A readable path instead of a URL
This is the whole benefit, and it is a real one. Breadcrumbs are among the rich results Google still shows consistently, and they replace the least readable line in a search listing with the most readable.
They also tell a crawler how your site is organised, which helps it understand which pages are sections and which are leaves.
Order and structure
- First item: the top of the path, usually the home page
- Each item: a name and the URL it links to
- Last item: the current page, name only
Positions are numbered from one and must be sequential. The generator handles that; hand-edited blocks frequently do not.
Match the visible trail
If the page shows Home › Tools › Image, the markup should say the same. A
mismatch is not a small inconsistency — structured data that contradicts the
page is the category of error that draws manual review.
The simplest way to keep them aligned is to render both from the same data, the way this site does.
Questions
What does this change in the search result?+
The line under the title. Instead of `example.com › products › 4821 › detail?id=…` a result shows `Home › Tools › Image Compressor`. It is one of the few rich results still shown widely, and it makes a listing noticeably easier to read.
Do I need visible breadcrumbs on the page too?+
Yes. The markup describes the navigation; it does not create it. Marking up a path that does not exist on the page is the same visibility violation as any other invented structured data.
Should the current page be the last item?+
Yes, and it does not need a URL. The last item names where you are; the ones before it link to where you came from.
What if a page sits in several categories?+
Pick one path — the one that matches how the page is actually reached most often. Multiple BreadcrumbList blocks are permitted, but a single clear path is easier for both a reader and a crawler than two competing ones.