One of the key aspects of managing a successful WooCommerce store is optimizing the user experience. A well-organized product display helps users find what they are looking for without frustration. A commonly overlooked feature that can significantly enhance user navigation is the “Products Per Page” setting. Allowing users to control how many products they see on a page offers flexibility, improves browsing experience, and can even positively affect site performance.
In this article, we’ll explore how customizing product per page settings can benefit your WooCommerce store, as well as highlight plugins that help you implement and enhance this feature.
Why Customize the Number of Products Per Page?
Allowing customers to choose the number of products displayed per page can enhance their shopping experience in several ways:
- Better User Control: Shoppers appreciate being able to control how many products they view at once. Whether they want to see more products on one page for faster browsing or fewer products for a more focused look, customization adds a level of flexibility that keeps users engaged.
- Improved Page Load Times: Loading too many products on a single page can slow down the site’s performance, especially for mobile users. Customizing the number of products per page can help maintain a balance between functionality and performance.
- Enhanced Navigation: For stores with large inventories, allowing users to set their own display preferences improves product visibility and makes navigation smoother. This is particularly useful for customers who want to quickly sift through multiple products.
- SEO Benefits: From an SEO perspective, improving site speed and reducing unnecessary clicks can lead to better user engagement, which is a ranking factor for search engines.
With these advantages in mind, let’s explore the best plugins to customize the Products Per Page feature in WooCommerce.
Product Per Page for WooCommerce
The Product Per Page for WooCommerce plugin is one of the simplest and most effective solutions for customizing the number of products shown per page in your WooCommerce store. It allows customers to choose how many items they want to see on each page, and store owners can easily manage these settings through the plugin interface.
Key Features:
- Dropdown Selector: The plugin adds a customizable dropdown on the front end where users can select how many products they want to view per page.
- Set Default Values: Store owners can pre-set default options, such as displaying 12, 24, or 36 products per page.
- No Coding Required: It’s easy to install and doesn’t require any coding knowledge, making it ideal for beginners.
- Compatible with Themes: The plugin is compatible with most WooCommerce themes, ensuring smooth integration with your store’s design.
This plugin enhances user experience by giving them control over how they want to navigate your store’s products, while also boosting performance by reducing the number of products loaded on a single page.
WooCommerce Infinite Scroll and Ajax Pagination
Although primarily designed for infinite scrolling, WooCommerce Infinite Scroll and Ajax Pagination also allows for product per page customization. This plugin provides an alternative way to enhance user navigation by automatically loading more products as the customer scrolls down the page.
Key Features:
- Infinite Scroll: Automatically load additional products as the user scrolls, eliminating the need for clicking through multiple pages.
- Ajax Pagination: Load new products without a full-page refresh, improving speed and performance.
- Products Per Page Settings: Store owners can still allow customers to select how many products they want to load before enabling infinite scroll.
This plugin is particularly useful for stores with a large inventory, as it keeps customers engaged by offering a seamless browsing experience with less clicking and waiting.
3. YITH WooCommerce Infinite Scrolling
The YITH WooCommerce Infinite Scrolling plugin offers another efficient solution for customizing product per page settings. It combines infinite scroll functionality with the ability to control how many products are displayed per load, giving users more options while shopping.
Key Features:
- Customizable Loading Types: Choose between infinite scroll, Ajax pagination, or classic pagination.
- Control Products Per Page: Set default product count, and customers can control how many products are shown at a time.
- Seamless Integration: Works well with most WooCommerce themes and other popular plugins.
The YITH plugin is an excellent choice if you want to offer multiple product-loading options, including customizable product per page settings and infinite scrolling.
Conclusion
Allowing customers to customize the number of products they see per page can significantly improve their shopping experience, increase engagement, and boost your store’s performance. Plugins like Product Per Page for WooCommerce, WooCommerce Infinite Scroll, and YITH WooCommerce Infinite Scrolling provide easy and effective ways to implement this feature on your WooCommerce store.
