WooCommerce product short description: empty or too long, and how to fix it
The WooCommerce product short description is the text in the “Product short description” box, which your theme shows next to the image, price and add-to-cart button. In two or three sentences it should say who the product is for, what makes it different and one practical detail. Empty, it leaves the customer with just a price; too long, it pushes the button down the screen.
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
Where the short description shows
On the product page, near the top, next to the price. These are the first sentences a customer reads before deciding whether to scroll further. Exactly where it appears depends on the theme, but the typical layout is described in WooCommerce's documentation on managing products.
| Place | Short description shown by default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Product page, next to the price | yes | the main spot, read on a phone right below the image |
| Shop page and categories | no | needs a theme setting, a plugin or code |
| Store search results | usually not | depends on the theme and the search plugin |
| Google result | not directly | Google may take a snippet, but you set the result description in your SEO plugin |
| Theme quick view | often yes | if the theme has such a pop-up |
How to show the short description on the product list is covered by guides from WPBeginner and Barn2. Before you add code, check your theme settings, because many store themes have this option in the Customizer.
How to write a short description in three sentences
A simple pattern works in most stores. Each sentence has one job:
- Who it's for and what it's for. The customer's situation, not the product name repeated a second time.
- What sets this product apart. One or two features people compare between stores.
- One practical detail. Size, what's in the set, care or compatibility: whatever customers ask about most.
An example for an oak chopping board, 40 × 25 cm:
- Empty short description: the customer sees the name, price and button. To know whether the board fits their worktop, they have to scroll to the Description tab.
- Too long: five paragraphs copied from the manufacturer, with the workshop's history and oiling instructions. On a phone, the add-to-cart button ends up two screens down.
- Good: “A thick solid oak board for everyday chopping and serving cheese. It won't blunt your knives the way glass or stone does, and the groove around the edge catches juices. 40 × 25 cm, hand wash and oil once a month.”
The dimensions and care advice in the example are illustrative. In the short description, write only what you know about your product.
In its WooCommerce product analysis, Yoast also checks the length of the short description and advises giving every product its own. The rules are in Yoast's help on the product short description. The same help suggests that when products are so similar it's hard to describe them separately, it's better to describe them together on the category page.
A short description that's too long: what to move down
An overlong short description usually comes from an import or from pasting the manufacturer's text into the wrong box. Rather than cutting it blindly, split the content:
| Keep in the short description | Move to the full description |
|---|---|
| who the product is for and what it's for | the brand and workshop story |
| one or two distinguishing features | the full list of specifications |
| the key dimension or capacity | care and assembly instructions |
| what's in the set, if it's surprising | certificates, standards, the size chart |
For variable products, the short description is shared by all variations. Don't put one size or colour in it, only what the whole family has in common, for example “available in five colours and three sizes”.
Don't repeat delivery and returns information in every product's short description. When it changes, you'll have to fix hundreds of texts. A better place is a fixed element of the product page in your theme, or a Delivery page.
Empty or too long across hundreds of products
For a handful of products, the editor is enough. When the short description is empty in half the catalogue, fixing it product by product takes many evenings.
The TellMyShop plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce has a task for this: “Product descriptions and SEO in batches”. Your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) finds products with an empty or very long short description, starts with the best sellers and reads the whole product: description, attributes, variations. It writes the short description from facts already in the product. What's missing it doesn't guess, it marks as [TO FILL IN]. A sample conversation, with example products and numbers:
You: Fill in the short descriptions in the Boards and trays category. Three sentences, friendly tone, no delivery information.
Your chat: The category has 34 products. 15 have an empty short description, and 4 have a short description longer than the full one, because the manufacturer's text went there. A sample:
You: Good. Do the whole category.
Your chat: Preview: 19 products. In 4 of them the text from the short description goes to the end of the full description, nothing is lost. I'll save it after your ‘yes’.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”Oak board 40 × 25 cm
old version: (empty)
new version: A thick solid oak board for everyday chopping and serving cheese. It won't blunt your knives, and the groove around the edge catches juices. 40 × 25 cm, hand wash.
Walnut serving tray
old version: Since 1998 our workshop has been making wooden goods… (5 paragraphs)
new version: A walnut tray for serving snacks and coffee at the table or in bed. Handles cut into the wood. I'll move the manufacturer's text to the full description.
In this task the chat doesn't change prices, names or product addresses. Every batch goes into the change history, and you can undo most changes with one request.
In TellMyShop Free the chat finds products with an empty short description and suggests texts for the ones you choose, but saves nothing. You can try it from the free version page. Saving with a preview works in TellMyShop Pro straight after licence activation. Details are on the TellMyShop for WordPress and WooCommerce page, and prices on the pricing page.
The short description is one of two texts on the product page. How to write a full description that answers the customer's questions is in the guide to WooCommerce product descriptions. If you use AI for it, read how to write descriptions with AI without the spam risk.
Questions and answers
Where do I enter the product short description in WooCommerce?
On the product edit screen, in the “Product short description” box below Product data. If you can't see it, open Screen Options at the top of the page and tick that box.
Why doesn't the short description show on the shop page?
By default WooCommerce shows the short description only on the product page, next to the image and price. It isn't on the shop page or in categories. You can show it there with a theme setting, a separate plugin or a code snippet added by whoever looks after your site.
How many words should a short description have?
Enough for a customer to read it in a few seconds on a phone. Yoast's product analysis treats roughly 20 to 50 words as a good range. In practice that's two or three sentences or a short list of the key features.
Can the short description be the same as the start of the full description?
Better not. The customer sees both texts on one page and reads the same thing twice. The short description should sum up who the product is for and what sets it apart, and the full description fills in the details.
Will the free version of TellMyShop find products without a short description?
Yes. TellMyShop Free finds products with an empty short description and lists them, and the chat can suggest texts for the ones you pick. Saving them in the store needs TellMyShop Pro.
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.