How To Set Up Product Category In Woocommerce

WooCommerce Product Categories: A Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up Your Online Store

So, you’re diving into the world of e-commerce with WooCommerce? Great choice! One of the first, and most crucial, steps is setting up your product categories. Think of them as the aisles in your online supermarket. Without them, customers will be lost in a sea of products and quickly click away. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to set up product categories effectively, even if you’re a complete beginner.

Why Are Product Categories Important?

Imagine you’re selling clothes. Would you want to throw everything – t-shirts, jeans, dresses, and socks – all on one big page? No way! That’s where product categories come in. They:

• Improve User Experience: Categories make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for. A visitor looking for a “Red Summer Dress” can quickly navigate to a “Dresses” category and then filter by color and season.
• Boost SEO: Properly structured categories help search engines understand what your website is about. Using relevant keywords in your category names and descriptions can improve your rankings.
• Organize Your Inventory: Categories help *you* manage your products effectively, making it easier to track inventory, apply discounts, and analyze sales trends.

Step-by-Step: Creating Your First Product Category

Let’s dive into the practical steps of creating your product categories within WooCommerce.

1. Access the Product Categories Section:

Log in to your WordPress dashboard. On the left-hand menu, hover over “Products” and click on “Categories”.

2. The Category Creation Form:

You’ll see a form with several fields. Here’s a breakdown of each and how to use them:

• Name: This is the *actual name* of your category, what your customers will see (e.g., “T-Shirts”, “Smartphones”, “Dog Toys”). Choose clear, concise, and descriptive names.
• Slug: The slug is the URL-friendly version of the category name. WooCommerce will automatically generate one, usually based on the name you entered. You can customize it if you want (e.g., “t-shirts”, “smartphones”, “dog-toys”). Keep it short and use hyphens instead of spaces. Why is this important? A well-crafted slug can boost your SEO.
• Parent Category: This is where things get interesting! This allows you to create *subcategories* (also known as child categories). For example, you might have a “Clothing” category as the parent, and then “T-Shirts”, “Jeans”, and “Dresses” as subcategories. If you want to create a main category, leave this set to “None”. Real-life example: If you’re selling electronics, a parent category could be “Audio” and subcategories could be “Headphones”, “Speakers”, and “Microphones”.
• Description: Write a brief description of the category. This is *super* important for SEO! Include relevant keywords that people might use when searching for products in that category. Example: “Browse our high-quality collection of T-Shirts for men and women. Find your perfect fit and style from our range of graphic tees, v-necks, and long-sleeved options.” While some themes might not display this description on the category page, search engines will use it to understand what the category is about.
• Display Type: This option controls how the category page is displayed. You have a few choices:
• Default: Uses your theme’s default settings.
• Products: Displays only the products within that category.
• Subcategories: Displays only the subcategories within that category.
• Both: Displays both the products and the subcategories. Example: Choosing “Both” for your “Clothing” category would show both the “T-Shirts”, “Jeans” etc. subcategories and any clothes assigned directly to the “Clothing” category (which you might not want).
• Thumbnail: This is the image associated with your category. Choose a high-quality, relevant image that represents the products in that category. This can significantly improve the visual appeal of your store and make it easier for customers to navigate. Pro Tip: Use consistent image sizes for all your category thumbnails to maintain a professional look.

3. Adding the Category:

Once you’ve filled out all the fields, click the “Add New Category” button. Your new category will now appear in the list on the right.

Example: Setting up a “Coffee” Category

Let’s say you’re selling coffee beans. Here’s how you might set up your categories:

• Category Name: Coffee
• Slug: coffee
• Parent Category: None (This is a main category)
• Description: “Explore our wide selection of freshly roasted coffee beans from around the world. Discover your perfect cup with our Arabica, Robusta, and blended options.”
• Display Type: Products
• Thumbnail: A beautiful photo of freshly roasted coffee beans.

Creating Subcategories: A Deeper Dive

Subcategories allow you to further refine your product organization. Using the “Coffee” example, you might create subcategories like:

• Arabica: (Parent Category: Coffee)
• Robusta: (Parent Category: Coffee)
• Blends: (Parent Category: Coffee)
• Decaf: (Parent Category: Coffee)

When creating these subcategories, make sure to select “Coffee” as the “Parent Category”.

Managing Existing Categories

In the product categories section, you can also:

• Edit: Hover over a category and click “Edit” to change its details.
• Delete: Hover over a category and click “Delete” to remove it. Be careful! Deleting a category does *not* delete the products assigned to it, but they will be un-categorized.
• Quick Edit: Hover over a category and click “Quick Edit” for fast changes to the name and slug.

Assigning Products to Categories

Now that you’ve created your categories, you need to assign your products to them. You can do this in two ways:

1. From the Product Editing Screen:

• Go to “Products” -> “All Products” and edit the product you want to categorize.
• In the “Product categories” box on the right, select the categories that apply to the product. You can select multiple categories if a product fits into more than one.
• Click “Update” to save the changes.

2. Quick Edit:

• Go to “Products” -> “All Products”.
• Hover over the product and click “Quick Edit”.
• Check the boxes next to the relevant categories.
• Click “Update”.

Displaying Categories on Your Website

Simply creating the categories isn’t enough. You need to make them visible to your customers! Here are a few common ways to display them:

• WooCommerce Product Category Widget: Add this widget to your sidebar or footer to display a list of your categories. You can choose to show the category hierarchy (parent and subcategories) and the product count for each category. Go to Appearance -> Widgets and drag the “WooCommerce Product Categories” widget to your desired sidebar or footer.
• Navigation Menu: Add your categories directly to your main navigation menu. Go to Appearance -> Menus and add the categories from the “Categories” section to your menu.
• Category Pages: WooCommerce automatically creates a page for each category. You can customize these pages using your theme’s settings or a page builder plugin.

Best Practices for WooCommerce Product Categories

• Plan Your Categories: Before you start creating categories, take some time to plan out your category structure. Think about how your customers will search for products and organize your categories accordingly.
• Use Descriptive Names: As mentioned earlier, clear and descriptive category names are essential for both user experience and SEO.
• Optimize for SEO: Include relevant keywords in your category names, slugs, and descriptions.
• Use High-Quality Images: Attractive category thumbnails can make a big difference in attracting customers.
• Keep it Simple: Don’t overcomplicate your category structure. Too many categories can be overwhelming.
• Regularly Review and Update: As your product offerings evolve, review and update your categories to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
• Consider Category Hierarchy: Use parent and subcategories logically to create a clear and organized structure.
• Use Category Specific Banners & Text: For more appealing look, you can add category banners and/ or custom text with category info.

// Example of displaying category thumbnail in a loop
 'product_cat',
'hide_empty' => false, // Show even if no products are assigned
) );

if ( ! empty( $categories ) && ! is_wp_error( $categories ) ){

echo ‘

‘;

foreach ( $categories as $category ) {

$thumbnail_id = get_term_meta( $category->term_id, ‘thumbnail_id’, true );

$image_url = wp_get_attachment_url( $thumbnail_id );

echo ‘

• ‘;

  if ( $image_url ) {

  echo ‘name ) . ‘” />’;

  }

  echo $category->name . ‘

‘;

}

echo ‘

‘;

}

?>

By following these steps and best practices, you can create a well-organized and user-friendly online store that attracts customers and boosts your sales. Good luck! Remember to always test how your category structure works from a customer’s perspective to ensure a smooth and intuitive shopping experience.