How to Improve Product Search and Filters in WooCommerce
Searching for a product on a website with dozens of product pages is like searching for a specific item in a massive physical store. It can take a lot of time, effort, and often leaves you confused because of all the options displayed.
But one second, imagine with me if every aisle had clear signs showing exactly where each product is, that would make your shopping much easier for you.
The same thing applies to eCommerce stores, having a clear way that allows your customers to search and filter products quickly to find exactly what they want, will improve their shopping experience, increase your store conversions, and reduce bounce rate.
So, in this article, I will show you all the actionable ways and tips you need to know to improve product search in your WooCommerce store.
Let’s get started!
WooCommerce comes with a built-in product search bar that works fine with basic queries. However, sometimes it’s not the most effective solution for customers who are looking for specific products. If they try to search using SKU, attributes, or partial keywords, the search results may not be fully relevant.
To improve product search in WooCommerce, you should use product search and filters plugins, AJAX search, optimize product titles and descriptions, and add relevant tags and keywords.
Now, let’s break down these points in details.
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Optimize WooCommerce Search and Filters
As we mentioned earlier, WooCommerce provides a search feature, but only a basic one. Poor search functionality can frustrate shoppers and lead to abandoned carts. Here are ways to improve it:
- Use Search Plugins
Using search plugins like SearchWP or Ajax search for WooCommerce improves the search process and makes it smoother for your customers.
These plugins offer what’s known as “live search” or “instant search”, meaning that when a user starts typing a keyword in the search box, the relevant or related products appear immediately without the need to press “Enter” or navigate to a new page.
This makes the user experience faster, easier, and more seamless, which increases the chance that customers quickly find exactly what they are looking for.
- Enable Search by SKU Attributes
When we say the search feature using “SKU”, we mean “Stock Keeping Unit” or product code, which is a number or code used by a store to distinguish each product from another.
Some customers may use this number to search for the product instead of the name, so if the search feature doesn’t support searching by “SKU”, the user may not find the product even if it exists.
Therefore, enabling search by “SKU” helps customers who know the codes or numbers of the products to easily find them.
2. Use Product Filters
Using plugins like “WooCommerce Product Filter” allows customers to narrow down products based on categories, colors, size, brand, price, or even ratings. This plugin helps reduce customer distraction caused by hundreds of product listings.
Though it, customers can easily narrow down their choices and find exactly what they are looking for.
For example: customer can search: “Black sport shoe, size 38, priced under $50” and within seconds the products matching these specifications will appear.
This helps your customers to find what they want without extra clicks, reduces bounce rate, and increases your conversions.
3. Write Clear Titles and Descriptions
The search tool reads product titles and descriptions, so it is important for product titles to be clear, simple, and not too long or complicated. The same applies to the product description, it should include essential details such as color, size, and price in a concise and attractive manner.
Writing the title and description correctly not only helps customers understand the product but also improves the visibility of your products in the store’s search results.
4. Add Tags and Categories
Tags and categories are among the most important tools for organizing products within your online store.
- Categories
It is the basic way for dividing products into main categories. For example:
- Category shoes
- Category clothing
- Category accessories
Each category can contain subcategories such as “Men’s shoes” or “Sports shoes”. The purpose is to make browsing the website easier, allowing the user to quickly reach the type they are looking for.
- Tags
Tags are keywords that describe additional details about the product. For example:
- Color: black, blue
- Season: winter, summer
- Style: casual, sport
This helps users who search with certain keywords and increases the chance of the product appearing in search results within the store and sometimes in search engines (SEO).
This improves the user experience within the store and helps the search tool to display more accurate results.
5. Make Mobile Search Easy
Most users today shop through their phones, so it is essential for the product search and filtering tool to be user-friendly and responsive on small screens. For example:
So, if the users want to search for a product, they should be able to type it into the search box or use the filters quickly without the need for zooming in or complex navigation.
6. Test and Monitor Search Performance
After you add search and filter tool in your store, it is very important to test it regularly and monitor its performance, because even the best tools may need adjustments or enhancements over time.
This Ensures you:
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Ensure Accurate and Relevant Results: Helps you make sure that search results truly match what customers are looking for.
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Improve User Experience: Identifies issues in search speed or accuracy to make browsing easier and faster.
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Customer Behavior Analysis: Provides you with insights into the most searched terms and hard-to-find products.
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Increasing Sales: Improving search performance enhances customer satisfaction and increases purchase opportunities.
