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craig 6eff12e8ac Initial commit — SEO Guidelines & SmartCrawl reference

SmartCrawl plugin reference (11 docs):
- Overview, configuration, titles & meta, schema, sitemaps,
  social/OG, redirects, breadcrumbs, content analysis,
  hooks/filters, known issues

SEO strategy playbook (6 docs):
- Keyword research, per-page-type selection, on-page optimization,
  local SEO, technical SEO, content strategy

Reusable templates (3):
- Site audit checklist, keyword research worksheet,
  page optimization checklist

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-04-17 13:32:17 -05:00

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Breadcrumbs

SmartCrawl provides breadcrumb navigation with built-in Schema.org BreadcrumbList markup. Breadcrumbs improve both UX (users can navigate up the site hierarchy) and SEO (Google displays breadcrumb trails in search results).

Enabling Breadcrumbs

Go to SmartCrawl > Advanced Tools > Breadcrumbs
Toggle the module ON
Configure separator and display options
Add the breadcrumb output to your theme

Adding Breadcrumbs to Your Theme

Method 1: Shortcode

[smartcrawl_breadcrumbs]

Place this in any post, page, widget, or theme template.

Method 2: Shortcode with Custom Wrapper

[smartcrawl_breadcrumbs before="<nav aria-label='Breadcrumb'>" after="</nav>"]

The before and after parameters wrap the breadcrumb trail with custom HTML.

Method 3: PHP (Theme Template)

<?php
if ( function_exists( 'smartcrawl_breadcrumbs' ) ) {
    smartcrawl_breadcrumbs();
}
?>

Place this in your theme's header.php, single.php, page.php, or a custom template part.

Configuration

Separator

Choose from presets or enter custom HTML:

Preset	Output
`>`	Home > Category > Page
`/`	Home / Category / Page
`»`	Home » Category » Page
Custom	Any HTML character or element

Recommendation: Use > or » — they visually indicate hierarchy.

Display Options

Option	Description
Show on homepage	Whether breadcrumbs appear on the homepage (usually no — it would just show "Home")
Home link text	Default "Home" — can be customized (e.g., site name)
Post breadcrumb type	Show category hierarchy or just parent page

Schema Output

SmartCrawl automatically outputs BreadcrumbList schema markup alongside the visible breadcrumbs:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://example.com/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Services",
      "item": "https://example.com/services/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 3,
      "name": "Basic Rider Course"
    }
  ]
}

This produces breadcrumb navigation in Google search results:

example.com > Services > Basic Rider Course

Styling

SmartCrawl outputs breadcrumbs with CSS classes you can target:

/* Breadcrumb container */
.smartcrawl-breadcrumbs {
    font-size: 14px;
    padding: 10px 0;
    color: #666;
}

/* Individual breadcrumb links */
.smartcrawl-breadcrumbs a {
    color: #0066cc;
    text-decoration: none;
}

.smartcrawl-breadcrumbs a:hover {
    text-decoration: underline;
}

/* Separator */
.smartcrawl-breadcrumbs .separator {
    margin: 0 8px;
    color: #999;
}

/* Current page (last item, no link) */
.smartcrawl-breadcrumbs .current {
    color: #333;
    font-weight: 500;
}

White Label Support

SmartCrawl Pro supports white labeling the breadcrumb module — you can remove WPMU DEV branding from the output.

Best Practices

Place breadcrumbs near the top of the page — above the main content, below the header
Don't show on homepage — it adds no value (just "Home")
Keep the trail short — Home > Category > Page is ideal. Avoid deep nesting.
Validate the schema at Google Rich Results Test
Ensure the hierarchy makes sense — breadcrumbs should reflect the actual site structure

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