My last Daily Concept entry defined Primary actions as the main actions you want your customer to take on every page of your site. On each page, if there was ONE thing you wanted them to click on, what would it be…?

The next step is to support those primary actions with information your customer needs to make a purchasing decision from you.

• What are your shipping options/prices?
• If it’s clothing, what size will fit me?
• If it’s technology, is there a learning curve before I can buy the product?
• What kind of selection do you have?
• What are your price ranges?
• What is your highest quality product?
• What colors are this product available in?
• Is this product even in stock?
• How long does it take before my order leaves your warehouse?

All of these are reasonable things to wonder while shopping online. Answering these questions educates your customer and helps persuade them to click your primary action.

Here is a list of some general supporting items to consider:

• In Stock / Out of Stock messaging
• Shipping (rates, delivery time, etc)
• Pricing
• Selection
• Ratings
• Promotions
• Payment Options

Once you’ve identified which of these are the most important, the next step is to test which are the most important and how to support your primary actions with these supporting items in the best way possible for your site.

Supporting Primary Elements:

• Gives you insight into what elements your customers find the most persuasive.
• Helps you understand where to display these elements in the shopping process.

Now you will know what is the most important to your client, you can build on these areas as you continue your optimization. Once your primary actions are identified and easily found on your pages, identifying the most important supporting elements will drive more clicks on your primary actions.