How to Add Breadcrumbs in WordPress: Detailed Guide

 
Adding breadcrumbs in WordPress improves the user experience. It is an effective way to provide useful navigation options on the site and it is beneficial for SEO.
If you're new to breadcrumbs, let's start by explaining what it really is.

Summary

• What is the breadcrumb trail in WordPress?
• How to display the WordPress breadcrumb on your website?
• Conclusion

What is the breadcrumb trail in WordPress?

The breadcrumb trail is a navigation that makes your website more accessible. The navigation bars that most users come across are based on the use of breadcrumbs.

It is much more than navigation. The breadcrumb trail marks the progression of the page through which users arrive at their current page. They are therefore very practical for going back or consulting previously visited pages.

Google also displays a breadcrumb trail under the meta title in search results. Some say breadcrumbs have a positive impact on rankings .

Of course, SEO and user experience both benefit from a breadcrumb-enabled website.

Let’s see how you can add breadcrumbs to your WordPress site.

How to display the WordPress breadcrumb on your website?

In this tutorial, we will introduce two methods that you can use to include a breadcrumb trail to your WordPress site. The first is the Breadcrumb NavXT plugin, and the second is the Yoast SEO plugin. Let’s see each of these methods.

Using the Breadcrumb NavXT Extension

The Breadcrumb NavXT extension can be installed easily by accessing it through the WordPress repository. Search for Breadcrumb NavXT, and you’ll find the right plugin. Download it, install it and activate it.

Activate the Breadcrumb NavXT plugin, through a widget. To do this, go to the Appearances tab and open Widgets . Simply drag the NavXT widget to the area of ​​the web page where you want it to appear.

If you want a more technical solution or if you want to add a breadcrumb trail directly to your theme, you will need to add the following code to the header.php file :

<div class = “breadcrumbs” typeof = “BreadcrumbList” vocab = “https://schema.org/”>
<? php
if (function_exists (‘bcn_display’))
{
bcn_display ();
}?>
</div>

When finished, you can use this extension to display the breadcrumb trail anywhere you want. For more configurations, go to the settings page.

From there, you can edit breadcrumbs like taxonomies to make your website look unique. You can also style the breadcrumb trail by addressing it as a special class in your CSS3 sheet.

Using Yoast SEO to add breadcrumbs on WordPress

Adding the Yoast SEO plugin is almost identical to adding the previous one. Download and install the Yoast SEO extension .

After installation, add a code snippet to your WordPress child theme. The code snippet below can be added to any template you are using. However, the recommended places are single.php , page.php , or header.php .

These three places ensure that the breadcrumb trail is included in every post, every page and throughout the website. Here’s a code snippet:

<? php
if (function_exists (‘yoast_breadcrumb’)) {
yoast_breadcrumb (‘<p id = “breadcrumbs”>’, ‘</p>’);
}
?>

Once you’ve added the code, you activate the breadcrumbs settings in Yoast SEO -> Search Appearance -> Breadcrumbs .

Conclusion

Breadcrumbs can be a useful addition to your website, both for SEO and for improving user experience. It helps maintain a solid structure for rolling back and gives users better accessibility options.

Breadcrumbs NavXT and Yoast SEO – are the best options for adding breadcrumbs to a WordPress site.

Although adding the widget directly is simpler, it may not provide access to all the customization options available. Using code entries to do this will allow you to get the most out of breadcrumbs. Moreover, thanks to this, your website will stand out from the competition.

Overall, breadcrumbs are a great addition to any WordPress site and will add a small but significant functionality to your site. Try it out now!