How to Create Custom Categories

It is super easy to create custom categories in your TpT store.

Why Create Custom Categories?

Custom categories help buyers find what they are looking for quickly.  They bring a sense of organization to your store and make it easy for buyers to stay in your store rather than continue their search elsewhere.  It takes a long time for buyers to search page to page, especially if you have a lot of products.  Since TpT automatically sorts results according to your top selling products, a buyer may never see your new products or a set of amazing products that hasn’t seen a lot of action.

When Should You Start Implementing Custom Categories?

It isn’t necessary to develop custom categories until you have more than a page worth of products.  At the current time, TpT displays 20 products at a time.  You could use custom categories with less than 20 products, but I would definitely recommend it when those products stretch to two or more pages.

What Types of Custom Categories Should I Include?

This really depends on your store.  If you sell math, reading, and science materials, you could have a custom category devoted to each area.  But what if you sell only one subject?  It is still possible to use custom categories.  You could break the categories down by feature.  For example, an ELA seller may have categories such as Literature Units, Word Work, Guided Reading, Writing: Lessons, and Writing: Rubrics.

What About Bundles and Freebies?  Should I Have Custom Categories for Each of These?

I have seen some top sellers include both of these categories.  I would definitely include bundles if you have enough bundles to warrant a custom category.  I tend not to opt for a “Freebies” custom category.  Although I believe our store has great freebies, I want buyers to spend their time viewing and purchasing paid products.  Our freebies are available in our store and can be found, but I choose not to emphasize them by including them in a custom category.

Can You Have a Product in More Than One Custom Category?

Yes!  But if you find yourself doing this a lot, you may want to rethink the titles of your custom categories.  Buyers will get annoyed if they keep seeing the same products in all of your custom categories.

How Do I Make Custom Categories?

1. Go to My Product Listings
2. On the left side, click on “Manage Your Categories.”
3. Enter a category you would like and click on “Add New Category.”
4. Save Changes.
5. Repeat for all of the categories you would like. You can always change them later, so don’t worry if you make a mistake.
6. Next you will go into an individual product as if you are going to edit it.
7. Scroll down to where you see custom categories and click on the category you would like for your product. If you want to select more than one, simply hold down the Control key and click on all of the categories you would like.
8. Make sure to click on Submit at the bottom to save your changes.

Sometimes it takes a few minutes for your custom categories to take effect.  Your custom categories will appear on the left-hand side of your store.  Remember, you can edit them at any time.

We hope these directions have been useful to you.  Please leave a comment if these directions worked for you, or if you have any questions!