Breadcrumbs are a type of navigation aid that helps users understand their current location on a website and how they arrived there. They appear as a horizontal trail of links, typically at the top of a webpage, showing the path from the homepage to the current page. Breadcrumbs enhance user experience by making it easier for visitors to backtrack or navigate to higher-level pages without relying on the browser’s back button.
Types of Breadcrumbs
- Location-Based Breadcrumbs: Show the hierarchy of the site structure. For example:
Home > Electronics > Laptops > Gaming Laptops - Attribute-Based Breadcrumbs: Used in eCommerce websites, these show the attributes of the product, like categories or filters applied. For example:
Home > Shoes > Size 9 > Running Shoes - Path-Based Breadcrumbs: These display the path the user has taken during their session. They are less common as they depend on the user’s browsing behavior. For example:
Home > Search Results > Product Page
Why Are Breadcrumbs Important?
Breadcrumbs offer both SEO and usability benefits:
- Enhanced User Experience: They help users easily navigate through complex websites, reducing frustration and the chance of them leaving the site.
- Lower Bounce Rates: By offering clear navigation, breadcrumbs encourage visitors to explore more pages, which can reduce bounce rates.
- SEO Benefits: Breadcrumbs provide search engines with additional context about the site’s structure, helping to improve crawlability and potentially boosting rankings. In fact, Google often displays breadcrumbs in search results, giving users a clear sense of where a page fits within the site.
How Do Breadcrumbs Work?
Breadcrumbs are displayed as text links, often separated by characters like > or /, which represent the site’s hierarchy. Users can click on any of the links in the breadcrumb trail to navigate directly to that section or category.
For example, if you’re on a product page, the breadcrumb might look like this:
Home > Men’s Clothing > Jackets > Winter Jackets
This makes it easy for the user to go back to “Men’s Clothing” or even all the way to the homepage without using multiple clicks.
