SEO Term Definition
Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumb navigation is a secondary navigation scheme showing the user's location in a website hierarchy. It appears in both the page UI and Google search results as SERP breadcrumbs.
Reviewed by Alexander Yarovenko · Updated: 2026-06-25
What is Breadcrumb Navigation?
Breadcrumb navigation is a trail of links showing the path from the homepage to the current page — like: Home > Blog > SEO > Title Tags. It helps users understand where they are in the site hierarchy and quickly navigate to parent sections.
Breadcrumbs in Google Search Results
Google displays breadcrumb trails in search result snippets instead of (or alongside) the URL. A clear breadcrumb signals content hierarchy to Google and can improve the appearance of your listing, potentially increasing CTR.
Implementing Breadcrumbs for SEO
- Use HTML breadcrumb navigation with actual links (not just text)
- Add BreadcrumbList schema markup (JSON-LD) to help Google understand the hierarchy
- Keep breadcrumbs consistent with the URL structure
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement": [
{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://example.com"},
{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "SEO Blog", "item": "https://example.com/blog"},
{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Title Tags"}
]
}
</script>