How to Separate WooCommerce Products on a Page: A Beginner’s Guide
You’ve built your beautiful WooCommerce store, uploaded your products, and now they’re all crammed together on a single page. Not the best shopping experience, right? Just like you wouldn’t pile all your clothes in one heap for customers at a physical store, you need to organize and separate your online products. This article will guide you through how to effectively separate your WooCommerce products on a page, making it easier for your customers to browse and buy!
Think of your WooCommerce product page like a grocery store aisle. Would you want all the items just thrown onto the shelves randomly? No! You’d want them separated by category: cereals together, canned goods in their own section, and so on. That’s the goal here: to improve the shopping experience and boost conversions.
Why Separate Your WooCommerce Products?
Before we dive into the “how,” let’s understand the “why”:
* Improved User Experience: A well-organized product page is easier to navigate, allowing customers to quickly find what they’re looking for. A frustrated customer is less likely to buy.
* Increased Conversions: When customers can easily browse related products, they’re more likely to add multiple items to their cart.
* Better Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A structured product page helps search engines understand your products and their categories, potentially improving your website’s ranking.
* Enhanced Brand Image: A professional-looking and well-organized store builds trust and enhances your brand’s image.
Methods to Separate WooCommerce Products on a Page
Here are several methods you can use to separate your WooCommerce products:
1. Categories and Subcategories:
This is the most fundamental way to separate products. Think of categories as broad groups (e.g., “Clothing,” “Electronics,” “Books”) and subcategories as more specific groups within those categories (e.g., “Clothing” > “T-Shirts,” “Clothing” > “Jeans”).
* Implementation:
- In your WordPress admin, go to Products > Categories.
- Create categories and subcategories that logically group your products.
- When editing a product, assign it to the appropriate category/subcategory.
- In your WordPress admin, go to Products > Tags.
- Create tags relevant to your products (e.g., “Cotton,” “Sale,” “Blue”).
- When editing a product, assign relevant tags.
- In your WordPress admin, go to Products > Attributes.
- Create attributes (e.g., “Color,” “Size”).
- Add terms for each attribute (e.g., for “Color”: “Red,” “Blue,” “Green”).
- When editing a product, assign attributes and their terms.
- Your theme may already include product filters. Check your theme’s documentation.
- If not, install a WooCommerce filter plugin (e.g., “WooCommerce Product Filter,” “YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter”).
- Configure the plugin to display relevant filters on your product pages.
* Real-life Example: Imagine an online bookstore. You can categorize books by Genre (“Fiction,” “Non-Fiction”), then subcategorize further (“Fiction” > “Science Fiction,” “Fiction” > “Fantasy”).
* Reasoning: Categories provide the overall structure, while subcategories allow for granular organization.
2. Product Tags:
Tags are keywords that describe specific aspects of a product. Unlike categories, a product can have multiple tags.
* Implementation:
* Real-life Example: A t-shirt could have the tags “Cotton,” “Summer,” “Casual,” and “Blue.”
* Reasoning: Tags provide additional filters and organization beyond categories, allowing customers to find products based on specific features.
3. Product Attributes:
Attributes define characteristics of a product, such as color, size, material, or style. They are often used for creating variations of a product (e.g., a t-shirt in different colors and sizes).
* Implementation:
* Real-life Example: A shoe might have attributes “Size” (with terms like “7,” “8,” “9”) and “Color” (with terms like “Black,” “Brown,” “White”).
* Reasoning: Attributes are essential for handling product variations and providing detailed information to customers.
4. WooCommerce Product Filters:
These filters, often included in WooCommerce themes or added via plugins, allow customers to narrow down product listings based on categories, tags, attributes, price, and other criteria.
* Implementation:
* Real-life Example: On an clothing website, customers can filter by “Category,” “Size,” “Color,” and “Price” to quickly find the perfect item.
* Reasoning: Filters are crucial for helping customers find exactly what they’re looking for, especially in stores with a large product catalog.
5. Custom Code (for Advanced Users):
If you’re comfortable with coding, you can use custom PHP code to manipulate the display of products on your page. This allows for highly customized layouts and filtering. This is for advanced users only, and incorrect code can break your site.
* Implementation (Example – Displaying products from a specific category):
'product', 'posts_per_page' => 12, // Number of products to display 'product_cat' => 'your-category-slug' // Replace with your category slug );
$loop = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $loop->have_posts() ) {
echo ‘
- ‘;
while ( $loop->have_posts() ) {
$loop->the_post();
wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ );
}
echo ‘
‘;
} else {
echo ‘
No products found in this category.
‘;
}
wp_reset_postdata();
?>
Important: This code needs to be added to your theme’s functions.php Discover insights on How To Adding Share Buttons To Woocommerce Product Theme Page file or a custom plugin. BACKUP YOUR SITE BEFORE MAKING ANY CODE CHANGES! Replace `”your-category-slug”` with the actual slug of your desired category. The slug can be found on Products -> Categories page when you edit the category.
* Real-life Example: Displaying “New Arrivals” in a separate section on your homepage.
* Reasoning: Custom code provides the ultimate flexibility for controlling how products are displayed, but requires technical expertise.
6. Product Bundles and Grouped Products
While not technically “separating” in the same way as categories, bundles and grouped products help visually organize related items and encourage customers to buy more.
* Implementation:
- When creating or editing a product, select “Grouped product” or use a plugin to create “Product bundles”. Add related products to the bundle.
* Real-life Example: Offer a “Home Office Bundle” consisting of a desk, chair, lamp and stationery, all grouped together for a discount.
* Reasoning: These options increase the Explore this article on How To Customize My Woocommerce Shop Page With Wp Bakery average order value by encouraging purchase of related items.
Conclusion
Separating your WooCommerce products on a page is essential for creating Learn more about How To Fix Woocommerce Image Size Issues a user-friendly and effective online store. By using categories, tags, attributes, filters, and (if needed) custom code, you can provide a seamless browsing experience that leads to increased conversions and customer satisfaction. Remember to choose the methods that best suit your product catalog and technical abilities, and always prioritize a clear and intuitive design. Happy selling!