| Search engine giant Google has recently introduced a | | | | So now instead of just one link, Google includes three |
| new update to its search engine results pages | | | | or more links to different parts of a website. |
| (SERPs) that's causing quite a stir, affectionately | | | | Why Is This Good For Website Owners? |
| called "Google breadcrumbs!" | | | | Listings that include the breadcrumb navigation |
| What are Google Breadcrumbs? | | | | benefit site owners by increasing the number of |
| Breadcrumb navigation is often used on websites to | | | | opportunities for searchers to click. These additional |
| help visitors know where they are in the overall site | | | | links give greater choice to the searcher and eases |
| structure. For example, a single page on a recipe site | | | | their navigation through the site they click to. |
| might the navigation showing "Homepage > Baking | | | | Ease of navigation creates a positive experience and |
| Recipes > Chocolate Cake" to show that the | | | | when visitors have a positive experience on a |
| visitor is on a page for a chocolate cake recipe, | | | | website, their trust in the website owner increases. |
| within the baking category. | | | | This is particularly important for e-commerce |
| The different parts of the breadcrumb navigation are | | | | websites, where breadcrumb navigation is also |
| often clickable, allowing the visitor to quickly visit the | | | | particularly useful. |
| different areas of the site. In the above example, | | | | Additionally, a shopper may search for a particular |
| clicking "Baking Recipes" would take the visitor to a | | | | product name and be shown breadcrumb navigation |
| category page displaying all the baking recipes. | | | | that allows them to view the product's category, |
| The breadcrumbs are the arrows (>) between | | | | which shows other similar products. One of these |
| the sections. | | | | products might be more suitable for the shopper, |
| Why Are They Called Breadcrumbs? | | | | causing them to buy when they wouldn't have if |
| The name comes from the concept that this kind of | | | | they had just landed on the original product page. |
| navigation shows the visitor's "trail" through the site. | | | | How To Get Google To Include Breadcrumbs In Your |
| Leaving a trail of breadcrumbs is a reference to the | | | | Listings |
| classic Brothers Grimm fairytale Hansel and Gretel. | | | | You might wonder where Google gets its data for |
| How To Spot The New Navigation on Google Search | | | | the breadcrumb navigation on its search engine |
| Results | | | | results pages. It's just a case of it recognizing |
| The new breadcrumb navigation can be spotted on | | | | standard breadcrumb navigation on your website. |
| the last line of each search result (where it is | | | | Standard breadcrumb navigation is in this format: |
| included) in small green text. This is the line that | | | | Homepage > Category Page > Individual Page |
| normally displays the URL of the page that the | | | | You can add additional categories (or "steps") if |
| search result links to. | | | | required. |
| The breadcrumb navigation can be identified by the | | | | If you use WordPress, a good plugin for automatically |
| presence of breadcrumb arrows (>) in the green | | | | adding the correctly-formatted navigation to your |
| text. Instead of just displaying the URL, Google now | | | | blog is Breadcrumb NavXT, which can be downloaded |
| displays the breadcrumb navigation in this format: | | | | from |
| Homepage > Category > Page | | | | If your site is hand-coded or uses another platform, |
| Each of these words (in the above case "homepage," | | | | all you need to do is ensure your breadcrumb |
| "category" and "page") link to their respective parts | | | | navigation is in the standard format above and in a |
| of the site. The main link in the listing will still click | | | | consistent place on all pages on your site. |
| through in the same way as before. | | | | |