When browsing the web, especially when shopping for products online, it’s common to encounter websites with tons and tons of pages. Once you’ve gone a certain depth into these sites, it can be difficult to find your way back the way you came. Unlike real life breadcrumbs, website breadcrumbs aren’t a mess to be cleared away. In fact, they help make sites less messy and easier to navigate for visitors.
In this blog, we’ll be defining what website breadcrumbs are, how they work, and why you would want them.
Breadcrumbs – navigational aids
A website breadcrumb serves as a text path that detail the journey a user has taken to reach their current location. This will therefore include other areas of the website, with each being separated by an arrow or similar symbol. They are typically found at the top of a web page, below any set menus or buttons.
Breadcrumbs on a website allow visitors to click on any previous ‘crumb’ in the trail, whereby they can travel back to that page. This trail can also be seen in search engine page results, so users are aware if a link leads to a page that’s part of a category or subcategory. Breadcrumbs are also common in data storage systems, so users can more easily locate documents and files.
Types of website breadcrumbs
While all website breadcrumbs serve the purpose of aiding in navigation, there are variations depending on what’s featured in each crumb. This takes into account the fact that users can reach certain web pages in a variety of ways. As a result, some breadcrumb types are better suited to some sites than others. The best website design services will include advice on using the right type of website breadcrumbs.
Attribute based
This type of breadcrumb creates highly variable trails based on the filters applied to a web page. As the user is responsible for selecting these attributes, the breadcrumbs can often feature multiple indicators in one page location. For example, an online clothing shop might have product page filters for size, colour, brand, type of clothing, and more. Attribute based breadcrumbs are most commonly used on ecommerce websites, as users are given the option of narrowing their search to find the products they want. Here, the breadcrumbs act as a comparison tool when users are viewing products that share a common attribute.
Hierarchy based
Also called location-based breadcrumbs, these website breadcrumbs are some of the most commonly found. It shows the user their current location, as well as where it sits in relation to the overall website structure. As such, a hierarchy breadcrumb lists the pages that have come before the one that’s currently being viewed.
Each successive page travelling right to left therefore contains more broad information. For instance, the journey could consist of ‘homepage’ > ‘jumpers’ > ‘winter collection’ > ‘Blue’, with the last crumb being highlighted to indicate it’s the current location of the user. This trail is based on the hierarchy built into the website as opposed to the users’ actions. After all, they may have arrived at a page directly from Google.
History based
History based breadcrumbs recount the exact path a user has taken to reach a web page. It serves the same function as the back button on the web browser, allowing users to return to the website pages they’ve visited previously. These breadcrumbs can be displayed in a few ways. Either as a full horizontal list of past pages, the current and previous pages joined with an arrow, or simply as a back button within the page itself.
Again, history breadcrumbs find regular use on ecommerce websites. This is because they can be particularly useful for visitors that have applied lots of filters during their product search. A history breadcrumb lets potential customers click onto individual product pages without losing the attributes they entered to find them.
Why having breadcrumbs on a website is important
Firstly, breadcrumbs aren’t a necessary addition to all websites. They will only yield the greatest benefits in sites with a complex and deep architecture. For example, ones with large menus that lead to a variety of categories and subcategories. This will typically be the case on ecommerce websites, where different products are grouped together to appear on certain pages. In these cases, website breadcrumbs can lead to the following benefits.
User experience
One of the most important aspects of any successful website is the user experience (UX) it offers. A significant part of this website navigation, including quick loading speeds, clear signposts, and visible breadcrumbs. People want to be able to find relevant information quickly. Breadcrumbs add to UX by offering interface elements that allow users to go back to important pages with minimal clicks.
SEO
Breadcrumbs add additional internal links to a website. While these help in visitor navigation, it also improves website crawlability. This boosts visibility in search engine results pages as breadcrumbs inform web crawlers about how your site is structured.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, breadcrumbs appear in Google search results. They can therefore be instrumental in providing consumers with information on what products and services are featured on your website. As a result, it’s recommended that businesses ensure that their breadcrumbs line up with page titles.
Lower bounce rates
Using breadcrumbs to enhance website navigation can be significant in reducing bounce rates. This is the number of people who move away from a website after viewing just a single page. The reason is because users are encouraged to browse the site due to the prospect of straightforward navigation.
Most consumers use search engines to research products and services. As such, they may land directly on a product page without seeing other parts of the website first. In these cases, a clear and helpful breadcrumb trail can incentivise consumers to explore the site further if one product doesn’t quite meet their needs.
Expert web design SEO services
At Deliver Media, we do things slightly differently to other agencies. We offer bespoke website development and design services that create unique websites from the ground up. In our experience, this produces the best SEO results. Our expert coders guarantee you’ll get a website with the primary goal of ranking highly and being easy to use for potential customers.
That being said, as a full-service digital marketing agency we have a wide range of services available to help your business grow online. Contact us today and get an hour of our time for free in the form of a website audit.