers

http://dell.ca/

http://hp.ca/

Appendix

HP Community

DELL Community


DELL Buzz - Facebook


HP website inconsistency

Goes to HP USA

HP CAN


DELL website consistency


DELL Keywords and Tags

HP Keywords and Tags


dell.ca vs. hp.ca

Technology

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