# How to Add Pagination to Your WooCommerce Shop Page
WooCommerce is a powerful e-commerce platform, but sometimes you need to tweak its default settings to achieve the perfect online store. One common issue is managing a large number of products on your shop page. A long, scrolling list can be overwhelming for customers and detrimental to your site’s user experience. This is where pagination comes in. This article will guide you through adding pagination to your WooCommerce shop page, improving both the user experience and your SEO.
Why Use Pagination on Your WooCommerce Shop Page?
Implementing pagination is crucial for several reasons:
- Improved User Experience: Long, unending product lists are difficult to navigate. Pagination breaks the content into manageable pages, making it easier for customers to find what they need.
- Better Website Performance: Loading a single page with hundreds of products significantly impacts page load speed. Pagination drastically reduces the number of products loaded per page, leading to faster loading times and improved SEO.
- Enhanced SEO: Search engines favor websites with a good user experience. Faster loading times and better navigation contribute to higher search rankings. Pagination contributes directly to both.
- Improved Mobile Experience: On smaller screens, long product lists are even more problematic. Pagination makes browsing much smoother on mobile devices.
- Theme Compatibility: Ensure your theme is compatible with WooCommerce and its default pagination features. Some themes might override the default behavior.
- Plugin Conflicts: Conflicts with other plugins can sometimes disable WooCommerce’s default pagination. Try temporarily deactivating other plugins to see if this resolves the issue.
- Shop Page Settings: While less common, your theme might have specific settings related to shop page display. Check your theme’s documentation or settings panel.
Methods to Add Pagination to Your WooCommerce Shop Page
There are several ways to add or improve pagination on your WooCommerce shop page. Let’s explore the most common approaches:
1. Using WooCommerce’s Built-in Pagination (Most Common & Easiest)
WooCommerce usually handles pagination automatically. If you’re not seeing it, double-check these settings:
If WooCommerce’s default pagination isn’t working, you might need to use a more advanced method (explained below).
2. Customizing Pagination with Child Theme or Code Snippet (For Advanced Users)
For more control over the appearance and functionality of your pagination, you can use a child theme or add a code snippet to your `functions.php` file (highly recommended to use a child theme to avoid losing changes upon theme updates).
This example shows how to customize the number of products per page:
add_filter( 'loop_shop_per_page', 'new_loop_shop_per_page', 20 );
function new_loop_shop_per_page( $cols ){
return 12; // 12 products per page
}
This code snippet changes the number of products displayed per page to 12. You can adjust this value to your preference. For more advanced customizations of the pagination’s visual appearance, you’ll likely need to edit your theme’s template files directly (again, strongly recommend using a child theme).
3. Using a WooCommerce Plugin (Simplest for Non-Coders)
Several plugins can enhance or replace WooCommerce’s default pagination. These plugins offer easy-to-use interfaces for customizing the number of products per page, changing the pagination style, and adding features like “Load More” buttons. Search the WordPress plugin directory for “WooCommerce Pagination” to find suitable options. Remember to always check reviews and compatibility before installing any plugin.
Conclusion
Adding pagination to your WooCommerce shop page is essential for creating a user-friendly and SEO-friendly online store. While WooCommerce often handles this automatically, understanding how to customize it through code or plugins allows for greater control and optimization. Choosing the right method depends on your technical skills and the level of customization required. Remember to always prioritize a good user experience, which will positively impact your sales and search engine rankings.
