{"id":13746,"date":"2019-06-04T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T06:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/?p=13746"},"modified":"2021-06-26T15:53:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T12:53:22","slug":"breadcrumbs-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/breadcrumbs-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Breadcrumbs and How to SEO Optimize Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the website elements that Google loves is breadcrumbs. Google is stressing the importance of breadcrumbs in all their SEO related documents and guides.<\/p>\n

The reason is simple: Breadcrumb trails have something to offer to both search engines and users.<\/p>\n

Search engines use them to get a better idea on how your website is structured<\/strong><\/a> and they help users navigate a website easier.<\/p>\n

In this post you will learn everything you need to know about breadcrumbs, why they are important, how to optimize them and how they help SEO.<\/p>\n

What are breadcrumbs?<\/h2>\n

A breadcrumb trail is a small menu usually located at the top of a page, used as a navigational aid. It shows the path to go from the current page back to the homepage.<\/p>\n

Here is an example of a breadcrumb trail menu:<\/p>\n

\"Example
Example of a Breadcrumb Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see from the example above, the breadcrumb trail starts from the home page, then it shows the category name and then the current page. Each step in the path is clickable.<\/p>\n

Different types of Breadcrumbs<\/h3>\n

Breadcrumbs can have different forms but all types have the same goal i.e. to help users understand the relationship between the current page with the rest of the site.<\/p>\n

For example, if you take a closer look at the breadcrumb menu of this article, you will see that it is part of the SEO Articles<\/strong><\/a> category.<\/p>\n

The most common breadcrumb types are:<\/p>\n

Hierarchy Based Breadcrumbs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The example above was a typical hierarchical (or location based) breadcrumb menu. It\u2019s the typical breadcrumb you can find on blogs or websites that have a simple hierarchical structure.<\/p>\n

Here is another example from Amazon:<\/p>\n

\"Breadcrumb
Breadcrumb Trail – Amazon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dynamic Breadcrumbs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dynamic or attribute based-breadcrumbs are used in cases a product has many attributes and the breadcrumb trail reflects that to make navigation easier.<\/p>\n

Here is an example from an ecommerce website:<\/p>\n

\"Attribute
Attribute Based Breadcrumbs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notice how the breadcrumb helps users select different product attributes without leaving the current page.<\/p>\n

History Based Breadcrumbs<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The breadcrumb path trail is build based on the pages a user has visited. This is not a good SEO web design<\/strong><\/a> practice and it\u2019s not used very often.<\/p>\n

Why are Breadcrumbs Important?<\/h2>\n

Breadcrumbs are an essential element of an SEO friendly website<\/strong><\/a> because:<\/p>\n