WordPress category description: how to add text to a blog category page
You add a category description in WordPress under Posts → Categories: click the category, type the text in the Description field and save. Whether the description appears above the post list depends on your theme. A good description has two to four sentences: what the section is about, who it's for and where to start reading.
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
Why a category page needs a description
Without a description, a category page is a heading and a list of excerpts. Readers don't know whether they've come to the right place, and Google sees a page whose content changes with every new post. A few sentences at the top give both a clear answer: what's in this section and how it differs from its neighbours.
A description is especially useful in three situations:
- the category has many posts and people reach it from search or from the menu,
- two categories sound similar and need telling apart,
- you want to point to one or two posts that are the best place to start.
If the categories themselves are a mess first, for example twenty sections with two posts each, start by tidying up. We cover that in our guide to categories and tags in WordPress. A product category description in a store is a separate topic with a different goal, and it's covered in our post on the WooCommerce category description.
How to add a category description in WordPress
Every post category has a description field. The documentation for the Categories screen describes it: name, slug, parent category and description.
- In the admin, go to Posts → Categories.
- Click the name of the category you want to describe.
- Type the text in the Description field. Leave an empty line to start a new paragraph.
- Below, in the Yoast SEO or Rank Math panel, check the title and meta description for Google.
- Click Update and open the category page in a private window.
Tags have the same screen and the same field, just without a parent category.
What to write in a category description: an example
A good description answers three questions: what's here, who it's for and where to start. It doesn't have to be long. It matters more that it doesn't repeat the category name five times and isn't a list of words for Google.
An example for a plant nursery's blog, category “Roses”:
Everything about roses in the garden and in pots: choosing a variety, planting, pruning and winter care. We write for people who have a few bushes and want them to flower every year. If you're just starting out, read our guide to planting roses in autumn first.
This text says what the section covers, who it's for and points to the first step, ideally as a link to a post. The category and name are examples.
| Part of the description | Good | Weak |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | “choosing a variety, planting, pruning and winter care” | “everything about roses” |
| Audience | “for people with a few bushes” | none |
| First step | a link to one guide to start with | a list of ten links |
| Key phrase | once, naturally | “roses, garden roses, roses in the garden” |
| Length | two to four sentences above the list | a wall of text you scroll past to reach the posts |
The category description and the Google meta description are two different fields. Yoast SEO covers archive pages, including categories, in its guide to WordPress archive pages. Rank Math has a separate article on how it checks archive page content. If you want to polish the text for Google, our guide to the meta description in WordPress will help.
The category description isn't showing: what to check
Most often the description is saved, but the theme doesn't show it. Check in this order:
- Whether the description really saved. Open the category in the admin again. If the field is empty, the save didn't go through.
- Whether you're looking at the right page. A category page has an address like /category/roses/. The “Blog” page listing all posts is a different page and won't show the category description.
- Whether it's the cache. A cache plugin or your host may be showing an old version. There's more in our post on why WordPress changes aren't showing.
- Whether the theme supports the description at all. In a block theme, the archive template needs a category description block. In a classic theme, the archive template file has to call the description. If it doesn't, the description won't appear however many times you save it.
Changing the template is a job for whoever looks after your site, or for you in the Site Editor if you have a block theme. In a classic theme, change the template in a child theme so the fix doesn't disappear with an update.
Category descriptions with the chat
With three categories, the admin is enough. With fifteen, each one means looking through the posts, working out the scope and adding a meta description. The TellMyShop plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce does this in one conversation with your chat (Claude or ChatGPT).
You: Write descriptions for the blog categories that don't have one.
Your chat: Seven categories have no description. I've read a few posts from each. Two samples so you can approve the style:
Note: your theme doesn't show the description on the category page. I checked the Roses page as a visitor sees it.
You: The style's good. Save all seven, and what about the theme?
Your chat: I'll prepare a preview of the seven descriptions and save it after your ‘yes’. Showing the description needs a change to the archive template, which means the Theme switch in the plugin panel.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”Roses
old version: (no description)
new version: Everything about roses in the garden and in pots: choosing a variety, planting, pruning and winter care. If you're just starting out, read our guide to planting roses in autumn first.
Vegetable Garden
old version: (no description)
new version: Growing vegetables on a small plot and in raised beds: a sowing calendar, watering and pest control without chemicals.
The category names and numbers in this conversation are examples. The chat reads the posts in a category first, so the description talks about what's really in it. Along the way it can fill in the category's title and meta description in Yoast SEO or Rank Math. It saves up to 50 categories in one batch, and you see each in a preview before it's saved.
What works in which version:
- TellMyShop Free: the chat shows categories without a description, reads their posts, writes suggestions and checks whether the theme shows the description. It doesn't save anything; you paste the texts in yourself. You can download the free version from the TellMyShop Free page.
- TellMyShop Pro: it saves descriptions and meta straight after the licence is activated, with no switches, once you approve the preview. Each batch goes into the change history and you can undo most changes with one request.
- Archive template: changing the template needs the Theme switch, which you turn on in the plugin panel for 24 hours, after a database backup from today. The chat shows you first what it will change in the template.
You'll find more about the plugin on the TellMyShop for WordPress and WooCommerce page, and prices in the pricing.
Questions and answers
Where do I add a post category description in WordPress?
In Posts → Categories, click the category name, type the text in the Description field, then click Update. You can also change the same description with Quick Edit on the category list. The field takes plain text and simple tags, without the block editor.
Why isn't the category description showing on the page?
The theme decides whether the description appears above the post list. Some themes show it straight away, some not at all. In a block theme, the archive template needs a description block; in a classic theme, the template file needs the right code.
How long should a blog category description be?
Two to four sentences above the post list are enough to start. They should say what the section is about and who it's for. A longer text makes sense when the category is an important topic for the site and you have something to add beyond the list of posts.
Is the category description the same as the category meta description?
No. A person reads the category description on the page. The meta description is short text for Google, set in your SEO plugin on the category edit screen. Yoast SEO and Rank Math can also build the meta description from the category description if you set up the template that way.
Will the chat write descriptions for all categories at once?
In TellMyShop Pro, yes. The chat reads posts from each category, shows samples for approval, then the whole set in a preview, and saves after your approval. In the free TellMyShop Free version it prepares the texts in the conversation, and you paste them in yourself.
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.