Category page

Categories are individual sections of the online store and contain a varying number of products.

In categories, products are typically presented in either a grid or list format. You can offer visitors various display options or sorting preferences. There are also different layouts, but the ones mentioned above are the most classic among categories.

Grid View is commonly used to display multiple products at once, as this display style allows you to place multiple products (2, 3, 4, 5, and more) in a single row, depending on the size of the product you want to showcase. Larger products will result in fewer products in a single row, giving you more space for layout.

Grid and List View

List View is usually used when you want to display more information about products on the page.

For each product, you typically display a photo, price, product name, and tabs for adding to the cart or viewing product details. In addition to the mentioned information, you can also add a quick preview of the product, a wishlist, comparisons, and individual product tags.

You can also use the category page as a landing page, as it contains most of the necessary elements. In the description, you can include promotions and discounts (for understanding the promotion and its rules), followed by a list of promotional products. This way, you can clearly explain the promotion to the visitor and offer all promotional items for viewing. A good example of this display method is a Valentine's Day promotion, where you add a selection of suitable gifts, order conditions, and delivery time information.

Displaying Images

As mentioned earlier, photos should be professional, clean, and tailored to the product being presented. We typically photograph watches vertically and glasses horizontally. How you present the product depends mainly on the product itself. If you have only one type of product, you will, of course, choose the display that suits the product best.

Highlighting Products

Specially highlighted products are particularly attractive within product categories, so you can highlight them more with various labels. Even in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, you can see various marketing elements that highlight specific products. Typically, these labels include "new," "sale," "discounted," "recommended," and similar. When making these decisions, you can be very creative, but if you run out of ideas, you can always visit another online store and borrow an idea.

You can also highlight certain products by adding an advertising banner to the product listing, which can serve as additional promotion. When doing this, be careful not to overload the category page with information and thereby degrade the user experience.

You also need to configure the sorting options in the category so that visitors can sort the products according to their preferences.

The most common ways to sort products include:

• from newest to oldest (and vice versa),
• in alphabetical order from A to Z (and vice versa), and
• by price from cheapest to most expensive (and vice versa).

At the beginning, organize your layout with bestsellers, continue with seasonally attractive items, and finish with items that are out of stock (if you are already displaying them).

In addition to the above, there are other ways to arrange products, but it all depends on the sales method and the type of products you offer. If you sell motorcycles, you can add sorting options based on additional parameters, such as sorting by power, which is likely quite important when choosing a motorcycle.

Filtering

If you have a large number of products, you must add a filtering function to the pages. This feature allows users to narrow down the display of products based on selected parameters.

Typically, filtering options are available by price and by subcategory, and you can also add other parameters, such as filtering by brand, gender, size, color, and more.

Optimizing Categories for Search Engines

Usually, categories are among the most frequently visited pages by search engines, so they need to be properly optimized. It's important to describe the category with words as well. In doing so, be careful not to divert attention from the products with the category presentation. It's advisable to include a short product description at the beginning and then hide the longer one at the top of the page, displaying it only with a "read more" link (about the product).

Of course, you also need to have a good category name that is searched for in search engines, and a search engine-friendly link to it. When paginating results (page 2, 3 ...), make sure links to the next pages are plain, visible links and that each page points to itself. For categories with a good description, also add answers to the questions buyers ask most often (for example "How do I choose a size?"): AI assistants and search engines like to use such text.

Displaying More Products at Once

In the case of a larger volume of products, due to speed of display, it is recommended not to show all of them at once, but in parts. For example, display only the first 24 products, and for the rest, allow them to be displayed by clicking on individual product pages or add a "Load more" button or infinite scroll. Make sure every page of results also has its own web address that search engines can read (otherwise items that load only on scroll are not visible to search engines).

You may be wondering why exactly 24 products? This is a current display for me, as more and more stores are adaptable; consequently, you need to arrange a different product display for different browser widths. The number 24 allows you to arrange products in rows of 4, 3, or 2 without leaving empty space at the end of the grid.

AuthorAnže Voh

My name is Anže, I am a certified Magento solution expert and the maker of several award-winning online stores. I am the architect of all Degriz projects.

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