In the last year, 30% of small businesses and 41% of medium businesses purchased a PC online. When considering a second purchase, similar percentages of businesses prefer to purchase a PC online (IDC). Not only is the market for buying technology online growing, but as I discussed in my last post, online conversations are influencing those buying decisions.
To support our ongoing efforts to make Dell.com a fast and easy shopping experience for you, we are implementing more social media and networking tools throughout the site and off Dell.com as well. Through our Solutions Center, you can find advice on how to use technology to solve your biggest business challenges from business continuity to increasing the productivity of your employees.
Beyond pure technology advice, we also have experts at Dell willing to share their knowledge on HR best practices, online marketing and even business strategy.
For example, members of our Online team met with four CEOs who won our Small Business Excellence Award. The team provided advice on SEO, Web sites and social media, highlighting the importance of listening to customers, staying current with the latest technologies and producing engaging content.
Here is a quick video tip on SEO from Jenny Schlueter, Dell Global Online:
Interacting with our customers, at every level of our company, is one more way we connect you with resources that help build a successful business and provide the right technology solution for your needs.
After hearing the advice from Dell, RIGHTSLEEVE, the Canadian Award winner, decided to bring on a new employee to focus on site optimization and innovative merchandising to best leverage their Web site and drive additional online business.
So, what’s next? Growing a community for entrepreneurs and IT experts at small and medium businesses on dell.com. We know public community sites are very popular, and we don’t want to compete with them. What we hope to do is focus more on the customer experience on our own site since the majority of small and medium businesses value information about our products and services above nearly all else (Forrester). This year, customers will see more community features and functions on dell.com and additional integrated content from external communities like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.