How to Make a Featured Product in WooCommerce: A Newbie-Friendly Guide
Want to highlight your best-selling products and grab your customers’ attention right away? Making a product “featured” in WooCommerce is the perfect way to do just that! Think of it like giving your star players center stage. This article will walk you through, step-by-step, how to easily make a featured product in WooCommerce, even if you’re a total newbie.
Think of it like this: Imagine you’re opening a physical store. Would you hide your best-selling items in the back? Of course not! You’d put them near the entrance, on eye-catching displays. Featuring products in WooCommerce does the same thing for your online store.
Why Feature Products?
Featuring products can significantly improve your sales and customer experience. Here’s why:
- Boost Sales: Featuring your best-selling or high-margin products makes them more visible, increasing the likelihood of a sale.
- Highlight New Arrivals: Showcase new additions to your catalog to pique interest.
- Promote Special Offers: Feature products with discounts or promotions to drive conversions. Think “Flash Sale!” or “Limited Time Offer!”.
- Improve User Experience: Help customers quickly find your most popular or recommended items, saving them time and effort.
- Guide Customers: Steer customer browsing towards items that are currently strategically significant to your marketing efforts.
- WooCommerce Shortcode: WooCommerce provides a built-in shortcode that allows you to display featured products on any page or post.
- Add this shortcode `[products limit=”4″ columns=”4″ visibility=”featured”]` to the content area of a page (e.g., your homepage). Replace the numbers with the number of products you want to show and the number of columns you want them arranged in.
- This will display the last four featured products in four columns on a page.
- Theme Options: Many WooCommerce themes have built-in options to display featured products on specific pages, such as the homepage. Check your theme’s documentation or customization settings. Look for sections like “Homepage Settings,” “Featured Product Sections,” or similar.
- WooCommerce Widgets: WooCommerce comes with several widgets. Look for widgets like “WooCommerce Featured Products” or something similar. You can add these widgets to your sidebar or other widget areas. To do this, navigate to “Appearance” -> “Widgets.”
- Page Builders (Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi): If you’re using a page builder, look for a WooCommerce module specifically designed to display featured products. These usually offer the most customization options. Elementor, for example, has a “Products” element with a “query” option where you can select only featured products.
- Custom CSS: Use CSS to style the featured product section to match your brand’s aesthetic. You can target the featured product elements with CSS selectors. For example, you might want to add a border, change the background color, or adjust the font size.
- Custom Code (functions.php): For more advanced customization, you can add code to your theme’s `functions.php` file or use a code snippets plugin. Be careful when editing this file directly, as mistakes can break your site. Back up your site before making any changes! Here’s an example of a function that lets you display a custom featured product banner.
Step-by-Step: Marking a Product as Featured
The process is simple and doesn’t require any coding knowledge (unless you want to customize the display further, but we’ll get to that later).
1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard. This is where the magic happens.
2. Navigate to Products: In the left-hand menu, click on “Products” then “All Products.”
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3. Find the Product You Want to Feature: Browse through your products or use the search bar to locate the one you want to highlight. For example, let’s say you want to feature your best-selling “Organic Coffee Beans.”
4. Edit the Product: Hover over the product title (“Organic Coffee Beans”) and click the “Quick Edit” link. This is a shortcut!
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5. Mark as Featured: In the Quick Edit panel, you’ll see a checkbox labeled “Featured.” Check this box!
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6. Update the Product: Click the “Update” button to save your changes.
That’s it! Your “Organic Coffee Beans” are now a featured product.
How to Display Featured Products on Your Store
Now that you’ve marked your product as featured, you need to actually *show* it off on your website. The way you display featured products depends on your theme and any plugins you’re using. Here are a few common methods:
Advanced Tips: Customizing Featured Product Display
While the basic setup is easy, you might want to customize how your featured products look. Here are a few ideas:
function add_featured_product_badge( $html, $post, $attachment_id ) { if ( is_a( $post, 'WP_Post' ) && has_term( 'featured', 'product_visibility', $post->ID ) ) { $html .= 'Featured'; } return $html; } add_filter( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop_item_title', 'add_featured_product_badge', 10, 3 );
Then add CSS to your stylesheet to style the `.featured-badge` class.
- Plugins: Numerous WooCommerce plugins can help you customize the display of featured products. Search the WordPress plugin repository for terms like “WooCommerce Featured Products,” “Product Showcase,” or “Product Slider.”
Example Scenario: Promoting a New Product Line
Let’s say you’ve just launched a new line of organic skincare products. You want to create some buzz and get customers excited.
1. Mark the products as featured: Go through each product in your new line and mark them as featured using the steps above.
2. Create a dedicated “New Arrivals” page: Use the WooCommerce shortcode `[products limit=”8″ columns=”4″ visibility=”featured”]` to display your featured skincare products on this page.
3. Link to the “New Arrivals” page from your homepage: Add a prominent button or banner on your homepage that says “Shop Our New Organic Skincare Line” and links to the new page.
4. Promote the products on social media: Share photos and descriptions of your featured skincare products on your social media channels.
5. Run a limited-time offer: Add a sale price to the featured items for a limited time to encourage purchase.
By strategically featuring your new product line, you can increase its visibility and drive sales.
Final Thoughts
Making a featured product in WooCommerce is a simple yet powerful way to highlight your best offerings and improve your Check out this post: How To Set Up 2 Shop Pages In Woocommerce store’s performance. By following these steps and experimenting with different display options, you can create a visually appealing and effective online store that converts visitors into paying customers. Remember to track your results to see which featured products perform best and adjust your strategy accordingly! Good luck!
