How To Make Product Appear At Top Of Store Woocommerce

How to Make Your Products Appear at the Top of Your WooCommerce Store (SEO-Friendly Guide)

Introduction:

In the competitive world of e-commerce, visibility is key. If customers can’t easily find your best or most relevant products, you’re leaving money on the table. WooCommerce offers several built-in methods, and also opportunities to enhance your store with custom code or plugins, to control how your products are displayed. This article will guide you through various strategies on how to make your products appear at the top of your WooCommerce store, boosting sales and improving customer experience. We’ll explore options ranging from simple product management to more advanced techniques, all while keeping SEO best practices in mind.

Main Part: Strategies to Prioritize Products

There are several effective methods to prioritize specific products in your WooCommerce store, influencing their placement and ensuring they are among the first items customers see.

1. Utilizing WooCommerce’s Built-in Sorting Options

WooCommerce provides default sorting options that you can leverage:

• Default Sorting: This option uses the order in which products were added to your store.
• Popularity (Sales): Sorts products based on the number of purchases. Highly popular products will naturally rise to the top.
• Rating: Products are sorted according to their average customer rating. Encouraging reviews is crucial for this method.
• Price (Low to High/High to Low): Sorts products based on their price.
• Most Recent: Displays products based on their publish date, ensuring the newest additions appear first.

While helpful, these default options might not always give you the granular control you desire. This is where custom solutions come in.

2. Featured Products: Highlight Key Items

WooCommerce’s “Featured Products” functionality provides a straightforward way to spotlight specific items.

• Marking a Product as Featured: When editing a product in the WooCommerce admin, you’ll find a “Catalog visibility” setting. Click on ‘Edit’ and check the “This is a featured product” box.
• Displaying Featured Products: You can display featured products using the `
  ` shortcode on your homepage or other prominent pages. For example: `
  ` This will display 8 featured products in 4 columns.
• Customizing the Display: Many themes offer customized templates for displaying featured products, allowing you to further control their appearance.

This is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prioritize products you want to promote.

3. Custom Ordering with the “Menu Order” Attribute

This allows you to manually arrange products in a specific order that overrides the default sorting.

• Accessing the Menu Order: While editing a product, find the “Advanced” tab in the “Product data” section.
• Setting the Menu Order: Enter a numerical value in the “Menu Discover insights on How To Change Woocommerce Max 50 Per Run order” field. Products with lower numbers appear earlier. For example, a product with “Menu order” set to “1” will appear before a product with “Menu order” set to “2.” Negative numbers are also accepted.
• Enabling Custom Ordering: Go to “Appearance” -> “Customize” -> “WooCommerce” -> “Product Catalog”. Set the “Default product sorting” to “Custom ordering + Name”.

This method provides complete control over product order, but requires manual effort.

4. Using Custom Code (PHP) to Modify Product Query

For more advanced control, you can modify the default WooCommerce product query using PHP code. This requires some programming knowledge.

• Modifying `pre_get_posts`: You can use the `pre_get_posts` action hook to alter the product query before it’s executed. This is typically done within your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin.

 function custom_woocommerce_ordering( $query ) { if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() && ( is_shop() || is_product_category() || is_product_tag() ) ) { $query->set( 'orderby', 'meta_value_num' ); $query->set( 'meta_key', '_custom_priority' ); // Replace with your custom meta key $query->set( 'order', 'DESC' ); // Or 'ASC' for ascending order } } add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'custom_woocommerce_ordering' ); 

Explanation:

• `! is_admin()`: Ensures the code only runs on the front-end of the store, not in the admin area.
• `$query->is_main_query()`: Checks if it’s the main query.
• `is_shop() || is_product_category() || is_product_tag()`: Limits the modification to the shop, product category, and product tag pages.
• `$query->set( ‘orderby’, ‘meta_value_num’ )`: Orders products based on a custom meta value (numerical).
• `$query->set( ‘meta_key’, ‘_custom_priority’ )`: Specifies the meta key to use for sorting. You’ll need to add this custom field to your products.
• `$query->set( ‘order’, ‘DESC’ )`: Sets the order to descending (highest priority first).

Important: This example relies on a custom meta key (`_custom_priority`). You’ll need to add this custom field to each product in your WooCommerce store, assigning a numerical priority value. Plugins like ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) can simplify adding custom fields.

5. Utilizing WooCommerce Plugins for Enhanced Sorting

Several WooCommerce plugins offer more advanced sorting and product management features. These can be a good option if you’re not comfortable with custom coding.

• Product Sort and Display Customization: Many plugins allow you to drag-and-drop products to reorder them, create custom sorting rules based on various criteria, and more.

Consider these benefits when using plugins:

• Ease of Use: Plugins often provide user-friendly interfaces.
• Reduced Coding: Minimizes the need for custom code.
• Support and Updates: Plugin developers provide support and updates, ensuring compatibility with WooCommerce.

Cons: The Importance of SEO Considerations

While prioritizing products is essential for driving sales, it’s crucial to consider SEO implications:

• Relevance is Key: Prioritize products that are *relevant* to the search terms customers are using. Don’t push irrelevant products to the top, as this can hurt user experience and SEO.
• Optimize Product Titles and Descriptions: Ensure product titles and descriptions are SEO-friendly, including relevant keywords.
• Use Internal Linking: Link to relevant products within your website to improve navigation and SEO.
• Monitor and Analyze: Track product performance and adjust your prioritization strategies accordingly. Use Google Analytics to monitor bounce rates, time on page, and conversion rates. A sudden increase in bounce rate on a page where you’ve prominently displayed a product could indicate a poor user experience.
• Avoid Keyword Stuffing: Ensure your product titles and descriptions are natural and readable. Keyword stuffing can negatively impact your SEO.

Conclusion:

Effectively prioritizing products in your WooCommerce store requires a strategic approach, balancing user experience and SEO considerations. Whether you choose to leverage WooCommerce’s built-in features, implement custom code, or utilize plugins, the goal is to make your best and most relevant products easily accessible to customers. By carefully considering your target audience, optimizing your product listings, and monitoring your results, you can significantly boost sales and improve customer satisfaction. Remember that consistent monitoring and adjustments are crucial to maintaining optimal product visibility and maximizing your store’s potential.