It’s one of the recommendations that comes up most often in the agency’s SEO analyses: the proper management and display of a breadcrumb trail.
We’ve decided to put the causes and effects of its absence in a dedicated article.
Breadcrumbs are a navigational feature for your website, and they can have a significant impact on SEO and user experience.
Many websites still don’t implement breadcrumbs, which is a huge mistake.
Not only do breadcrumbs influence your site’s SEO and accessibility, they’re also relatively easy to implement.
Here’s what you need to know about breadcrumbs, their impact on SEO and common mistakes to avoid.
What are breadcrumbs in SEO?
Breadcrumbs are automated internal links that allow users to track their location on a website and see how far they are from the home page.
You’ll usually find them at the top of a website or just below the navigation bar.
Like internal links, they help keep users on a website and find the information they’re looking for.
If they feel disoriented, they can use breadcrumb links to go up a level and continue browsing the site rather than clicking the browser’s back button.
Here’s an example of a breadcrumb trail on the eBay site: it shows exactly which categories I clicked on to get to the page I’m viewing.
Breadcrumbs make it easy to return to a previous page if necessary.
The 4 common types of Ariane wire
Not all breadcrumb trails are created equal!
There are four main types of breadcrumb, each with its own purpose.
Before adding breadcrumbs to your site, you need to decide which one is best suited to the user experience.
1. Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs (also called location-based breadcrumbs)
The most common type of breadcrumb trail that tells users where they are in the site structure and how to get back to the home page.
Example: Home > California > San Francisco
2. Attribute-based breadcrumbs
These breadcrumb trails are commonly used on e-commerce sites to show which attributes the user has selected.
Example: Home > Shoes > Hiking > Women
3. Advanced breadcrumbs or previews
This type of breadcrumb trail not only shows the user’s current path through the site hierarchy, but also offers a glimpse of possible next steps.
4. History-based breadcrumbs
This type of breadcrumb trail is rarely used and shows users which other pages of the site they have visited, similar to a browser history.
The 3 advantages of Ariadne’s wires
You may be wondering what breadcrumb trails can really do for you.
Here’s why they’re worth implementing:
1. Breadcrumbs improve user experience (UX)
Breadcrumbs make navigation easier for users and encourage them to explore other sections.
2. Keep users on site longer
Although bounce rate is not a ranking factor, preventing users from leaving your site can nevertheless help SEO by encouraging users to click and browse further, an engagement signal that Google uses for ranking.
3. Breadcrumbs improve internal links
Breadcrumbs are not just a navigation tool; they also play a crucial role in improving a website’s internal link structure.
Google uses breadcrumbs to determine the relationship between different pages that are deeper in the site’s structure.
Rich snippets in SERPs
Breadcrumbs not only facilitate site navigation, but also enable Google to display enriched snippets in search results.
However, this only happens if you tag your breadcrumbs with structured data so that Google can retrieve and display them in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
4 common mistakes when using breadcrumbs for SEO
Implementing breadcrumbs is a simple way of improving a site’s SEO and providing a better UX.
However, some mistakes can cause more harm than good.
1. Don’t get too big or too small
Ariadne’s wires should be easy to see but discreet.
2. Don’t just repeat your navigation bar
If breadcrumb trails simply duplicate what’s already in your navigation bar, they may not add value.
3. Don’t abandon your navigation bar in favor of breadcrumbs
They should complement, not replace, other navigation functions.
4. Use the right type of breadcrumb
Location-based breadcrumbs are the most common, but not necessarily the best choice for your site.
How to implement breadcrumbs in WordPress
Breadcrumbs are an incredibly useful navigational element for users and search engines alike, and they’re easy to add to your site.
Breadcrumbs are a simple addition that can help your site stand out on the search results page.
Although they don’t guarantee a significant increase in SERP rankings, they are useful for both users and search engines.
As a bonus, they’re easy to implement with a plugin like Yoast.
The importance of breadcrumbs in UX, ergonomics, accessibility and SEO
The presence of a breadcrumb trail on a website is crucial in terms of UX (user experience), ergonomics and SEO.
In terms of user experience, a breadcrumb trail makes it easier for visitors to find their way around the site’s structure, reducing the risk of disorientation and improving overall navigation.
Ergonomically speaking, it’s a discreet yet functional visual element that improves access to information without cluttering the interface.
From an SEO point of view, breadcrumbs play a key role in improving internal link structure, helping search engines to better understand the hierarchy of pages on the site.
What’s more, when properly tagged with structured data, breadcrumbs can also contribute to the display of rich snippets in search results, increasing the site’s visibility and potentially its click-through rate.
In short, the integration of a breadcrumb trail is an essential practice for any site wishing to optimize both user experience and SEO performance.
From the point of view of accessibility, breadcrumbs are a navigation tool enabling users to find their way around a website.
It displays the user’s current position in the site structure in relation to the home page.
According to WCAG 2.0 (W3C accessibility standards), the integration of a breadcrumb trail meets a level AAA accessibility requirement (the highest).
The breadcrumb trail must represent the site’s organization and help users understand their position in the site’s hierarchy.
It must include :
- A link to the home page.
- All links to intermediate pages between the home page and the current page.
- The title of the current page, which must not be clickable.