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Google added breadcrumb trails into Search results back in 2009.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/ ... earch.html

Below is an example of a breadcrumb trail in Google Search Results

breadcrumb.JPG (8.95 KiB) Viewed 6019 times

The URLs displayed as breadcrumbs in Google search results appear to be occurring mainly from long tail search queries.

For eg :

breadcrumb1.gif (30.66 KiB) Viewed 6018 times

So how does this help improve SEO ?

-> It informs search engines what the pages on the site are about. They achieve this through the internal links within the breadcrumb trail.
-> Reduces inaccurate page views - Visitors usually click at the browser back button for going back to the previous pages. Lets assume that a user is viewing fourth page of a site. Now, he wants to go back to the first page. If he has to use the back option for landing at the main page, he will have to click the button at least thrice. This involves wastage of time.

If you use breadcrumbs, on the other hand, the user can directly click at the desired page. This in turn, saves time.

This is very interesting indeed. I would be interested in getting some opinions from our SEO team on the importance of this!

It increases your search engine rankings. When you see breadcrumb trails indexed in Search Engine Results its a sign that search engines are able to crawl deeper into your inner webpages and that your website has a good site architecture.

Heres another sign in Google search engine results that indicate you have a good site architecture

Its called the "Jump to " Navigation links.

google-serps-anatomy-19.jpg (54.52 KiB) Viewed 5964 times

Yes, breadcrumb navigation is important and best practice and we're pushing to ensure that this is present on all of the sites we work with. It has numerous benefits:

- Provides clear navigation for users.
- Helps search engines to understand the site's structure, especially the breadcrumbs and structure match.
- Ensures that keyword hierarchy is present on every page.
- Can influence which sitelinks are populated by Google.

Thanks for the post, Huzaifa!

That last point you mentioned -> "it can influence sitelinks" is well noted. Thanx Chris

I am not really familiar with breadcrumbs and its relation to SEO. I’m a newbie when it come to optimizing a website that’s why I am looking for tips to help me enhance my skills.

Thanks for reading the post mathew i hope the above examples did provide you few tips on how breadcrumbs can help improve SEO.

Revisiting the topic -> Breadcrumbs is a Navigational technique displaying all visited pages leading from the home page to the currently viewed page. All pages are linked for easy backwards navigation. Typically placed near the top of a web page.

Example :

Have a look at the breadcrumbs (highlighted below) at this page from techwyse website at

breadcrumbs.JPG (13.21 KiB) Viewed 5886 times

Visitors usually click at the browser back button for going back to the previous pages. Lets assume that a user is viewing the above page of a site. Now, he wants to go back to the first page,he has to use the back option for landing at the main page, he will have to click the button at least thrice. This involves wastage of time.