SEO Tips: How to Use Breadcrumbs to Improve Your website Rankings

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Breadcrumbs, including what they are, how to add them to your WordPress theme, and how to configure them with popular SEO plugins. We’ll also explore alternative solutions, discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using Breadcrumbs, and provide best practices for implementing them on your website.

What are Breadcrumbs in WordPress?

Breadcrumbs, also known as breadcrumb trails, are a type of navigation tool that allows users to easily track their location within a website. They are typically represented as a series of links, with the current page being the last link in the trail.

In WordPress, Breadcrumbs can be added to a theme through code or by using a plugin. They are typically displayed above or below the main content of a page, and show the hierarchy of pages or categories that lead to the current page.

For example, if a user is on a page for a specific product, the Breadcrumbs might show:

Home > Shop > Clothing > T-Shirts > [Product Name]

. This helps users understand their location on the website and easily navigate to higher-level pages.

Benefits of Using Breadcrumbs for SEO

Breadcrumbs not only provide a better user experience for website visitors, but they can also have a positive impact on your search engine rankings. Here are some of the benefits of using Breadcrumbs for SEO:

• Improved user experience: Breadcrumbs help users understand the structure of your website and easily navigate to higher-level pages, which can lead to increased engagement and lower bounce rates.
• Increased crawlability: Search engines use Breadcrumbs to understand the hierarchy of your website’s pages and categories, which can lead to more pages being indexed and better visibility in search results.
• Keyword relevance: By including keywords in your Breadcrumb labels, you can signal to search engines the relevance of a page for those keywords, which can help improve your rankings for those terms.

It’s important to note that while Breadcrumbs can help improve your search engine rankings, they should be used in conjunction with other SEO best practices, such as keyword research and on-page optimization. Breadcrumbs are one of the many elements that search engines take into consideration when determining rankings, and therefore it is important to have a well-rounded SEO strategy.

 

How to Add Breadcrumbs to a WordPress

There are several ways to add Breadcrumbs to a WordPress theme, including by using code, a plugin, or a shortcode.

• To add Breadcrumbs using code, you will need to edit your theme’s template files and insert the necessary code to display the Breadcrumbs. This method requires some knowledge of PHP and WordPress theme development.
• An alternative option is to use a plugin. There are several popular Breadcrumb plugins available for WordPress, such as Breadcrumb NavXT and Yoast SEO, which allow you to easily add Breadcrumbs to your theme without needing to edit any code.
• Another way to add Breadcrumbs is by using a shortcode. Some Breadcrumb plugins, or even some themes, provide a shortcode that can be added to any page or post. This is useful if you are using a page builder and want to add Breadcrumbs to specific elements on your website.

How to Configure Breadcrumbs in the Yoast SEO Plugin

If you’re using the popular Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress, you can easily add Breadcrumbs to your website without the need for additional code or a separate plugin. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to configure Breadcrumbs in the Yoast SEO plugin:

1. In the WordPress dashboard, go to the Yoast SEO plugin settings page.
2. Click on the “Search Appearance” tab.
3. Under the “Breadcrumbs” section, toggle the switch to “Enabled.”
4. You can also adjust the settings for the separator, which is the symbol that separates the links in the Breadcrumb trail, and the homepage, which is the first link in the trail.
5. Click on “Save Changes” to apply the settings.

Once you’ve completed these steps, Breadcrumbs will be enabled on your website and will be automatically displayed in the appropriate location, such as above or below the main content of a page. You can also further customize the display of Breadcrumbs by editing the code of your theme, but this is not necessary if you’re satisfied with the default display.

 

In addition to configuring Breadcrumbs through the Yoast SEO plugin settings, you can also use a shortcode to add Breadcrumbs to specific pages or posts. A shortcode is a simple code that you can insert into the content editor of a page or post to display a specific element, in this case, the Breadcrumbs.

The shortcode for Yoast SEO Breadcrumbs is: 

.  You can insert this shortcode into the content editor of a page or post where you want the Breadcrumbs to be displayed.

For example: if you want to display Breadcrumbs on a page with the title “About Us,” you would go to the editing screen for that page, and place the shortcode

in the content editor, where you want Breadcrumbs to appear. Once you save and publish the page, the Breadcrumbs will be displayed on the “About Us” page.

If you’re looking for more information  we recommend checking out the guide from Yoast SEO here. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to add and configure Breadcrumbs on your website using the Yoast SEO plugin.

 

Thank you for reading our article on WordPress Breadcrumbs and SEO. We hope it has provided valuable information on how to optimize your website’s navigation and improve your search engine rankings.