What are breadcrumbs?
Breadcrumbs, also known as breadcrumbs, are internal links on a website that serve as a secondary navigation element. They help users to track their previous navigation on a website and easily return to previously visited pages. This concept comes from the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel,” in which the protagonists spread bread crumbs to find their way back. Similarly, breadcrumbs help users track their way through the website.
Benefits of breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are particularly essential in e-commerce. They make the online shop more user-friendly and navigation comprehensible. Users always know where they are on the website, which is particularly helpful when they access sub-pages via search engines.
How are breadcrumbs represented graphically?
Breadcrumbs are usually displayed at the top of the page and show the path that the user has traveled within the website. They are typically designed in such a way that they are not too prominent but complement the main content of the page. Common separators between breadcrumb links include arrows (>), slashes (/), or pipes (|).
Types of breadcrumbs
There are different types of breadcrumbs, which differ depending on their function and presentation:
- Path breadcrumbs: Show the exact navigation path that a user has traveled.
- Location-based breadcrumbs: Represent the hierarchical structure of the website and are useful for understanding the levels of a website.
- Breadcrumbs attribute: Used primarily in online shops to display the attributes or categories to which the current page belongs.
Implementing breadcrumbs
There are several ways to integrate breadcrumbs into your website:
- plugins: Many content management systems (CMS), such as WordPress, offer plugins that make it easy to add breadcrumbs to your website.
- Manual integration: For more individual solutions, you can also create breadcrumbs manually using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. This allows you to fully adapt to the design of your website.
- CMS settings: Some systems already offer built-in options to easily implement breadcrumbs.
Importance for SEO
Breadcrumbs are not only beneficial from a user's point of view, but also play a role in search engine optimization (SEO). They help search engines better understand the structure of the website and can therefore improve SEO performance. They can also help optimize the presentation of the website in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) by providing additional navigation paths.
Finally, breadcrumbs can be considered an effective tool for improving your website's user experience and SEO. They not only help to simplify navigation, but can also make a positive contribution to the online presence. So implement breadcrumbs and improve both the usability and findability of your site in search engines.
