On websites that have a lot of pages, users need navigation to find their way around more easily. Like the breadcrumbs in the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel,” they allow the users to retrace their steps back to where they started.
What is a breadcrumb?
A “breadcrumb” (or breadcrumb trail) is a small text path, located at the top of a page that shows the user’s location on a website or web application. Breadcrumbs are designed to make navigation more easy for the users. By providing a simple way to view the directory path of the current folder or page on the website. Each of the directories that shows the website hierarchy is clickable, providing quick access to parent folders.
Why breadcrumbs are important?
Breadcrumbs have a path-based structure and are important navigation marks to fully optimize a website. These elements not only help users navigate the website but also help Google understand how the site is structured.
There are several types of breadcrumbs depending on what elements are included on the breadcrumb tail.
What are the types of breadcrumbs?
Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs
These types of breadcrumbs indicate where the user is in a page structure and how many steps can he take to return to the main page.
Path-based breadcrumbs
Path-based breadcrumbs are also called history-based breadcrumbs. These navigation marks show the actual pages the user has visited. They are rarely used as the “back” button does the same job.
Attribute-based breadcrumbs
These breadcrumbs display the filters or attributes that a user selected on a previous page. We can use them most commonly on e-commerce websites. These elements show which category or filter the user clicked on or the attributes that the user has selected on a particular page. Also, we can implement attribute-based breadcrumbs as tags for categorizing blog posts and types of content.
A great way to improve user experience is when we add breadcrumbs. These navigation elements make it easier for site visitors and search engines to better understand the website’s structure. Not only that but also the connections with on-site content. Breadcrumbs direct users to other pages on the website and help them stay active decreasing the bounce rate.
