Target Category Pages
Deliver personalized messages to visitors browsing a certain product category.
Target Category Pages is an OptiMonk targeting feature that restricts a campaign to appear only when a visitor is browsing a collection or category page on your store. On Shopify and Shoprenter, this targeting is handled through a dedicated "Collection page" option in the Current Page / URL rule, which lets you match by collection name, collection slug, or number of products in the collection — without writing any URL patterns manually. On all other platforms, you achieve the same result by writing a URL-based rule that matches the pattern your category pages share, such as "URL contains /category/" or "URL contains /collections/." Targeting category pages is the foundation for showing relevant product recommendations, category-specific discount offers, or contextual upsell messages only to visitors who are actively browsing a particular type of product — not visitors on the homepage, blog, or checkout.
Key benefits
- Context-aware campaigns that match browsing intent: A visitor browsing your Running Shoes category is expressing intent around running. Showing them a campaign specifically relevant to that category produces higher engagement and conversion rates because the message matches the moment.
- Semantic collection targeting on Shopify (no URL guessing): On Shopify, you do not need to know the exact URL of each collection. You can match by collection name or handle, and OptiMonk resolves the matching automatically — so the rule works even if you rename or restructure your collections.
- Flexible URL-based targeting for all platforms: For non-Shopify stores, any category page structure can be targeted using URL pattern matching: "URL contains," "URL starts with," "URL ends with," or "URL matches exactly." This covers every common category URL format without requiring code changes on the store.
How it works
In your campaign's targeting settings, click Add new rule and select Current Page / URL from the condition list. This opens the page targeting interface where you define which pages the campaign should appear on.
On Shopify or Shoprenter, choose "Collection page" from the dropdown and select a matching attribute — for example, "collection name is Running Shoes" or "collection name contains Accessories." On other platforms, choose "URL contains" and enter the path segment your category pages share, such as /category/ or /collections/.
OptiMonk evaluates the visitor's current page URL each time the trigger fires. If the URL matches your rule, the campaign displays; otherwise it is suppressed. You can add a second rule to exclude specific categories if needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is Target Category Pages in OptiMonk?+
Target Category Pages is an OptiMonk targeting configuration that restricts a campaign to appear only on collection or category pages of your store. On Shopify and Shoprenter, it uses a dedicated "Collection page" condition in the Current Page / URL rule, which lets you match by collection name or attributes. On other platforms, it uses URL pattern matching (contains, starts with, ends with) to identify category pages.
Does targeting category pages work on non-Shopify stores?+
Yes. For stores on platforms other than Shopify and Shoprenter, you use URL-based matching to target category pages. You define a pattern — such as "URL contains /category/" — and OptiMonk evaluates each visitor's current page URL against that pattern. This approach works for any ecommerce platform with a consistent URL structure for category pages.
Can I target some categories but exclude others?+
Yes. You can combine "include" and "exclude" URL rules in the same campaign. For example, you could show a campaign on all collection pages (URL contains /collections/) but exclude your sale collection (URL does not contain /collections/sale). This lets you create precise category-page targeting without building separate campaigns for each exclusion.
On Shopify, can I target a collection by its name even if the URL changes?+
Yes. On Shopify, the "Collection page" targeting condition matches by collection attributes — name, handle, or number of products — rather than by raw URL. This means the rule continues to work correctly even if you change the collection's URL handle or reorganize your Shopify navigation. OptiMonk resolves the match semantically rather than from the URL string.
Can I show different campaigns on different category pages?+
Yes. You can create separate campaigns, each with its own collection page targeting rule, to show different messages on different categories. For example, a cross-sell campaign for Running Shoes, a different upsell for Backpacks, and a discount campaign for Sale items — each appearing exclusively on its respective category pages with no overlap.
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