Fix slow WoodMart category pages, grids and filters

A PLP multiplies cost by the number of products on screen. Each card can load a large image, hover galleries, badges, star ratings, swatches, quick view and add-to-cart scripts — then filters, sorting and AJAX pagination sit on top. On mobile that combination inflates LCP, INP and total page weight all at once.

We measure the category template specifically, because it fails differently from home or product pages:

• Product card weight × number of cards per view
• Whether the LCP element is the first card image or a banner
• INP from filter, sort and quick-view scripts
• Pagination method: AJAX infinite scroll vs crawlable pages

If the main cost is oversized card images or an uncached product query, image optimization plus caching can get a WoodMart PLP acceptably fast without a rebuild. The audit shows whether the template is the problem or just its assets.

A Next.js category page pre-renders crawlable product content, loads card images at the right size and priority, and keeps filtering and pagination fast and URL-addressable. Shoppers get an instant grid; search engines get clean, indexable category pages instead of JavaScript-only states.

One WoodMart PLP cost is easy to miss: product cards commonly preload a second image for the hover swap. On a grid of forty products that quietly doubles the image requests, and on mobile — where hover does not even exist — it is pure waste that competes with the real above-the-fold images. Not preloading the hover image, or dropping it on touch devices entirely, is one of the highest-return fixes on a WoodMart category page, because it directly reduces the number and weight of images the phone has to fetch before the grid is usable.

WoodMart PLPs often use AJAX infinite scroll or AJAX sorting, which feels smooth but has two costs. Deeper products can end up reachable only after JavaScript runs, so crawlers may never see them, and each AJAX update can replace a large chunk of DOM and jump the scroll. The better pattern keeps the fast browsing feel but backs it with real, crawlable, URL-addressable pages, so a shopper can share or bookmark a view and a search engine can still find product number four hundred without executing scripts.

Page size is a lever WoodMart PLPs rarely tune. Showing eighty products per page multiplies every per-card cost — images, badges, scripts — by eighty, so a smaller page with fast, crawlable pagination is often quicker and no worse for shoppers. Below-the-fold cards can load lazily while the first screen loads eagerly, so the visible grid paints fast and the rest streams in. The goal is to render what the shopper sees immediately and defer what they have not scrolled to, rather than paying for the whole page up front.

• Smaller page size with fast, crawlable pagination
• Eager-load the first screen, lazy-load below the fold
• Every per-card cost multiplies by products-per-view
• Render the visible grid first, stream the rest

Products, categories, prices and stock stay in WooCommerce and feed the storefront through the API. We rebuild only the rendering of the category page, then verify PLP speed in the field and crawlability on staging before launch.