Navigating a website can be challenging, especially when pages are deep or content is extensive. This is where breadcrumb navigation comes.
Breadcrumbs are a secondary set of links that helps users understand their location, track their path, and easily return to previous pages.
Without breadcrumbs, visitors can get lost in layers of content, leading to frustration and potential drop-offs.
In this guide, we’ll explain what breadcrumbs are on a website, their types, and how they can improve user experience, engagement, and site performance.
What is Breadcrumb Navigation?
Let’s start with the basics. What is breadcrumb navigation?
It’s a type of secondary navigation — usually a horizontal line of links — that appears on pages that are nested within your site. These links usually show up just below the main navigation and above the content. Each item in the trail leads to a broader category.
For example, you might see:
Home > Electronics > Mobile Phones > iPhone 13
This is called a breadcrumb trail , and the job of this trail is to tell visitors exactly where they are in your site’s structure. It also helps them move back to previous sections without using the back button or starting over.
So yes, it’s simple — but it’s also one of the most user-friendly and helpful elements you can include on a site that goes more than a page or two deep.
Types of Breadcrumb Navigation
All types of breadcrumbs navigation have the same goal: to make it easier to navigate a site. But not all breadcrumbs work the same way. In fact, there are four main types, and each serves a slightly different purpose.
Here they are, ranked from most to least commonly used:
1. Location Breadcrumb Navigation
This is the most widely adopted type of breadcrumb navigation — and for good reason. It shows where a page lives within the site’s hierarchy.
So, if your user is currently looking at women’s running shoes, they might see a trail like:
Home > Shoes > Women > Running
This breadcrumb doesn’t change based on how they arrived at the page. It reflects how your site is structured. If your site is organized into clear, layered categories, this type of breadcrumb makes navigation smooth.
And because it always stays the same no matter how the user gets to a page, it’s predictable, which makes it very user-friendly for e-commerce sites or content-heavy platforms with deep hierarchies.
2. Attribute Breadcrumb Navigation
As the name suggests, this type of breadcrumb shows the attributes or filters applied to the page.
For example, you might see:
Home > Laptops > 16GB RAM > Touchscreen > Dell
Rather than showing where the page sits in the site’s structure, it highlights product features. This type is common on ecommerce sites with lots of filtering options.
The downside? ms, long tailed keywords tend to:
Clicking on breadcrumb items may not always lead users “up” the site hierarchy, as it might only modify or remove filters, confusing users trying to return to the main category. Therefore, designing attribute breadcrumbs carefully is crucial to provide a clear, intuitive path for refining searches.
Also, since pages can appear in both category-based and attribute-based navigation, it can sometimes create duplicate content — something to be mindful of if you care about SEO.
3. Path Breadcrumb Navigation
Unlike the others, this one is dynamic. It changes depending on the exact path a user took to reach a page.
Let’s say someone clicks through your site like this:
Home > Kids > Clothing > Girls’ Clothing
Then another user goes:
Home > Brands > Kids Shop > Girls’ Clothing
Both might end up on the same product page, but the breadcrumb trail would look different for each of them.
It reflects the actual journey, not the structure. While that can be helpful in certain cases, it can again lead to confusion if the user needs to backtrack to a specific section, but the breadcrumb doesn’t line up with your site’s main navigation.
4. Title Breadcrumb Navigation
In the past, some websites used this to enhance on-page SEO, hoping it would help with rankings. But since it doesn’t help users and offers little functional value, it’s mostly been phased out.
Why Breadcrumb Navigation Is Important
By now, you’ve likely grasped the concept of breadcrumb trails, but if you’re still unsure whether it’s worth the effort, here are the key reasons why incorporating them is a smart move, especially for large or complex websites.
1. SEO
Just like a sitemap helps search engines understand your site, breadcrumbs navigation helps too. It gives structure to your content and makes it easier for search engines to crawl.
Google can pick up your breadcrumb data and display it in search results — replacing the raw URL with a clean, readable path.
For example:
Home > Blog > Marketing > Email Campaigns
That’s far easier to read — and click — than something like: example.com/blog/2024/04/29/email-campaigns-how-to
Note: Google doesn’t show breadcrumb trails for every search — only for certain keyword combinations or content types.
2. Usability
If there’s one reason to use breadcrumbs website elements, it’s this.
Visitors want to move around your site without having to guess or start from scratch. A breadcrumb gives them a simple, intuitive way to navigate, especially when they’ve landed in a lower-level page from search.
Users familiar with breadcrumb navigation often rely on it to explore more content. And those unfamiliar? They figure it out quickly.
3. Time-on-Site and Engagement
Imagine someone clicks a product link from Google—say, a camera. If there’s no breadcrumb trail available and the page doesn’t meet their needs, they’re likely to leave right away.
But if they see:
Home > Electronics > Cameras > DSLR
They might click back to the DSLR category to explore other options. This simple navigation keeps users engaged, encourages deeper browsing, and helps reduce bounce rates.
More time spent on-site is always a good thing. Whether it leads to a sale, a subscription, or a return visit — breadcrumbs navigation helps make it happen.
4. Minimal Design Impact
Breadcrumbs don’t take up much room. Just a line of text, usually between the main navigation and the page title. They don’t slow your page, and they don’t clutter your design.
If you’re looking for a low-effort way to improve navigation and site clarity, breadcrumb navigation is hard to beat.
Best Practices for Breadcrumb Navigation
Adding breadcrumb navigation to your website is a good move. But how you implement it matters. Done well, it feels natural. Done poorly, it creates confusion.
Here are a few best practices to help you get it right.
1. Always Treat It as Secondary Navigation
Breadcrumbs navigation supports your main menu — it doesn’t replace it. Keep it simple and don’t try to overload it with dropdowns or hover actions. Let it quietly do its job.
2. Start with the Homepage
Your breadcrumb trail should begin with “Home.” This is standard practice, and users expect it. Even if your logo leads home, a visible “Home” link at the start helps users reset their path quickly.
3. Don’t Link the Current Page
The final item in your breadcrumb (the one representing the current page) should just be plain text. Linking it to itself doesn’t add value — and can be a little frustrating if someone clicks it expecting a different result.
4. Keep It High on the Page
Place your breadcrumb navigation just below the header or primary menu — above the main content. Hiding it further down the page or in the footer defeats the purpose.
5. Use Clear Separators
The most common separator is the greater than symbol ( > ), but slashes ( / ), pipes ( | ), or arrows ( → ) also work. Whichever you choose, keep it consistent across your site.
6. Avoid Redundant Labels
Skip labels like “You are here.” Users understand what the breadcrumb trail is. Extra words just add clutter.
7. Use Keyword-Consistent Anchor Text
Since breadcrumbs also impact SEO, make sure your anchor text reflects the same keywords used in your page titles and URLs. This helps with relevance and indexing.
8. Stick to One Path per Page
If a page exists in multiple categories, pick one canonical path for the breadcrumb navigation. This keeps the trail clean and helps avoid duplicate content issues.
9. Keep It Short and Neat
Don’t try to show every possible level. Three to five steps is usually enough. A long, overwhelming breadcrumb can defeat its own purpose.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to help visitors feel comfortable on your site. A fast load time. A clear layout. Great content. But right alongside those is breadcrumb navigation — small in size, but powerful in impact.
If you’re building or managing a site with multiple categories, deep pages, or layered content, a breadcrumb website experience can make the difference between a user staying or leaving.
It helps visitors stay oriented. It gives them control. And it helps search engines understand your structure.
Now that you know what is breadcrumb navigation, the different types of breadcrumbs navigation, and how to use it effectively, the next step is simple:
Look at your site. Would a breadcrumb trail help users move around more easily? If the answer is yes — it’s time to implement it.
Also Read: TOP Free & Paid SEO Tools
FAQs About Breadcrumb
1. Can breadcrumbs help users who land on a product page from Google?
Yes. A breadcrumb trail gives users a clear path back to broader categories, making it easier to explore more without starting from scratch.
2. Do breadcrumbs affect how search results look in Google?
Yes, when marked up correctly with structured data (schema), Google can display breadcrumb trails in search snippets. This provides a cleaner, more organized view of your page hierarchy in search results, improving clarity and potentially increasing click-through rates.
3. Should every page on my website have breadcrumbs?
Not necessarily. Breadcrumbs website elements work best on sites with multi-level structures such as blogs, e-commerce sites and service directories with layered navigation. Flat or one-page sites may not benefit from them.
4. Can breadcrumbs reduce bounce rates?
Definitely. When visitors can easily backtrack using breadcrumb navigation, they’re more likely to explore other sections instead of leaving your site right away.
5. Are breadcrumbs visible on mobile devices too?
They should be. A responsive breadcrumb navigation improves usability on small screens, especially for users navigating product pages or content-heavy sites.
