Compare breadcrumb navigation and structured data

Breadcrumbs describe the classification of a page

A breadcrumb navigation helps to understand a product page, category or guide within the website. The visible path and the structured data should convey this classification in a comprehensible manner. The checker searches for designated navigation areas and compares them with the existing schema paths.

Control positions and destination addresses

ListItem entries require meaningful names and unique positions from 1 onwards; item may be missing for the last entry; this permitted exception is not reported as an error. Also, the start page does not necessarily have to be part of every breadcrumb path. When the HTTP check is activated, the tool examines up to eight destination addresses.

Multiple paths are possible

A product can belong to different categories. Accordingly, several BreadcrumbLists can be correct. The checker assigns visible and structured paths in the best possible way based on matching names and URLs. A deviation is a cause for verification, not automatic proof of incorrect navigation. The hierarchy also does not have to copy the directory structure of the URL.

Example after a category renaming

In the visible path is already “hiking shoes”, the JSON-LD still calls “outdoor” and links to a distant category. Update the common data source of the template. Notes on the required markup are provided by Google Breadcrumb documentation. A valid markup does not guarantee a specific representation in search results.

Frequent questions