While the traditional breadcrumbs are nothing but annoying, the term “breadcrumbs” in technology has a different reputation. For those who are unfamiliar, breadcrumbs are little words and phrases that some websites place at the top of a webpage to help the user follow where they are in the website. They work as little navigation tools to help someone stay organized when working through a website with many different webpages. Consider the example below:
In general, only major companies use breadcrumbs because they seem so sophisticated. After all, a small business website can’t be that hard to navigate, right? Wrong. If you have more than one webpage, utilizing breadcrumbs has many benefits.
Top 5 Reasons Your Webpage Should Be Using Breadcrumbs
1. Easier Usage – Visitors will likely have a much better experience on your website if they can get around easily. Sometimes users can get frustrated jumping from page to page because they get lost, but breadcrumbs help solve this problem.
2. SEO Purposes – Breadcrumbs can actually help the SEO rankings of a website. If a breadcrumb is a keyword you happen to be targeting, you’re in good shape. However, it is important to remember that breadcrumbs first job is navigation and second job is SEO.
3. Faster – User experience is improved not only because breadcrumbs help to keep their visits organized, but because breadcrumbs help the entire experience move faster. Instead of having to click back, then back again, then back one more time, a user can just click the breadcrumb.
4. Site Stickiness – People are far more likely to stay on your website longer if you have breadcrumbs because there is less frustration. If someone leaves a webpage, they know how to get back to that page. Without breadcrumbs, visitors can sometimes lose a page that interested them, which leads them to forget the webpage all together. Think of it like a business proposal—I’ll make it easier, faster, and less frustrating for you to visit my website, and all you have to do is look around.
5. Simple and Compact – Breadcrumbs take up virtually no room on a webpage. In other words, they will improve your site without sacrificing anything. Some even say that breadcrumbs help the overall design of the website.
How to Set Up Breadcrumbs
If you’re convinced that breadcrumbs can help the navigation on your website, it’s time to set them up. The example shown above is actually introducing one of the easiest ways to enable breadcrumbs—Joomla. Consider watching this four minute YouTube video for step by step instructions. I think you will find that these breadcrumbs will be worth your while (unlike the ones sitting on your kitchen floor).
Photo Credit: dhtml-menu-builder.com
About the author: Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to workers compensation insurance. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including document software to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.