Navigation is one of the most important element of an effective web design. Good navigation can lead to increased user engagement and reduced bounce rates for your website.
Navigation is analogous to an index of a book, imagine a book with 500 pages, you need to look for a certain topic and you find that the index is so cluttered that you cannot locate the topic you want to read. Your site is just like a book for a visitor and navigation is its index. When a user comes to your site, he/she is looking for some information i.e. they have a goal or a need and if you don’t serve that need quickly, most likely the user will bounce off.
Though navigation in itself is a huge topic, one of the most important element of Navigation is “Breadcrumbs”. Breadcrumbs are particularly more important for Blogs which have a higher bounce rate and average pageviews per visitor close to 1
So, What do you mean by a Breadcrumb?
A Breadcrumb is a secondary navigation that enhances user experience on the site. It is a small navigation generally below the main menu/navigation or above the page heading, indicating your current location.
Check out this example: CSS-Tricks.com
In this example breadcrumb is under the heading CSS almanac (in blue).
Breadcrumbs is also like a history for the user, it indicates we went to “CSS Almanac” from “Home” and thereafter to “Selectors” and then to “D”. It helps users to navigate easily to higher level pages with fewer number of clicks.
Do you know from where does the name “Breadcrumb” came?
The name actually came from a fairy tale of two siblings, Hensel and Gretel. While walking in the woods they dropped breadcrumbs, so that they can return home safely. That was how it was named.
Why should you use Breadcrumbs?
1. Ease of Navigation.
2. Reduced bounce rate.
3. Increased time on site.
4. Enhances usability.
5. Increased internal linking and as a result search engine visibility.
6. One click access to higher level pages.
If you don’t have breadcrumbs implemented on your site, you should plan to implement it asap. It will improve your site’s usability, decrease bounce rate, and most importantly enhances user experience.
If you’re are WordPress user finding a plugin for your site is easy, Yoast has created an awesome plugin for breadcrumbs you can download it form below link.
Yoast Breadcrumb Plugin for WordPress
Breadcrumbs are important for SEO purpose, google search engine loves it very much , because it improves the user experience.
Breadcrumb its a most important part of the SEO because Google search engine consider as impressive site which done breadcrumb.
2 of my websites are ranked on Google first page because I’ve used Breadcrumb on them. Its not compulsory to use on every website. Where you feel the necessity, use there.
It is important for SEO. Breadcrumbs can also reduce your bounce rate .They also provide access to all pages, and that’s something all search engines prefer.
it helps to the users wile landing in any page.
A “breadcrumb” (or “breadcrumb trail”) is a type of secondary navigation scheme that reveals the user’s location in a website or Web application. hahaha easy to remember.
it is good for the users who can understand form where he/she visited on the website and now where he/she stands.
Nice post
Interesting one!
Hi, Great post! I appreciate your efforts. You content is very easy to understand. Keep it up the great work. I want to add that use breadcrumbs when designing websites that are three or more levels deep. What do you say?