WooCommerce category description: above the products, below them and what to write
You add a WooCommerce category description in Products → Categories, in the Description field of the chosen category. Most themes show it above the product list, some not at all. A good description says what's in the category and how to choose, in 2 to 4 short paragraphs. Longer text is better placed below the products, so it doesn't hide the list on a phone.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for WordPress site and WooCommerce store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 6 min read
Two places for the description: above the list and below it
WooCommerce has a single Description field on a category. Where the text appears is decided by the theme, not by WooCommerce. The documentation on WooCommerce categories, tags and attributes itself notes that the description is optional and that some themes show it.
| Above the product list | Below the product list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees it | everyone, straight away | those who scroll past the list |
| Good length | 2 to 4 sentences | several paragraphs, a buying guide |
| What to write | what the category covers, who it's for, 1 link | how to choose, differences between types, links to subcategories |
| Risk | a long text pushes products down the screen | some customers won't see it |
| How to get it | the default in most themes | a template change or a theme setting |
Many stores use both places: a short introduction at the top and a longer text at the bottom. With a single Description field, you can only do this with an extra field from the theme or a plugin. If your theme doesn't have one, pick one place and match the length to it.
How to move the description below the products
It depends on the type of theme.
Block theme (for example, the default WordPress themes from recent years). You edit the category page template in Appearance → Editor, under Templates. Find the template for product categories and move the category description block below the product list block. The Term Description block documentation explains how this block works. Template and block names depend on your WordPress and WooCommerce versions, so if something looks different, look for the template with product category in its name.
Classic theme. Here, moving it takes a few lines of code in a child theme, or an option in the theme settings if the author provided one. Make this change with whoever looks after your site. Edits to theme files without a child theme disappear with the first update.
One caveat: in classic WooCommerce templates, the description usually shows only on the first page of the list. On page 2 and beyond the customer sees just the products, which is fine.
What to write in a category description: an example
Here's an example for a Garden Lighting category in a home and garden store. The version for the top of the page:
Lights for the garden, terrace and balcony: solar, battery and mains powered. If you don't want to run cables, start with solar lights. Mains lights give stronger light for paths and driveways.
The version for the bottom of the page expands this into a short guide: how solar lights differ from mains ones, what weatherproofing is enough for rain, how much light you need for a path and how much for atmosphere on a terrace. Each paragraph can end with a link to a subcategory.
Stick to a few rules when you write:
- Start with what the customer will find in the category, not with the company history.
- Answer the one question customers ask most often, such as “solar or mains”.
- Add 1 or 2 links to subcategories or a blog guide.
- Don't promise what you can't back up, such as “the cheapest in the country”.
- Don't repeat the key phrase in every sentence. Customers won't finish text like that, and Google doesn't reward keyword stuffing.
The most common mistakes are easy to spot in stores: one description copied into several categories with the name swapped, a wall of keyword text above the products, and a description that promises products the category no longer has. With every bigger change to your range, it's worth reading the description again.
In its guide to ecommerce site structure, Google stresses that category pages are an important link: they lead from the menu to subcategories and products. A description helps that page be more than a list of thumbnails.
Category descriptions in batches with the chat
You can work through the whole category list with the ready “Category descriptions” task in the TellMyShop plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce. Your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) starts with a list of product categories showing the number of products, the length of the current description and the state of the Google title and description. It takes the categories with the most products and no description first. Before writing, it checks what's in the category: the newest products and subcategories. Then it shows two samples for approval and saves the rest in batches of up to 50 categories, each after your approval.
Along the way it can fill in the category's Google title and description in Yoast SEO or Rank Math. If the URL of a category that contains products changes, the plugin adds a 301 redirect from the old URL by default and tells you so in the preview.
You: Fill in the product category descriptions. Start with the biggest.
Your chat: 12 of 19 categories have no description. The biggest: Garden Lighting (64 products), Lanterns (38), Balcony Furniture (27). Sample for Garden Lighting:
You: Good. Do the other 11 the same way.
Your chat: The preview for 11 categories is ready. I'll save it after your ‘yes’. You can undo the whole batch with one operation number.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”old version: (no description)
new version: Lights for the garden, terrace and balcony: solar, battery and mains powered. If you don't want to run cables, start with solar lights.
Category meta description:
old version: (empty)
new version: Solar and mains garden lights for paths, terraces and balconies. See how to pick the right brightness and weatherproofing for your garden. (138 characters)
In the free TellMyShop Free version, the chat shows which categories have no description or meta description and prepares a plan with ready texts as a “before → after” preview. Saving with a preview, approval and undo works in TellMyShop Pro. Moving the description below the product list is a theme template change, so it isn't part of this task. You'll find the details on the TellMyShop for WordPress and WooCommerce page and prices in the pricing.
Categories, products and Google
The category description works together with product descriptions. If your product pages have text copied from the wholesaler, read our post on WooCommerce product descriptions. If you want to improve how products look in search results, our post on WooCommerce product SEO will help. The other guides are on the blog.
Questions and answers
Where in the admin do I add a product category description?
In Products → Categories. Click the category name, and on the edit screen you'll find the Description field. Once saved, the text appears on the category page wherever your theme puts it, most often above the product list.
My theme doesn't show the category description. What should I do?
Some themes don't show the description at all, or only in a particular layout. Check the theme settings and the product category template. In block themes you just add the category description block to the template. In classic themes you need a change in a child theme, which whoever looks after your site can make.
How many words should a category description have?
Enough to help people choose a product without hiding the list. A short introduction at the top and a longer part below the products works well. If the whole description sits above the list, keep it to a few sentences, so the products are visible on a phone without much scrolling.
Does a category description help with Google?
It helps Google understand what the page is about and gives the customer a reason to stay. A bare product list is hard to tell apart from a competitor's category. A description doesn't guarantee rankings, though, and text written only for keywords, with nothing for the customer, won't help.
Is the category meta description the same as the category description?
No. The customer sees the category description on the store page. The meta description is the short text under the title in Google results, and you set it in your SEO plugin on the category edit screen. It's good to have both, and each is written for a different purpose.
WordPress is a trademark of the WordPress Foundation. WooCommerce is a trademark of Automattic Inc. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.