Business Categories

Organizing your Business listings with categories & subcategories will make it easier for visitors to find what they're looking. It allows site users to filter businesses into smaller groups, while also making it easier for you to manage the information in Spark.

• Categories can be either Active or Inactive, which can affect the visibility of connected businesses. 

• Businesses can be associated with multiple categories and subcategories. 

  Example: a bar & grill could be both a Restaurant and a Tavern.

• Categories are managed among all the other pages of your site. So, in addition to the locations shown below, you'll also see the categories somewhere within your Site Map. The specific location will be unique on your site because these dashboards can be moved from section to section, the same as your dynamic pages. 

Spark location: Businesses > Categories - don't be surprised when you end up in your Site Map!

Category Structure

1. The top level of your Business Categories

   When the icon to the left of the title is a minus (-), the categories appear.

   When it's a plus (+), all categories are collapsed. Note the arrows

2. This is a main category which has subcategories collapsed. It appears indented below the top level.
3. This is a main category which does not have subcategories.
4. This is a main category with the subcategories visible.
5. The number of businesses associated with each category and subcategory is shown here. 

Add a Category

1. Hover over the Top Level and select Add New Category.
2. In the window which opens, the Category Name is the only required field - but adding the Friendly URL, SEO Title and SEO Description is recommended. These are the same fields detailed in SEO Tools
3. You have the option of showing or hiding the category to your customers - and if you have Member tools (which may not be included on your site) you can choose the visibility in that section as well. 
4. If the category needs to use subcategories, or if you want to add text and/or image content to the category header, choose Save & Continue.
5. If you don't need to add subcategories, nor add content to the header, choose Save & Close. 

Add a Subcategory

Subcategories provide another layer of organization. If you have a Dining category, it could have subcategories for Seafood, Asian, Mexican, etc. 

When a category is created, choosing Save & Continue will refresh the window and display the 'Allow Subcategories' button. It also will add a text editor with the ability to upload an image or video. Anything added to this editor will appear at the top of the category page in your businesses. This is commonly used to add information or advertising which is unique for the category.

You can enable subcategories on existing categories by hovering over the category name and choosing Edit. The 'Allow Subcategories' will be available, along with the text editor for the category header.