Breadcrumbs are an important part of a website. Apart from telling web visitors which page they will be directed to, adding breadcrumbs can also help Google to better understand the structure of your website. To understand what is meant by breadcrumbs and how they are useful for SEO, see the discussion below.!!
Before writing this article, I visited several friends' blogs and other blogs to check whether there were breadcrumbs on these blogs. Some blogs have breadcrumbs and some don't. Most blogs place the breadcrumb in the top position, generally under the navigation menu, others place it in the bottom position. When you open this blog, you will find a breadcrumb at the bottom.
What are Breadcrumbs?
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| What are Breadcrumbs? |
Breadcrumb is a short navigation text that is usually located at the top of a website page to provide information about where the user is on a site.
On the Erzedka website, for example, the path to this article page is:
Home » SEO » What are Breadcrumb
This breadcrumb path shows where the page you are opening is located in a website structure. Each step of the path is clickable, all the way back to the original home page. The origins of the name breadcrumb, or what is translated into Indonesian as 'bread crumbs', is quite interesting in itself.
In the story of Hansel and Gretel, when they went into the forest, Hansel left a trail of breadcrumbs on the road so they wouldn't get lost when they wanted to return home.
The 'breadcrumb' concept then became the model for the website navigation path as it is today. Likened to the breadcrumbs that Hansel uses, the path links which are usually located at the top of website pages are intended to prevent users from getting 'lost' on a website.
Some of you may be confused about which one is a breadcrumb, what exactly is a breadcrumb and what are its benefits for SEO. Simply, breadcrumbs are a form of navigation that is generally found on websites.
Breadcrumbs are also often called navigation chains. Breadcrumb is a path in the form of link text (link text path) on a blog or website. When you visit a web page, the breadcrumb shows your current whereabouts on that website.
The image below is the breadcrumb display on the erzedka.com blog created with Joomla CMS. Unlike blogs in general which place the breadcrumb under the navigation menu, the module position for the breadcrumb module object in the Erzedka blog template is in the bottom position. However, the breadcrumb module object can actually be placed in any module position of the template.
Breadcrumbs are especially useful for blogs or large websites that have more than one step to get to a particular web page. Each step in the breadcrumb path is clickable. Each step in the breadcrumb path is separated by a larger symbol (>). You can use the breadcrumb to return to the previous section or go directly to the front page (home page).
The image below is a breadcrumb display in a list of articles from Google search engine results (SERP) using certain keywords. If you look more carefully at the Google search engine results, generally, blogs or websites use breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs in CMS Joomla
Apart from the Blogger platform, you can create a blog or website with a Content Management System, one of which is CMS Joomla. In Joomla, the menu structure of a Joomla blog or website is the same or similar to the path in a breadcrumb.
In Joomla, a breadcrumb is a module, a type of Joomla extension. You can place the breadcrumb module object in any module position in the Joomla template used. Apart from using breadcrumb extensions from third parties, Joomla also provides a built-in module that can be used directly.
You can download third-party breadcrumb extensions in the Joomla Extension Directory. You need to create a breadcrumb module object using Joomla's built-in breadcrumb module or a third-party breadcrumb module and then place it in the desired module position. Because the path in the breadcrumb is the same or similar to the menu structure in Joomla, the breadcrumb on this blog is not placed at the top adjacent to the menu.
Moreover, the default template used by this blog has provided a special module position at the bottom which is currently used by the breadcrumb object. That is why the breadcrumb on this blog is in the bottom position, unlike most blogs or websites which place the breadcrumb at the top.
Benefits of using breadcrumbs
In fact, quite a lot of blogs or websites do not use breadcrumbs. Blog or website owners may not consider it necessary to add breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs are considered not very important or do not have any impact. In fact, adding breadcrumbs to a blog or website has several benefits:
1. Improve user experience
Through the breadcrumb, you can find out where you are currently on the website. Breadcrumbs show the path you have taken to arrive at the current web page. Guaranteed you will not get lost and return to the previous section or web page. This will provide a better user experience. You don't have to use the existing Back button.
2. Preferred search engines
Breadcrumbs are not only useful for blog visitors but are also liked by search engines. Search engines also use breadcrumbs to recognize the structure of a website. Google will also include breadcrumbs in search results (SERP) when you add structured data. Breadcrumbs are an additional feature that can positively affect your website ranking.
3. Reduce bounce rate
Visitors can enter a blog or website through search engine search results (SERP). Once inside and finding the web page does not meet their needs, visitors can use breadcrumbs, in addition to the navigation menu and search box, to go to other web pages on your website. Breadcrumbs can reduce the bounce rate because they provide an alternative way to other parts of your website.
Breadcrumbs on mobile devices
Many people think that breadcrumbs are not good for displaying on mobile devices. This is because breadcrumbs take up space on the device's screen, which is already narrow.
However, blogs or websites on mobile devices can benefit from displaying breadcrumbs because on mobile devices, the navigation menu is not displayed. Breadcrumbs still have a positive impact on user experience on mobile devices.
How do breadcrumbs affect SEO?
It has been mentioned previously that using breadcrumbs on blogs or websites can influence user behavior. Breadcrumbs can provide a better user experience, which in the end can improve web page rankings even though it won't be visible significantly.
Breadcrumbs can help improve the user experience of your website because they are a common website navigation element that can help direct visitors to the website pages they want more easily.
Apart from the home page, web visitors can also enter your website via other pages, such as blog article pages for example. Therefore, you need to add website navigation features that can direct visitors to other pages on your website and breadcrumbs are one of them.
That way, indirectly adding breadcrumbs to your website can also be an effort you can take to reduce your website's bounce rate.
Conclusion
Breadcrumb is a feature that is quite easy to implement but can help your SEO efforts. Even though implementing breadcrumbs will not guarantee your website to get first ranking in SERP, breadcrumbs still provide benefits from both the user and search engine side.
If you need help implementing breadcrumbs or other website navigation features, Meson is ready to help.