Product attributes often contain some of the most useful information in a WooCommerce catalog, such as size, color, material, or brand.

However, in WooCommerce’s standard front-end search, attribute values are not treated as searchable product data. So if someone searches for a term that exists only as an attribute, the store will not return that product unless the same term also appears in the product title or description.

This is why many store owners look to modify the search behavior to include product attributes.

Why Search by Product Attribute?

Attribute search can be valuable for a number of reasons:

• It helps customers shop by specific product features
• It supports more natural search behavior based on how people describe products
• It improves product discovery in stores with many variations or filters
• It makes catalogs easier to use when important details are stored as attributes

For many stores, attributes hold the exact information customers care about most during the buying process.

Ways to Enable Product Attribute Search

Store owners generally use one of two methods to enable attribute search in WooCommerce:

• code customization
• search plugin

Code Customization

One way to add this functionality is to modify the search code so that attribute data is checked along with WooCommerce’s default searchable fields.

This can be used to:

• search by attribute values
• influence how attribute matches appear in results
• build custom search logic around your product structure

Unfortunately, it also:

• requires developer knowledge
• creates maintenance overhead
• potentially introduces conflicts with other parts of the site

For many store owners, this is a more complex solution than they want.

Search Plugin

A search plugin is usually the more accessible way to make product attributes searchable.

Plugins typically do this by:

• adding attributes to the searchable data
• blending attribute matches with other product fields
• controlling result relevance
• improving search behavior without custom development

This is often the simplest approach to helping customers to find products based on the details that matter most.

Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce

Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce lets you search by product attributes simply by enabling the Attributes option in its Product Search Settings:

Once enabled, you can search by product attributes the same way you search using other data:

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce does not include product attributes in its default front-end search, which can make it harder for customers to find products based on details like size, color, material, or brand.

If attribute-based search is important for your store, you will need to extend WooCommerce’s default search behavior with either custom code or a search plugin.

For most store owners, a search plugin is the more practical option. It can make attribute values searchable, improve product discovery, and give you more control over how search results are handled without the hassle of custom development. Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce is one example of how a plugin makes this possible.

For other options, see our article, 5 Best WooCommerce Product Search Plugins.