Breadcrumbs for SEO

Crumbs on your website?

The term 'breadcrumbs' does not refer to the breadcrumbs that you find on your plate after breakfast. In this case, the term refers to 'the navigation path that your visitors take on your website'. Breadcrumbs let your visitors know where they are on your website and how they got there. The concept comes from the story of Hansel and Gretel, where the duo scattered breadcrumbs to find their way back. In the context of marketing, this is about the path from one page to another, the path from category to category.

A clear website

A good website is clearly structured. It is very frustrating for users when they end up on a website and cannot locate themselves. They may be looking for a specific category and can't find it. Therefore, think about a logical structure and try to visualize that structure. Put yourself in the shoes of a user who comes to your website for the first time: is it clear how to navigate, for example to get to the sales page?

Breadcrumbs for your customers

There are various options to help your customers locate themselves. One of the most common is to show the 'path' the user followed at the top of your website.

example: Website (homepage) -> Website building -> SEO

Another way is to bold the words of the page your user is on in your navigation bar. Additionally, you can provide a transparent URL, in which you reflect the structure of the page.

example: www.website.nl/Website-building/SEO.

It is possible to combine different methods, as long as clarity for the user is paramount.

Breadcrumbs for SEO

Breadcrumbs are important for visitors to your website, but also for search engines. A clear structure with clear tags helps you to rank higher in search results. Giving clear titles to your pages and linking the pages to each other are very important here.

Breadcrumbs link multiple pages to each other, causing visitors to click on your homepage or other pages more often. Search engines then register an increased number of clicks, causing you to rise in the ranking.

Pitfalls of breadcrumbs

Using breadcrumbs for SEO optimization is important, but there are also a number of pitfalls. For example, if you accidentally use incomplete breadcrumbs, your page will become illogical. Both your visitors and Google will stumble over this.

In addition, it is tempting to think that you will have to refer to the different pages countless times. However, it is better to put that out of your mind. One clear reference is more valuable than ten different ones scattered across your page. The latter causes confusion.

Finally, you may be inclined to refer to your homepage by the name "homepage" or "home." However, it is better to use the name of your website as a reference.

Conclusion: breadcrumbs for a higher ranking

It is important to build your website clearly from the start. Make sure your pages are logically connected and visualize the different levels for your visitors. Visualize the path they take to navigate from page to page. Do this using breadcrumbs, so that visitors and search engines can quickly search through your website. More visitors leads to a higher ranking, and a higher ranking leads to more visitors. Breadcrumbs have a positive effect on both.

Tip:: also read our article about it link juice