What are breadcrumbs? Why are they important for SEO?

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Breadcrumbs are an essential part of almost every good website. These little navigational aids don't just tell people where they are on your site, but they also help Google work out how your site is structured. That’s why adding these helpful little pointers makes a lot of sense. Let’s take a look at how breadcrumb navigation works.
Table of contents
What are breadcrumbs?Different types of breadcrumbsHierarchy-based breadcrumbsAttribute-based breadcrumbsHistory-based breadcrumbsAdvantages of using breadcrumbs1. Google loves them2. They enhance the user experience3. They lower bounce ratesHow to add breadcrumbsYoast SEO has breadcrumb support built-inBreadcrumbs with a WordPress blockConclusion
What are breadcrumbs?

A breadcrumb is a small text path, often located at the top of a page, indicating where the user is on the site. On yoast.com, the path to ourKeyword research guideisHome > SEO blog > Content SEO > Keyword Research > Keyword research for SEO: the ultimate guide. This trail immediately shows you where you are. Every step of that path is clickable, returning to the homepage.
An example of a breadcrumb path on Yoast.com
But why is this navigational help called a breadcrumb? When Hansel and Gretel went into the woods, Hansel dropped pieces of bread onto the ground so they could find their way home if they got lost. These crumbs eventually became the model for the ones we see on websites.
You can see the breadcrumb clearly in Google
They also appear in Google search results, and you can take advantage of this if you use Yoast SEO or add the correct form ofstructured datato your site. Breadcrumbs in search results give users an easy-to-understand overview of where the page sits on your site.
Yoast SEO automatically adds the necessary structured data — a BreadcrumbList — in JSON-LD format. Just flip the switch in the settings, and you'll see the relevant lines appear in your source code — although, depending on your theme, you may need to add a small piece of code to your theme. Find out more about our breadcrumb structured data in our documentation. You can use the Yoast SEO breadcrumb block to add them to individual posts or pages quickly.
Remember that Google uses the structured data on your site to understand its structure and contents fully. So Google uses breadcrumbs both for crawling and rich results.
You can find the Yoast breadcrumbs block in the WordPress block library
Different types of breadcrumbs

You may have noticed that there are different types of breadcrumbs. These are the three most common ones:
Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs

These are the most common, and it's how we use them on our site. They tell you where you are in asite structureand how many steps it takes to return to the homepage. Something likeHome > Blog > Category > Post name.
Best Buy gives you a good idea of where you are in the store
Attribute-based breadcrumbs

Attribute-based breadcrumbs are seen most commonly when a user has searched on an e-commerce site. The trail comprises product attributes – for example,Home > Product category > Gender > Size > Color.
Office Depot shows every selection in the breadcrumbs
History-based breadcrumbs

History-based breadcrumbs do precisely what they say on the tin; they are ordered according to what you have done on the site. Think of these as an alternative to your internet history bar, so you get something like this:Home > Previous page > Previous page > Previous page > Current page. It’s also possible to combine these as Macy’s does in the screenshot below.
Some follow you around
Advantages of using breadcrumbs

There are several advantages to using these helpful little pointers on your site. Let's take a quick look at them:
1. Google loves them

Your visitors like breadcrumbs, but Google does too. They give Google another way of figuring out what your website is about and how it's structured. Google uses them as a way to crawl your content. But, as covered earlier, Google may also use them in the search results, making your results much more enticing to users. To increase the chances of your them appearing in Google, you need to addstructured datalike Yoast SEO. Google Search categorizes information from a web page in search results using proper markup within the page's body.
2. They enhance the user experience

People hate being lost. When confronted with a new location, people often search for recognizable objects or landmarks – the same is true of websites. You need to keep visitors happy and reduce friction as much as possible. Breadcrumbs can help your user experience since they are a common interface element that instantly shows people a way out. You don't need to click the back button!
3. They lower bounce rates

Hardly anyone enters a site via the homepage — It’s all about organic search. That means any part of your site could be an entry point. You must develop a way to guide these visitors to other parts of your site if the selected page doesn't meet their needs. Breadcrumbs can lower bounce rates because you offer visitors an alternative way to browse your site. Don’t you think sending visitors to your homepage is better than returning to Google?
How to add breadcrumbs

There are several ways of adding breadcrumbs to your site. Firstly, if you use WordPress, you can use one of the many plugins or Yoast SEO. If you use a different CMS, the process will be different. It is also possible to add them to your code by hand. If you also want them to appear in Google results, you need to use structured datain a way that Google understands. You can find more information on this inGoogle’s developer documentation. For SEO, Google doesn't care where you add them — as long as you add them if that makes sense. Visitors will prefer them in a logical spot, though.
Yoast SEO has breadcrumb support built-in

Yoast SEO offers an easy way to add breadcrumbs to your WordPress site. It will add everything necessary to prepare them for your site, not just for Google. Some themes come with support for Yoast SEO breadcrumbs baked in. In that case, you only have to activate them and set them up how you like. In case your theme doesn't support our breadcrumbs yet, you need to add the following piece of code to your theme where you want them to appear:
<?php
if ( function_exists('yoast_breadcrumb') ) {
  yoast_breadcrumb( '</p><p id="breadcrumbs">','</p><p>' );
}
?>
This code can often be placed inside the single.php or page.php files just above the page's title. Some themes want it at the end of the header.php file. It'snota good idea to add it to functions.php since this could cause problems.
After adding the code, you can go to the advanced settings of Yoast SEO and switch on breadcrumb support. You can also control how their structure will look and what prefixes will be used. Find out more in ourdocument on implementing breadcrumbs with Yoast SEO.
You can find the settings for breadcrumbs in Yoast SEO > Advanced > Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs with a WordPress block

You can use the Yoast SEO breadcrumb block to add breadcrumbs to individual posts and pages using the block editor. This is helpful if you don't want to touch code or if you only want to add to a specific page. Adding them is incredibly easy — hit the big + icon to add a block. Then, find the Yoast SEO breadcrumbs block by entering the name in the search bar or scrolling down to the Yoast section. Alternatively, you can type /yoast breadcrumbs in an empty paragraph.
A breadcrumb path added via the Yoast SEO breadcrumb block
Conclusion

Despite using breadcrumbs, Hansel and Gretel still got lost in the woods. Don’t let that happen to your visitors! Breadcrumbs provide an easy-to-grasp way for visitors to navigate your site, and they instantly understand how your site structure works. Google loves them for the same reason. So use Yoast SEO to add them to your site easily.