How to Add a Second Shop Page to WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’re running a WooCommerce store and thinking about adding a second shop page? Fantastic! Maybe you want to showcase specific product categories, create a separate sale section, or simply offer a different browsing experience. Whatever your reason, adding a second shop page to WooCommerce is surprisingly straightforward. This guide will walk you through the process, step-by-step, even if you’re a complete beginner.
Think of it like this: you have a main department store (your main shop page), but you want to create a smaller boutique within it that focuses on, say, designer handbags. That’s essentially what we’re doing here!
Why Add a Second Shop Page?
Before we dive in, let’s quickly cover why you might want a second shop page in the first place. Here are some common reasons:
- Targeted Product Categories: Imagine you sell clothing for men and women. A second shop page could focus specifically on “Women’s Fashion,” making it easier for female customers to find what they’re looking for.
- Sale Sections: A dedicated “Clearance” or “Sale” shop page can highlight discounted items and attract bargain hunters.
- Different Browsing Experience: Perhaps you want to offer a curated selection of products on a second shop page with a different layout or filtering options.
- Seasonal Collections: Create a dedicated shop page for “Summer Collection” or “Holiday Gifts.”
- A/B Testing: Compare the performance of different product layouts and filtering options on separate shop pages.
- Choose which products to display: Most plugins offer options to filter products by category, tag, product ID, or other criteria. For example, if your page is “Women’s Fashion,” you would filter to only show products in the “Women’s” category.
- Customize the layout: You can typically choose how the products are displayed (e.g., grid, list), the number of columns, and which information to show (e.g., product image, name, price, add to cart button).
- Set pagination options: Choose how many products to display per page and how to handle pagination.
- Use relevant keywords: Include keywords related to the products on your second shop page in the page title, description, and content (if you add any descriptive text above the product grid).
- Create unique content: While the products might be the same as on your main shop page, try to add unique descriptive text to your second shop page to avoid duplicate content issues. For example, on the “Clearance” page, you might write a short paragraph about the benefits of buying discounted items.
- Internal linking: Link to your second shop page from your main shop page and other relevant pages on your website. This helps search engines discover and understand the content of your new page. For example, you could add a link in your main navigation that says “Shop Women’s Fashion” and points to your women’s fashion shop page.
- Mobile-friendly design: Make sure your product grid plugin and page layout are responsive and look good on all devices.
- Products not displaying: Double-check your shortcode and plugin settings. Make sure you’ve correctly filtered the products and that the shortcode is pasted correctly into the page body.
- Layout issues: Some themes may conflict with product grid plugins. Try switching to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Three) temporarily to see if the issue is theme-related.
- Plugin compatibility: Make sure the plugin you’re using is compatible with your version of WooCommerce and WordPress.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Second Shop Page
Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty!
Step 1: Create a New Page
This is the foundation of your second shop page.
1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Pages > Add New.
2. Give your page a descriptive title. For example, “Women’s Fashion,” “Clearance,” or “Summer Sale.”
3. Do not add any content to the page body yet! We’ll handle the product display later. Just leave it blank.
4. Click Publish.
Step 2: Install and Activate a WooCommerce Product Grid Plugin
WooCommerce doesn’t natively allow you to easily display products on pages other than the main shop page. That’s where a plugin comes in. There are many options available, both free and premium. We’ll use one of the most popular and beginner-friendly plugins, WooCommerce Product Table as an example, but the general principles will apply to most similar plugins.
1. Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Search for “WooCommerce Product Table.”
3. Find a plugin that suits your needs and has good reviews. Many have free versions with basic functionality.
4. Click Install Now and then Activate.
Step 3: Configure Your Product Grid Plugin
Now, let’s configure the plugin to display your products on your new page. The specific steps will vary depending on the plugin you choose, but here’s a general idea:
1. Find the plugin’s settings page. This is usually located under the “WooCommerce” or “Settings” menu in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Configure the product display:
3. Save your settings.
Step 4: Add the Shortcode to Your New Page
Most product grid plugins use a shortcode to display the products. A shortcode is a small snippet of code that tells WordPress to execute a specific function.
1. Find the shortcode generated by your plugin. This is usually displayed on the plugin’s settings page or in the plugin’s documentation. It will look something like `[product_table category=”womens-fashion”]` or `[woocommerce_product_grid columns=”3″ category=”sale”]`.
2. Edit the page you created in Step 1.
3. Paste the shortcode into the page body.
4. Update the page.
Step 5: Test Your New Shop Page
Visit your new page to see your products displayed! If everything is configured correctly, you should see a beautiful product grid showcasing the products you selected.
Example:
Let’s say you’re using the “WooCommerce Product Table” plugin. You want to create a “Clearance” page. You’ve tagged all your sale items with the tag “clearance.”
1. Create a new page titled “Clearance.”
2. Install and activate the “WooCommerce Product Table” plugin.
3. In the plugin’s settings, you find the shortcode `[product_table tag=”clearance”]`.
4. Edit your “Clearance” page and paste the shortcode into the page body.
5. Update the page.
Now, when you visit your “Clearance” page, you’ll see a table displaying all products tagged with “clearance.”
Key Considerations for SEO
Adding a second shop page is a great way to improve user experience, but remember to optimize it for search engines!
Troubleshooting
Conclusion
Adding a second shop page to your WooCommerce store is a powerful way to improve your online store’s organization, user experience, and SEO. By following these steps and choosing the right plugin, you can easily create targeted shopping experiences for your customers and boost your sales. Remember to test your changes thoroughly and optimize for SEO to get the most out of your new shop page! Good luck!
