Definition
Breadcrumb navigation is a type of website navigation that offers users a way to trace the path back from their current location in a website to the home page. It typically appears at the top of a page and provides a trail for the user to follow back to the starting or entry point of a website and is named after the trail of breadcrumbs left by Hansel and Gretel in the popular fairy tale.
Structure and Types
Breadcrumbs are usually displayed as a horizontal list of links, separated by a character such as a greater-than sign ( > ), an arrow, or a slash ( / ). There are three main types of breadcrumb navigation:
- Location-Based Breadcrumbs: These indicate where the page is located in the site hierarchy. They reflect the structure of the website.
- Path-Based Breadcrumbs: Also known as history-based breadcrumbs, they show the pages the user has visited to get to the current page. This type is less common due to the similar functionality provided by browser history.
- Attribute-Based Breadcrumbs: Commonly used on e-commerce or search-based sites, they display the attributes or categories related to the current page, such as product features or categories.
Purpose and Benefits
The primary purposes of breadcrumb navigation are to:
- Improve User Experience: Breadcrumbs provide a secondary navigation scheme that allows users to understand the layout of the site and navigate it more effectively.
- Reduce Clicks: They enable users to return to higher-level categories or pages without having to use the browser's back button or start from the home page.
- Enhance Findability: Breadcrumbs can help users locate themselves on a site, especially if they arrive from an external link or a search engine.
- Save Space: Breadcrumbs use minimal screen space while still providing navigational value.
- SEO Benefits: They can contribute to SEO by providing internal links back to parent pages and helping search engines understand the structure of the site.
Conclusion
Breadcrumb navigation is a user-friendly website feature that helps users understand and navigate the structure of a site. It enhances the user experience, improves website findability, and can contribute to better SEO. Properly implemented breadcrumbs are a subtle yet powerful tool for guiding users through a website, making them a best practice in modern web design.
