Online shops / Checklist
Can customers find what you sell? A WooCommerce search test
Pick a product you know is in your shop, then ask someone who doesn't maintain the catalogue to find it. The words they type may be quite different from the name on the supplier's spreadsheet.
I'd start there before buying another search plugin. You need to know whether the problem is the product information, search configuration, filters or the page the customer sees.
Build a short query list from real questions
Use the language in enquiries and your existing search records, where you have them. Remove customer details from any working list. Include a product name, a code, a common abbreviation and a description of the job the product does.
For each query, choose the product or category you expect to find and explain why it is a reasonable match. Include a query for something you do not sell, so you can check the empty-results experience.
The rows below are illustrative. Replace them with your own products before treating this as an acceptance test.
| Query type | Example | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Product name | Workshop stool | The expected stool appears where a customer can find it. |
| Product code | WS-104 | The right item is found if your chosen search promises code lookup. |
| Customer wording | Garage seat | The wording leads to a useful product or category. |
| Variation | Blue stool | The result makes the available colour clear. |
| Typing error | Workshp stool | The behaviour matches what your search tool is meant to support. |
| Unavailable item | An item you do not sell | The page explains the result and gives a sensible next step. |
Check the product record before blaming search
Open an expected product and check its publication status, catalogue visibility, title, category, attributes and stock settings. Confirm that the details a customer searches for exist in the appropriate fields.
WooCommerce supports product variations with their own prices, SKUs, stock levels and attributes. Those details matter to the product record, but how a search tool uses them depends on the implementation. Avoid assuming every search box searches every field.
If the product data is inconsistent, agree the vocabulary first. A colour stored as "navy" on one item and buried in free text on another makes filters harder to reason about. Keep changes accurate; adding unrelated words just to appear in more searches makes results worse.
Separate searching from filtering
Try the query with filters cleared, then add each relevant filter. Record when the product disappears. A search query can be reasonable while a category or stock filter excludes the item.
Repeat while signed out and on a phone-sized screen. Check that customers can see active filters and remove them. Use the Back button after opening a product and see whether the query and chosen filters survive as intended.
Write down which search you are testing: the header box, a category filter and a search extension may use different code. A fix to one route does not establish that all the others work.
Give empty results a useful next step
Check what appears for the unavailable item. Keep the query visible so the customer can correct it. Offer a route to a relevant category or a contact option if someone can help identify the right product.
Be careful about replacing an exact failed search with a screen of unrelated products. A customer looking for a particular spare part needs to know whether you have it. I'd prefer a clear answer and a way to ask for help.
Run the same queries after a change
Keep the original query set, expected products and screenshots of failures. Run it again after changing product data, configuration or a plugin. Add some products outside the original problem area so you can spot an improvement that makes other results worse.
If you measure searches, compare empty results and subsequent enquiries or purchases over a sensible period. Check the consent and privacy settings for that reporting. A small test can show a particular fault is fixed; it cannot promise a sales increase.
Sources
Checked on 22 October 2026.
- WooCommerce: adding and managing products
Product types, attributes and variation-specific SKU, stock and price fields. The query checklist is our suggested evaluation method.