How to add a description to WordPress category pages

Step by step

1. Write the description

1. Open Posts → Categories.
2. Hover the category and click Edit.
3. In Description, write the intro. WordPress's own help text says the description "is not prominent by default; however, some themes may display it".
4. Click Update.

Aim for 40 to 120 words. Say what a reader will find, who it is for, and link to the one or two most important posts in the category. Write it for people. A paragraph that repeats the category name in every sentence helps nobody.

2. Know what the box accepts

The Description field is a plain text box, not the block editor. WordPress filters what is saved, so basic inline HTML such as links, <strong> and <em> is kept and scripts or layout markup are removed. Type links as HTML:

New to brewing at home? Start with our <a href="/pour-over-guide/">pour-over guide</a>.

3. Check whether your theme shows it

Open the category on the front end. If the text appears under the category title, you are done. If not, the theme's archive template does not print it, and the next two steps cover each theme type.

4. Block theme: add the Term Description block

Go to Appearance → Editor → Templates and open the template used for category archives (named for categories, or the general archive template). Under the archive title, insert the Term Description block and save. It prints the description of whichever category, tag or custom taxonomy term is being viewed, and prints nothing for a term without one.

5. Classic theme: print it in the template

In a child theme, open category.php or archive.php and add this below the archive title:

<?php if ( ! is_paged() ) { the_archive_description( '<div class="archive-description">', '</div>' ); } ?>

the_archive_description() prints the term description on category, tag and taxonomy archives, wrapped in the markup you pass. The is_paged() check shows the intro on the first page of the archive only, so /page/2/ and later pages do not repeat it.

6. Set the search snippet separately

The on-page intro and the meta description are different things. With Hydrogen SEO, the taxonomy's description template can use %term_description%, so a short category description doubles as the meta description. For a category that matters, write a dedicated one: open the category, click Hydrogen SEO → Edit SEO settings, and fill in Meta description and, if needed, SEO title. Values saved there belong to that term and override the taxonomy template.

7. Verify the page

View the category in a private window and confirm the intro shows once, on page one. Then check the source:

curl -s https://example.com/category/brewing/ | grep -i '<meta name="description"'

You should see the description you intended, without HTML tags in it.

Which categories deserve the effort

Start with categories that already get impressions in Search Console, and those that match a topic you want to be known for. A category with two posts does not become valuable because it has an intro. Either add posts or fold it into a broader one. Empty categories are noindexed by Hydrogen SEO by default, through Noindex Empty Archives under Titles & Meta → General, so they need no description at all.

Tags and custom taxonomies

Everything here applies to tags under Posts → Tags and to custom taxonomies, since they share the same Description field and the same template function. In practice few tag archives are worth it. If your tags are numerous and thin, noindexing them is the better use of time; see noindex tag and category archives. WooCommerce product categories have their own considerations, covered in optimize WooCommerce category pages.