Having your products visible on your website is not nearly enough. In order to have high SEO rankings, good product structure and healthy website flow you have to make some things organized. So here’s How to organize WooCommerce products correctly – Categories, tags, attributes & variations.
Table of content:
- About product types, categories, tags & attributes
- How to organize WooCommerce products – The ideal structure
- T-shirts store – Example 1
- Fashion store – Example 2
- Fast food store – Example 3
About product types, categories, tags & attributes
There are 4 types of products in WooCommerce.
- Simple product
- Group product
- External/affiliate
- Variable product
You can learn more on product types and their details here.
Each product has:
Category – The main category.
Parent category – If the main category is dividable to other sub-categories, then you assign to the sub-category a parent category.
Tag – Make the products more detailed & navigable. Points out to something that has nothing to do with the category.
Attributes – Color, size, extra accessory, etc…
Variables – Different combinations of the attributes. Color: red, size: XL OR Color: red, size: L. So potentially two attributes can make multiple variations of the same product.
How to organize WooCommerce products – The ideal structure
Organizing WooCommerce categories
Think of it this way, the main differentiation of the things you sell online, the really main ones, should be the categories. However, this is a tricky one, you have to firstly, understand what differentiates your products the most, secondly, how do you want your customers to navigate through your products.
i.e. Electronics, accessories
Organizing sub-categories
When some or all of your categories have each their own categories, that’s where you add them as sub-categories. Or rather, you assign them a parent category.
i.e. Electronics -> Mobile devices, tablets, mouses, keyboards. Accessories -> Hard cases, ear phones…
Adding tags
Tags are used to identify the tiniest differentiation of a product. Something that’s common across multiple categories. Like being limited edition. Any product in any category can be limited…
For example a color, model, brand or anything that tags the item. i.e. Vegan, wireless, second-hand, limited edition.
Tags can be used to firstly, have faster and more detailed filters, secondly, to show products with a specific tag.
Let’s say you have an anime clothing website.
EXAMPLE 1 – T-shirts store:
Categories: Men, Women
Sub-categories for each category: Hoodies, t-shirts
Tags: Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Stray Dogs…
Attributes: Size (S, M, L, XL), Color (black, white, gray)
Variations: Each size of each color, so that makes 12 variations
- Gray (S, M, L, XL)
- Black (S, M, L, XL)
- White (S, M, L, XL)
EXAMPLE 2 – Fashion store:
Now imagine a fashion store, this time with different categorization.
Categories: Shoes, clothing, accessories
Sub-category1 for each category: Men, Women
Sub-category2 for sub category 1 (Men): Boots, sandals, sneakers, loafers, oxfords
Sub-category2 for sub category 1 (Women): Boots, sandals, sneakers, heels, flats, clogs & mules
Tags: Model #, brand name, or other detailed specs.
Attributes: Size, color
Variations: The combination of colors and sizes
EXAMPLE 3 – Fast food store:
Now, let’s say you’re running a restaurant. What a successful man you are, running 3 businesses at the same time.
Categories: Pizza, Burgers, Salads, Appetizers
Sub-categories for each category: Vegetarian, Vegan, Meat
Tags: Pork meat, beef meat, special offer
Attributes: Size (S, M, L), double cheese, double meat, normal
Variations: We would have 9 variations
Normal: S, M, L
Double cheese: S, M, L
Double meat: S, M, L
I hope the examples make things clearer.
What to do?
I hope the above explanations will help you organize WooCommerce categories better, so you can improve your product structure to make sure they rank higher on Google and your users find what their looking for faster.
Here’s an assignment for you, firstly, create your product structure, secondly, share it in the comments, and let’s check it together 😉
