How to add breadcrumb navigation
Breadcrumbs show where a page sits in the site and can appear in search results. Mark them up with BreadcrumbList structured data.
Step by step, with screenshots: BreadcrumbList schema: the trail Google shows instead of your URL →
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What it is
Breadcrumbs are a short trail of links that shows where a page sits in your site, such as Home › Shoes › Running shoes, usually placed above the page heading. Each step links to its parent page, so visitors can move up a level in one click.
They are most useful on shops and sites more than two levels deep. Google can show the trail instead of the raw URL in desktop results when the page has BreadcrumbList structured data; since January 2025 mobile results show only the site name. Breadcrumbs also add internal links to category pages on every product page.
OK looks like this: a visible trail inside <nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">, matching BreadcrumbList structured data, and the current page as the last, unlinked item. getReport reports when a page has no breadcrumb navigation.
What a passing site looks like
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Questions people ask
What is breadcrumb navigation?
Breadcrumb navigation is a secondary navigation aid that shows the path from the home page to the current page, as a row of links separated by › or /. It helps visitors understand where they are and move back to broader sections without using the back button or the main menu.
Are breadcrumbs good for SEO?
Yes, modestly. They add internal links to parent and category pages, help search engines understand the site's hierarchy, and with BreadcrumbList structured data can replace the URL in desktop search results with a readable path. They do not boost rankings on their own; their value is structure and clicks.
What is an example of breadcrumb navigation?
On a shop, a product page might show Home › Men › Shoes › Trail runner, where Home, Men and Shoes are links and Trail runner is the current page in plain text. On a blog, Home › Guides › SEO › Page titles plays the same role. Keep each label short and the same as the page it links to.
How do you add breadcrumbs in WordPress?
Most SEO plugins include them: in Yoast SEO enable breadcrumbs under Settings and place the block or shortcode in your theme, and Rank Math has a similar option. Many themes and WooCommerce also print breadcrumbs. Use one source only, so the page does not show two trails or output duplicate structured data.