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Using Breadcrumbs For SEO Success

With the huge number of factors that go into creating a successful website, its easy to think correctly using breadcrumbs are the yeast of your worries. However, using breadcrumbs on your site are more than kneaded to help users navigate back to a previous page on your site, without clicking through your navigation. But what can they do for your website’s SEO? In this article, we’ll take you through the different types of breadcrumbs and how they can impact your SEO.

What Are Breadcrumbs In Web Navigation?

Simply put, breadcrumbs are a trail of words that give users an indication of which part of a website they’re on and how they got there. It allows users to easily get back to the previous pages that they’ve visited, much like how you would leave behind a trail of breadcrumbs when you walk into a forest.

You’ll typically find breadcrumbs at the top of the page, beneath the website’s navigation bar. In the example that we’ve added below, the user navigated quite deep into the navigation, but they can easily navigate back to the ‘Farming’ category directly by clicking on the ‘Farming’ breadcrumb.

What Are The Types Of Breadcrumbs

There are 3 types of breadcrumbs that you might come across – location, path and attribute or keyword. Although location breadcrumbs are the most common, they each have their unique roles in website navigation.

Location breadcrumbs: Allows you to see where you are within the navigation of the website. They will typically start with the homepage and end with the page that you’re on, allowing users to easily navigate to pages before.

Path breadcrumbs: Much like location breadcrumbs, path breadcrumbs leave behind a trail of pages that you’ve visited. If you’ve searched for a product or filtered search results, this allows you to easily go back to the original page.

Attribute or keyword breadcrumbs: These breadcrumbs are particularly useful on eCommerce sites as they allow users to see products with shared attributes like brands. For example, if you were searching for mens shirts with interchangeable search filters like wrinkle resistant and long sleeves, your breadcrumbs will look something like this:

Home > Men’s Clothing > Shirts | Wrinkle Resistant | Long Sleeve

Why Breadcrumbs Are Important For Your Website

As previously mentioned, breadcrumbs are extremely helpful when it comes to helping users navigate your site. However, there are more benefits to using breadcrumbs on your website for easy navigation, enhanced user experience and SEO. Here’s why adding breadcrumbs can make your website better:

Easy navigation: Shows users exactly where they are on your site, making navigating your site easier and more intuitive. If you have a deep navigation, it’s important that breadcrumbs are available on all devices, particularly mobile. As mobile devices have limited space, the navigation bar requires multiple clicks to navigate to related categories. Using breadcrumbs reduces how many times a user has to click to navigate to these pages.

Reduces bounce rates: When someone lands on your page from a source like a blog linking to your pages, having breadcrumbs allows users to see exactly which part of your site they’ve been navigated to. By using breadcrumbs, they can easily navigate to the previous page if they can’t find exactly what they’re looking for, reducing the chances of them clicking off your site.

Search engine algorithms understand breadcrumbs: Search engines can read breadcrumbs to determine the relationship between pages on your site. This can help them rank your pages higher if people are searching for something that you offer.

Better for search results: If breadcrumbs appear in the search results page, users can get a better idea about how your site is set up before they even click through. This means they can understand what your site’s about faster and can go straight to the page they need.

Shows the layout of your site: With breadcrumbs, visitors can clearly see how your website is laid out from the homepage all the way to where they are now—the current page. It makes moving around different sections of your site smoother.

Internal linking strategy: As breadcrumbs are used to link to relevant categories on your site, they act as an internal link. Not only does this help with user navigation as previously mentioned, but it also indicates to search engines about which pages are the most important on your site. Pages with more internal links are seen as important priority pages, like your homepage or top-level categories.

Are There Any Drawbacks To Using Breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumbs can be really helpful, but there are a few things to watch out for if you’re thinking of adding them to your website. Here’s what you need to consider:

Design elements: Depending on the style or layout of your site, breadcrumbs might not look visually appealing. However, they are extremely beneficial from a user and SEO perspective, so we recommend that you make use of them on your site. Note: Website developers can use different designs for your breadcrumbs to make them more on brand and visually appealing.

Usability concerns: Breadcrumbs have to be done right. If they’re not set up properly, they can end up confusing people instead of helping them get around your site.

Site hierarchy complexity: If your website navigation is quite small and straightforward, breadcrumbs might add more complexities and confuse users on your site.

If you are considering using breadcrumbs on your website, but you’re not sure if they’ll add any value to your site, get in touch. We have a team of SEO and user experience experts who will help you decide whether your website will benefit from adding breadcrumbs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do Breadcrumbs Impact SEO?

Although breadcrumbs are a fantastic way to help users navigate back to previous pages on your site, it also helps search engines to understand the relationship between pages on your site. This can help search engines to understand what your pages are about and the relationship they have to search queries, allowing them to serve your pages for relevant search terms.

Breadcrumbs can also appear in search results, by either adding structured data to them or setting them up in the backend of your site with the help of a developer. However, it’s important to note that by correctly setting up breadcrumbs, it doesn’t guarantee that they’ll appear in the search engine result pages.

Can Breadcrumbs Improve Site Usability On Mobile Devices?

Breadcrumbs can be extremely beneficial when it comes to your site’s usability on mobile devices. This is because mobile screens are much smaller than on a desktop, making it easier for users to navigate relevant parts of your website with very few clicks.

For example, if a mobile user has navigated to the fourth level of your navigation, they would have to open the navigation bar, then click on the top level navigation to go back to the top-level category. Using breadcrumbs allows users to simply navigate back to the relevant category in one click.

About the author

Lucie Ogé

With over a decade of experience in the SEO world, Lucie had the opportunity to work on both sides of the fence – client and agency. She grew up in France, then moved to Romania for a while before settling in England, where she started working in SEO in London. After a few years, she took off to New Zealand to work in SEO overseas before finding her way back to England, in Stafford this time. She's dabbled in all things SEO, but does have a strong preference for technical SEO and content. When she's not knee-deep in SEO stuff, you'll likely find her baking an absurd amount of cakes in the kitchen, striking a pose in yoga class, pounding the pavement on a run, or curling up with her cat and a good book.

Using Breadcrumbs For SEO Success