Google Eats Drupal Breadcrumbs, Passes on Pie

When you use Google to search there is a green web address, or URL, at the bottom of each result so that you know where you are headed. Last week, Google rolled out a new feature that replaces the URL in search results with a site hierarchy, showing the precise location of the page on the website. The new feature: site hierarchy, or site navigation “breadcrumbs” gives a lot more information then the URL paths that were displayed before the update.

This is exciting news for Drupal-powered websites. Drupal generates breadcrumbs right out of the box and displays them in the default templates. Google now recognizes these navigational links and uses them in the SERPs. If you are using Drupal breadcrumbs in your template, you are essentially getting a helping hand from Google immediately.

Drupal’s Breadcrumb Modules

Drupal offers some additional modules you can use that will further customize your breadcrumbs. Click below to go to their respective homepages.

• Taxonomy Breadcrumb
• Custom Breadcrumbs
• Menu Breadcrumb
• Node Breadcrumb

Breadcrumbs are very functional, and that fact is not lost on Drupal developers. Even though breadcrumbs are not necessary for every website, Google’s new feature will help reinvigorate the popularity and usefulness of breadcrumbs in SEO, as well as help solidify Drupal’s footing at the top of the open-source CMS hill.