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Google Replaces Site’s URL with Mobile Breadcrumb URL

In a blog post, Google announced that they have begun replacing the URL within the search result snippet area to better present URLs in search results. Google has replaced URLs with a site name and breadcrumb path. This only impacts mobile search results and is rolling out over time. Google said, “We’re updating the algorithms that display URLs in the search results to better reflect the names of websites, using the real-world name of the site instead of the domain name, and the URL structure of the sites in a breadcrumbs-like format.”

Here is how the search results look like with mobile breadcrumb URL:

Before and After

Mobile Breadcrumb URL

These changes are rolling out and affect mobile results only. It has the ability to impact the Click-Thru-Rate (CTR) for pages when they appear in Google mobile search results. The search-friendly URLs and well-written meta data for the pages help to improve their organic relevancy and encourage users to click the particular search engine result. The same applies to this new change as well. Making changes in SERP will work for your website. Clean URLs can potentially improve your CTR. Google is using the URL structure for the mobile breadcrumbs, irrespective of it being irrelevant. So, you need to make sure that how your breadcrumbs are appearing in Google. Mobile breadcrumb URL helps to better present search results to mobile users.

While creating a new URL, you should try to keep your sub-directories to the minimum extent possible. The page-relevant keywords should be used in naming the URLs. Also, make sure that you create a 301 redirect from old pages to new ones.

In this announcement, Google also said that it is introducing support for schema.org structure data for websites. Webmasters can use it to ensure that their website communicates these details directly to Google server. The name of the site and separate categories will appear instead of just one URL on the search engine results page.
While the site name change is US-only for now, breadcrumbs are rolling out worldwide.

What are your views about Google’s mobile breadcrumb URL structure? Let us know in the comments!