Breadcrumb
A breadcrumb is a navigation trail that shows where the current page sits within a website's hierarchy.
It usually appears as a sequence of links moving from broader sections toward the current page.
What It Looks Like
A breadcrumb might appear as:
Resources → Glossary → Website Architecture → Breadcrumb
Each earlier item provides a path back to a broader level of the site hierarchy.
How It Works
Breadcrumbs usually reflect structural parent-child relationships.
They are especially useful on websites with:
- Multiple levels of content
- Large catalogues
- Documentation
- Glossaries
- Ecommerce categories
- Resource libraries
A breadcrumb is supplementary navigation rather than a replacement for the main menu.
Why It Matters
Breadcrumbs help people understand where they are in a larger structure.
They can make deep websites easier to explore without forcing someone to repeatedly return to the main navigation.
Breadcrumbs can also be represented with structured data so search engines can better understand the page hierarchy.
Common Problems
Common breadcrumb problems include:
- Trails that do not reflect the actual hierarchy
- Including unrelated categories because they contain the same page
- Making the current page a confusing extra link
- Using breadcrumbs on shallow sites where they add no value
- Treating browser history as the breadcrumb structure
- Inconsistent labels between breadcrumbs and navigation
How to Improve
Build breadcrumbs from the site's actual information architecture.
Use the same labels people encounter elsewhere and make each earlier level useful as a destination.