Does a sites URL structure need to match its breadcrumb structure? [duplicate]

Question

Suppose I have a page on my site with the breadcrumb order:

Site Name --> Products --> Product 1

Should I have the URL be https://example.com/products/product-1, or should I have the URL be https://example.com/product-1 ??

My goal in possibly doing this is to maximize my SEO potential and to try and guarantee I get large sitelinks in search results for my site name.

Does a match between breadcrumbs and URL structure matter for SEO and sitelinks?

I have tried looking online for an answer to this, but the top answers compare folder structure and URL structure, they don't say anything about breadcrumbs. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Breadcrumbs is a set of links that can help a user understand and navigate a website hierarchy. Tell the user where he is and where he can go. Don't let it get lost in the sections and subsections of your site. It is important to make navigation user-friendly.

However, you can mark some of the breadcrumbs items in a way that is convenient for the user when they appear in search results. https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList

Sitelinks

There are best practices you can follow, however, to improve the quality of your sitelinks. For example, for your site's internal links, make sure you use anchor text and alt text that's informative, compact, and avoids repetition.

Web pages Links

If you require additional links for web pages, use the Table of Contents.