Breadcrumbs Navigation: How to Create an Awesome Site Navigation Bar

Have we all been lost in a theme park? Although we won’t agree to it, there is a tiny bit of frustration. We stare around in despair, and a passer-by points us to a map showing us where we are in the park.

You suddenly know exactly where you are and which entrance and exit you have. Panic ensues! We go woof woof! Breadcrumbs navigation does something similar to site navigation.

The digital experts at the best digital marketing agency in Singapore will explain the types, benefits, and important guidelines for using breadcrumbs.

 

What’s Breadcrumb Navigation?

Breadcrumbs can be used as a secondary navigation tool to help users understand the relationship between their position on a page (such as a product page) or higher-level pages (such as a category page).

This term comes from Hansel and Gretel, where children leave breadcrumbs to track their way back. Breadcrumbs make it easy to find your way back to a page you don’t want or take a few steps back and start again.

Breadcrumbs aren’t a website-only feature. Microsoft introduced Breadcrumbs in Windows Vista, which has been an integral part of every Windows edition.

 

What is the best time to use breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumb navigation is used for large websites or websites with hierarchically organized pages. E-commerce websites are a great option, as many products can be grouped into logical groups.

As one of the best digital marketing agency in Singapore will tell you that one should not use breadcrumbs on single-level websites without logical groupings or hierarchies. However, it is a great way to determine if a website could benefit from breadcrumb navigation.

First, create a map or diagram representing the website’s navigation structure. Then analyze whether breadcrumbs would help the user navigate between and within each category.

Breadcrumb navigation should not be considered a replacement for primary navigation menus. It is a convenient feature, a secondary navigation scheme that allows users to establish their location, and an alternative method to navigate around your website.

 

Types of Breadcrumbs in Website Design

1. Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs

The location-based breadcrumbs allow users to go to a higher category (or page) than the one they are currently on. Imagine someone searching Google for desert shoes. They find a search result and land on one of your product pages.

They are unhappy with what they see and want to look at other options. For example, how can they access the main category page for Men’s shoes or a subcategory page for Men’s Shoes – Desert Shoes?

Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs allow users to easily see the site’s architecture and move to higher levels. Check Best Buy to see how they handle it.

2. History-based breadcrumbs

These buttons serve the same purpose as the browser back button. They allow a user to return to the page they have previously visited. This is useful when the user reaches a product page after applying multiple filters to the category page.

History-based breadcrumbs allow users to quickly jump to the previous page in their journey with all their selections intact. The most common use of history-based breadcrumbs is the linking to ‘Back To Results”.

3. Attribute-Based breadcrumbs

Attribute-based breadcrumbs display the attributes that a user selects on a page. These breadcrumbs can be found on the eCommerce category pages of most eCommerce platforms, where users can choose attributes to filter search results.

 

5 Benefits to Using Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs were initially created as a navigation tool, but they have since been used to improve many aspects of the user experience online.

1. Encourages Browsing, Reduces Bounce

A user will bounce if they reach a product page they don’t like or return to the category page to begin over. Breadcrumbs encourage users not to bounce yet and start over.

A study by Hull S.S. (2004) found that Breadcrumbs users completed tasks faster than those who didn’t use them.

Breadcrumbs are a great way to increase productivity and save time for users who use the internet daily (even intranets such as an organization).

2. Increases the Findability of Your Website

Peter Morville, one of the founders and fathers of Information architecture on the World Wide Web, created the user experience honeycomb, which illustrates seven key facets of great user experiences.

Breadcrumbs improve website findability by allowing users to navigate easily and find what they need.

3. Breadcrumbs Provide SEO Benefits

The SEO company in Singapore will explain the benefits of breadcrumbs in SEO. In the past, Google announced that it would replace the URL in its search results with the site’s name and breadcrumb navigation path.

Google believes that real-world website names will improve usability. The breadcrumb links will also show users where they will be taken when they click the search result.

Webmasters can use the schema markup for Breadcrumbs to communicate with search engines more effectively.

You may utilize breadcrumbs to effectively explain your pages to search engines and provide an extra SEO benefit. You also have more chance of a click-through with breadcrumbs as they act as additional inks in search results.

There’s no reason not to use them, and Breadcrumbs never cause problems in user testing. Breadcrumbs are only 30% of users’ attention. This is a good sign. Breadcrumbs take up very little space, so don’t let that stop you from using them.

Over the years, breadcrumbs have remained relatively consistent in appearance. This long-term familiarity makes breadcrumbs instantly recognizable and, therefore, very useful.

4. Breadcrumbs Reduce Anxiety

Breadcrumbs help users reduce anxiety by showing them all the process steps. For example, there are only a few steps to set up an account with VWO.

Using breadcrumbs, we can tell users how many steps it takes to set up an account on VWO.

Users can also go back to previous steps at any time. This allows the user to see how much time and effort it takes to set up the process.

These visual cues can be a powerful motivator once someone has initiated an attempt.

      5. How to implement breadcrumbs in WordPress

Breadcrumbs can be a very useful navigation tool for users and search engines. They are also easy to add to your website. These are just a few ways to add these features to your website.

•    Use Yoast-SEO: This is the easiest way to add breadcrumbs to Yoast. Log in to follow these steps for breadcrumbs.
•    WordPress plugins: Many plugins allow you to add breadcrumbs to WordPress in just a few steps. Breadcrumb NaviXTis my favourite because it’s easy to use and can generate locational breadcrumbs that you can customize.
•    WooCommerce Breadcrumb Plug: If your eCommerce site uses WooCommerce, their breadcrumbs plug will allow you to modify the WooCommerce breadcrumbs.

Your site builder, or WordPress theme, might include a breadcrumb option.

Some WordPress plugins, such as Ocean WordPress0_, have a breadcrumb option. You will likely have to manually add the code to add breadcrumbs to Wix and Squarespace websites.

 

10 Recommendations for Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are often displayed in a horizontal line that shows the trail from the top-level page (home) to the current page. Here are 10 top practices, some of which Steve Krug (author of ‘Don’t Make Me Think’) recommends.

•     Always display the whole path: Provide context. Good breadcrumbs act as blinkers to keep the user focused on what is important.
•     Start at the Home PageTrails are most effective when showing the entire journey. The homepage acts as an anchor, giving users a sense of direction.
•     Use the ‘>’ separator between levels. It works because it has worked in the past. The ‘>” quickly displays the relationship between pages at higher and lower levels. Jakob Nielsen initially suggested using a colon (:) in the breadcrumb navigation menu. After user testing, he changed his recommendation and now recommends using “>” because it represents the relationship between pages of higher and lower levels.
•     Place the Crumbs at The Top: Navigation bars should be placed at the top of websites. Breadcrumbs are a secondary navigation tool and should be placed above any content. User tests by Nielsen Norman showed that people expect breadcrumbs to be at the top. Therefore, breadcrumbs are best placed below the main navigation bar and above the title of the page.

•     Use some Contrast. The contrast makes breadcrumbs stand out for their important functionality. Contrast is crucial for breadcrumbs’ success because they take up less space and are text-based.
•     Use Small Type: A small font helps to communicate to users the relative importance of breadcrumbs compared to the main navigation bar. It should not be confused with the primary navigation aid.
•     Boldface the Last Page Item: By boldfacing the last page (current page), you give it prominence and tell the user, “This is where you are currently”.
•     Don’t Hyperlink the Last Item. Why would you hyperlink text that leads to the same page? It is confusing for the user.
•     Don’t use Breadcrumbs on the Homepage. The homepage is where users start their journey, so it makes no sense to display breadcrumbs there.
•     Include Full Page Titles in Breadcrumbs– Including page titles in breadcrumbs is a good idea. This will allow users to know where each hyperlink leads to. Some people prefer to use ellipses instead of page titles for long or other reasons. To make room for the most important elements, such as the page titles, it is better to leave out phrases like “You are here.”
•     Page URL Should Reflect Breadcrumb Trail: This page URL provides a view of the site’s architecture. Users might receive inconsistent messages from the Breadcrumbs and URLs if they are not consistent.

Mistakes in Breadcrumb Trail Implementation

Breadcrumb trails are easy to use. However, you should consider a few things before you decide to put them on your website. Let’s look at some common mistakes that the best SEO agency Singapore thinks you should avoid.

•     Breadcrumbs are unnecessary

It is a common error to use breadcrumbs when they don’t have any benefit.

Slicethepie could overwhelm users by offering too many navigation options The (3) secondary navigation options, (1) primary navigation, (2) breadcrumb trails, and (2) breadcrumb navigation are all very close.

Because the secondary navigation for lower-level pages is located below the breadcrumb trail, this application does not offer any additional convenience.

For example, clicking on the second-level link (“Music”) will take you back to the first tab (“Listen”), which incorrectly implies that the tab on the top is higher than the others (“Search” or “Artist hall of fame”).

•     Breadcrumbs are used as secondary navigation

As mentioned earlier, breadcrumbs can also be used as an aid in navigation.

‘The above example shows that Mefeedia doesn’t offer a primary navigation menu to view videos. Although there is text navigation in the footer, there is no navigation menu on the body pages. This makes it difficult to navigate to other areas of the website.

The only navigation option you have if you land on a video page via a Google search is the breadcrumb trails.

If you have already visited a website’s pages and reached a page without the main navigation menu, you can hit the “Back” button in your browser.

•     Breadcrumbs for pages with multiple categories

Breadcrumbs have a linear structure, so using them won’t be easy if your pages cannot be classified into neat categories. Again, how your website hierarchy is designed will determine whether breadcrumbs are appropriate.

Breadcrumbs can confuse the user if a page at lower levels is placed (or can be placed) in more than one parent group.

 

Guidelines for Using Breadcrumbs on Desktop

1. Breadcrumbs shouldn’t replace the global navigation bar or the local navigation within the section.

Breadcrumbs complement other navigational elements, such as a global navigational bar that runs across every page or a local navigational bar usually found on the left-hand side. Breadcrumbs complement but do not replace these main navigational components.

2. Breadcrumbs should show the current position in the site’s hierarchy structure and not the session history.

Breadcrumbs do not show the history pages accessed during a session (a browser’s native Back), but they are meant to display the hierarchical structure. Again, this is something we’ve known for many years.

However, it’s still worth repeating: Trying to show the history of pages accessed during a session on the site (em>a la/em> a browser’s native em>Back/em> button) will quickly lead to confusion and make it difficult for users to find a specific page from an external link.

3. Breadcrumbs should only show one pathway within a site’s polyhierarchy.

Breadcrumbs can cause tension in polyhierarchical pages (where a page has more parents than one). We do not recommend showing multiple breadcrumbs trails, as they can confuse users and take up too much space on the top of the page.

If a page is a parent to multiple pages, you should identify the canonical path that leads to it in the site hierarchy.

The breadcrumb trail should show this path. It would be best if you didn’t try to personalize the breadcrumb trails to reflect each user’s unique path through the site hierarchy.

This will send mixed signals to search engines. You will still need one path to be the primary trail for visitors from an external hyperlink. Add the current page to the breadcrumb trail.

4. The breadcrumb trail should not contain a link to the currently used page.

A link that does not do anything should be avoided. For example, a link should not be placed on the last breadcrumb to the page.

Instead, visually distinguish between the current page (or the previously linked breadcrumb items) to avoid confusion. Preferably, use underlined or blue text.

5. Breadcrumbs should only include site pages and not logical categories.

Every node in the breadcrumb trails should have a link to an ancestral page. The important exception is the link that corresponds to the current page.

These subcategories should not be included in the breadcrumb trails if they don’t have their page in the global navigation.

Users’ ability to click and go is crucial to their understanding of breadcrumbs. Therefore, all items (except the current one) should represent places the user can visit.

6. Breadcrumbs don’t need to be used for sites with flat hierarchies less than 1 or 2 levels deep or sites with a linear structure.

A breadcrumb can guide users through sites with flat hierarchies and only one or two levels of categories. Consider indicating which category or section the page is located within.

7. Breadcrumbs should begin with a link back to the homepage.

It is not advised to duplicate the Home link in the global navigation or breadcrumb trail. However, it is possible to do both.

 

Guidelines for using Breadcrumbs on Mobile by the SEO company in Singapore.

Mobile users can find breadcrumbs too expensive, which can lead to a loss of benefits, as per the experts of the best SEO company.

1. Do not use breadcrumbs that wrap on multiple lines.

Breadcrumbs on mobile websites can quickly wrap around multiple lines and occupy valuable space on a mobile display.

Multiline breadcrumbs cannot clearly show the chain’s structure, especially when certain items take up lines, and other items may have multiple links within a single row.

2. Do not use breadcrumbs that are too small or too crowded together.

Sites that attempt to make breadcrumbs look smaller on the screen use links that are smaller or closer together.

This solution is not possible on touchscreens. Tap targets must be at least 1cm X 1cm.

3. You might consider reducing the breadcrumb trail to include only the final level.

Some pages may only require a breadcrumb that points up to a specific level.

For example, a breadcrumb linking to the parent level of the hierarchy may be helpful for users who arrive at product-detail pages on an eCommerce website.

This avoids the need for a lengthy, cumbersome breadcrumb trail that eats up valuable mobile real estate.

 

Conclusion

As we explained above, there are several benefits to using breadcrumbs. However, the bottom line is that if you have a complex site with a lot of content, you should use breadcrumbs.

Not only does it make your navigation easier and more appealing, but it also helps users know where they are on-site and connects related pages based on their proximity.

Of course, implementing the breadcrumb trail takes some work, but the results are well worth it.

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how they work and when they’re appropriate to use in your design!

If you like to read such a blog, check out our previous blog on article submission: steps for writing and submitting a good SEO article.