Breadcrumb
Breadcrumb, in English Breadcrumbs, initially sounds like something that belongs in the kitchen. In search engine optimization (SEO), however, the breadcrumb has an important meaning, as it describes the so-called breadcrumb navigation, i.e. a link path that shows where a user is currently located in the hierarchy of the website.
As one might guess, the term comes from the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel.” In this story, the two children lay a trail of breadcrumbs, through which they were ultimately able to find their way out of the forest. Similarly, this works for users on the internet: the breadcrumb is clearly visible and allows the user to quickly switch to the parent page while also clarifying the structure of the website.
Breadcrumb Navigation in SEO
The idea of a breadcrumb in SEO is that users can easily orient themselves and spend more time on the website. Imagine someone wants to buy high heels, uses Google, and clicks on a Google Shopping ad of an online store. The website opens and shows a specific product, but the user wants to look at more options. With breadcrumb navigation, one can now view the overarching category of high heels or the category page for women’s shoes in general. Automatically, one spends more time on the page and interacts with it.
This attribute-based breadcrumb is distinguished from a path-based breadcrumb, where one can return to pages that were previously visited, similar to the back button. This can appear, for example, in the form of a “Back to results” button.
Do’s and Don’ts of Breadcrumbs
Not every page necessarily needs a breadcrumb. Especially in online shops with many subcategories, it is very useful, but simple blogs with few branches are also easy to navigate without a breadcrumb. The breadcrumb should also be logically structured and understandable for users. A website with too many options and different navigations ultimately has a negative impact on the user journey.
How to create a breadcrumb navigation?
Depending on the type of website, there are various methods to integrate a breadcrumb navigation on a website. However, it is usually implemented through the HTML code. The actual visual appearance of the breadcrumb is then controlled via CSS. In WordPress, however, you can integrate a breadcrumb with Rank Math. Yoast SEO also offers breadcrumbs.
Do you want to improve your site navigation and need support? Then feel free to contact us! Do you want to learn more or have your team trained on this topic? Then check out our SEO seminars.
