How to create category directories for your store traffic site

Creating a category directory for your store traffic site can help visitors to your site quickly find all of the different product categories you carry.

An example of a category directory

Below is an example category directory, displayed using the Atahualpa theme for WordPress.

The above category directory does the following for a store traffic site:

It provides quick navigation between category showcases

It also provides some information about each category.

It provides links to categories on your store which you have not created showcases for

This can be useful when you have a large number of categories and do not want to take the time to create showcases for them all while building your site.

It can also bring in occasional customers via search traffic.

Creating your own Category Directory

To create a category directory like the one above, you will need the following:

• A WordPress site
  • See my store traffic website page for details.
• (optional) The Atahualpa Theme (version 3.2)

Note: These instructions do not work with newer versions of Atahualpa due to changes in the theme.

Setting up your Category Directory Page

Before you create a category directory page, you should decide where you want it to show up on menus.

I recommend placing it in one of four ways:

Use it as the top level page which all category showcases are children of.

This is especially effective when you have a lot of categories on a well structured store.

I recommend using one of your site keywords to name the directory if you go this route.

Place your main category showcases as top level pages and additional category showcases as children of your directory page.

This works well for stores with a large number of categories that are not necessarily related to each other.

Create multiple category directories with a few category showcases under each one

This works well if you sell items which group nicely into related categories.

For example, cat related items, computer hardware, and clothing.

Don’t use a category directory at all

If you have only a couple of types of things you sell and they are not related to each other, I would skip this and simply create each category showcase as a top level page.

Once you have decided on where to place your category directory (or if you want one at all), you will then need to create the page.

Step 1: Add CSS entries to your site

The category directory above uses a single CSS setting to take care of look and placement of each category displayed.

You may want to add more css entries for finer display control.

Add the below stylesheet information to your site

• Atahualpa Instructions:

Copy the contents of the box below

Click in the box

Select "Edit" → "Select All" from the file menu

Select "Edit" → "Copy" from the file menu

Login to your wordpress site

Select "Appearance" → "Atahualpa Theme Options"

Select "HTML/CSS Inserts" from the theme options at the top

Paste the copied code into the end of the CSS Inserts box

Scroll down to the end of the CSS Inserts Box

Click at the end of the last line

Select "Edit" → "Paste" from the file menu

Select "Save Your Changes" from the bottom of the screen

• For most other themes, copy the contents into your style.css file.

.pws-cat-list tr td {
    vertical-align: top;
}

Step 2: Create your new Category Directory Page

To create a category directory page like that shown at the top of this page, use the following code snippet for the body and edit it to suit your tastes.

INTRODUCTORY BLURB
<table class="pws-cat-list">
<!-- start individual category description -->
<tr>
<td>

<b><a hef="CATEGORY-LINK" title="CAT-LINK-DESC">CATEGORY X TITLE</a></b>
	CATEGORY X PARAGRAPH
</td>
</tr>

<!-- end individual category description -->
<tr>
<td>

<b><a hef="CATEGORY-LINK" title="CAT-LINK-DESC">CATEGORY X TITLE</a></b>
	CATEGORY X PARAGRAPH
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<b><a hef="CATEGORY-LINK" title="CAT-LINK-DESC">CATEGORY X TITLE</a></b>
	CATEGORY X PARAGRAPH
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Create a new Page in WordPress

Log into WordPress

Select "Pages"Add New" from the admin menu

This will bring up the new page dialogue.

Enter the name you want for your category directory page

If possible the name should use a site or category keyword.

Copy the above text into the body of your new page

Click in the box above which contains the page pieces

Select "Edit" → "Select All" from the file menu

Select "Edit" → "Copy" from the file menu

Click in the body of your new page

Select "Edit" → "Paste" from the file menu

Set the page order and parent if wanted

Fill in Description and Keywords for Platinum SEO Pack if installed

Select Save Draft

Edit the page contents for your site

Edit DIRECTORY BLURB

This should provide descriptive introduction to the store categories and category showcases that you are going to list in your directory.

Add your categories

You can have as many or as few category showcases and store categories displayed as you want.

To add more category showcases or store categories, copy one section and add it before the </table> tag.

• A section consists of the 6 lines located between the <!– –> lines.

To list a category showcase or directory:

Edit CATEGORY-LINK

This should be changed to the URL of the category showcase or store category you want to link to.

Find the URL for the category you want to link to

Visit the page you want to link to.

Look for the box containing http://… located at the top of the browser.

Copy the URL

Click in the box containing the URL

Select "Edit" → "Select All" from the file menu.

Select "Edit" → "Copy" from the file menu.

Paste the URL between the quotes after href=

Place your cursor between the quotes

Select "Edit" → "Paste" from the file menu.

Edit CATEGORY X TITLE

This should be a descriptive name of the category you want listed.

It will be used as a link to your store category or category showcase.

Edit CAT-LINK-DESC

This gives a description to the link.

It is normally shown when someone places their mouse over the link.

Edit CATEGORY X PARAGRAPH

This should contain a short description of the category you are linking to.

Repeat this process for each category you want to link.

Set extra information for the category directory

If using Platinum SEO, enter your meta description and meta keywords

Note whether you want to allow comments or not ( I recommend not )

Specify any parent page if necessary

Specify a menu order if you are manually ordering your pages

Save your changes as a draft

You could just publish it, but I recommend always looking at new posts and pages before actually publishing them.

Publish your category directory

Once you are satisfied with the look, publish it.

Similar Posts:

• How to create category showcases for your store traffic site
• How to create a customized homepage for your store traffic site
• How to setup Google Analytics for your wordpress site