What are breadcrumbs and what does SEO have to do with it?

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The concept of "breadcrumbs" originates from the famous fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, where children used bread crumbs to mark their way home through the forest. In the context of web design, breadcrumbs are text strings of links that display a chain of journeys from the home page to the current point on the site. Their main purpose is to make it easier for users to navigate and improve navigation. As an example:



Home → Category → Subcategory → Current page



There are three main groups of bread crumbs:

1. Hierarchical – Shows the path from the using the moj database main page to the current page (e.g. "Main → Category → Subcategory → Current Page"). This is the most popular type of breadcrumbs, used to display a page in the context of the site.

2. Attributive – Displays key properties of the current page (e.g. "Home → Product Category → Price → Color"). These are especially useful for online stores with many filters.

3. Historical – Shows the sequence of pages visited (e.g. "Home → Popular → Article"). Although this type is less common, it helps users track their movement through the site.



Why are breadcrumbs important?

Breadcrumbs serve a number of critical functions for both users and search engines:



1. Improved navigation: Help visitors navigate the site more easily and return to previous pages without having to use the browser's back button. They facilitate better exploration of the site and make it easier to access the information they need.



2. Reduced Bounce Rate: Users can easily navigate to other sections of the site if the current page does not meet their expectations, reducing premature exits and increasing engagement.



3. Increased indexing: For search engines, breadcrumbs provide additional links, which helps to index the site more completely. Search engine bots can crawl the site faster and more efficiently, finding more pages.



4. Improved visibility in search results: Search engines like Google can use breadcrumbs to create more attractive and understandable snippets in search results, which increases click-through rate (CTR).



How Do Breadcrumbs Affect SEO?

Breadcrumbs strengthen the internal linking of a site by providing search bots with a clear understanding of the structure and hierarchy of the site. This helps search engines better interpret the content and relationships between pages, helping to improve search rankings.



Additionally:

- Improved user experience (UX): Users who find a site user-friendly are more likely to stay longer and perform useful actions (such as making purchases), which has a positive impact on behavioral metrics and indirectly on SEO.

- Reduced bounce rate: Ease of navigation between sections reduces the chances of a quick exit from the site, improving behavioral indicators, signaling to search engines about the high value of your site.

- Increased page depth: Breadcrumbs motivate users to explore more pages on your site, which increases engagement with content and improves internal metrics.



How to embed breadcrumbs on a website?

1. Think about structure: Define a logical hierarchy for your content. Breadcrumbs should accurately reflect the structure of your site, which is especially important for large sites with multiple sections.

2. Use microdata: Enable Schema.org markup to help search engines interpret your breadcrumbs correctly and improve their display in search results.

3. Make them visible: Place breadcrumbs at the top of the page so they immediately grab users' attention and are easy to navigate.

4. Style appropriately: Consistency with the overall design of the site, including colors, fonts, and other elements, helps make breadcrumbs part of a harmonious visual style.



Conclusion

Breadcrumbs are more than just a navigation element; they play a key role in improving site usability and SEO. They help users navigate your site and return to previous sections easily, and they also allow search engines to better understand your site’s structure. Given all the benefits, it’s worth taking the time to implement breadcrumbs correctly to improve both the user experience and your site’s SEO.

Proper use of breadcrumbs can lead to significant improvements in your website’s performance. It is a simple yet effective tool that can make your website more user-friendly and attractive to both users and search engines, ultimately contributing to a successful online business.