Introduction about robots.txt file for beginners

As the name suggests, this is the activity of setting instructions for search engine crawlers. Which allows website owners to manage this. How search engine crawlers should treat the website.

Robots.txt file is a process that the website owner must do before allowing the user. This file gives instructions to the crawler. Which pages and parts of the site should be crawled. Robots file is a simple text file written in the root directory of the website.

Which is only for search engine bots. Use the noindex tag to prevent an important page from being indexed. Apart from this, pages can also be prevented from being indexed using passwords.

Overall, the robots.txt file is like an intermediary between the website and the crawlers. By crawling the important content of the website, the server load can be controlled. And duplicate content can be prevented from being indexed.

Example

Here is a robots.txt file with general rules.

Why use Robots.txt file?

With the help of Robots.txt, you can achieve important goals of SEO by controlling the crawling rate of the crawler.

Increase crawl efficiency – The efficiency of crawlers can be increased by focusing on important content on the main pages of the website.

Prevent indexing of duplicate or low-value content – ​​If there is any duplicate content or pages that are out of priority on the website, disallow them and direct the crawlers to the pages that are of higher priority.

Manage server load – Large websites with extensive content can face server stress from bots constantly crawling all pages. Using `robots.txt` to block non-essential fields can reduce unnecessary server requests and maintain optimal performance.

Protect sensitive information – Although not a security measure, `robots.txt` can help prevent sensitive or private information from being indexed by search engines, keeping it away from public search results.

Control bot behavior – For sites with multiple sections or different content types, you can use `robots.txt` to set specific rules for different types of bots. One or more rules can be added to the Robots.txt file as per requirement. A rule that allows or prevents certain or all crawlers (that follow the rules) from accessing a file path.

Best practices for using robots.txt

• Use it wisely - Block only content that doesn't really need to be indexed. Excessive use of the 'disallow' directive may inadvertently prevent important content from being indexed.
• Check your file - After developing the Robots.txt file, make sure that it is not causing any interference. All the instructions given by you have been written. Instructions should be written in a way that robots recognize.
• Update this - As your site evolves and your SEO strategy changes, you may need to make changes to your robots file as well. The effect of SEO update from time to time can be seen in the website also.

General instructions for crawlers on Robots.txt file

The ideal crawler follows the instructions given in Robots.txt. With the help of Robots File, website owners instruct the crawler as to which pages and parts of the website they should visit. Or can even stop them.

1. User agent - This is written first while writing the Robots.txt file. Due to which instructions are given to the web crawler. From this line the crawler can follow this rule. * When used, this rule is followed by the ideal crawler. But the name of Google AdsBot will have to be written separately.

User-agent: Googlebot
user-agent: Ads Bot-Google
allow or Disallow: /

2. Disallow - Using this you can stop the crawler. If there are some pages in the site which do not want to be crawled, then this can be done by disallowing the crawler. It can be one or more. If you do not want to crawl any page then you have to write the name of the url of the page using Disallow which / Will start with character.

This gives the opposite result from Disallow. The instructions given by the Robots.txt rule are accessed within pages or directories. To whom you have given permission. It can be one or more. If you allow crawling of a specific page, it will apply only to that page. To inform the crawler about that page, the URL of the page and the URL visible in the browser should be the same. It must start with name / character. If the URL refers to a directory, it must end with the / character.

3. Sitemap.xml – This directive gives the crawler access to all the pages and directories on the website. So that the crawler can crawl them. http, https, www, on www of Google URL has no effect on the crawler. Sitemap helps crawlers access and index all pages more efficiently. Apply this when creating robots.txt.https://example.com/sitemap.xml

Common misconceptions

No security measures:- Robots.txt file contains instructions given to crawlers. That `robots.txt` can prevent bots from accessing certain areas of your site, but it does not provide security. This is a public file, and `robots.txt` should not be relied upon alone to protect sensitive information.

Impact on SEO:- Search engine bots' access to content can give you good results. Whereas blocking important pages with `disallow` can have a negative impact on your site's SEO. Make sure you're not inadvertently preventing important content from being indexed.

Sitemap integration:- Using the `sitemap` directive in your `robots.txt` can help ensure that crawlers find and index your content, but it should complement, not replace, other SEO strategies. Needed

Example `robots.txt` file

Here is an example of a `robots.txt` file configured for a typical website:

in this instance:

- All crawlers are blocked from accessing the `/admin/`, `/private/`, and `/temporary/` directories.

- Crawlers are allowed to access the `/public/` directory.

- XML ​​sitemap space is provided to help better indexing.

Robots.txt file is very important in SEO. This allows the website to be crawled and indexed effectively. By effectively understanding and using how search engines are interacting with your site, you can optimize your website's crawl efficiency. Robots.txt files can protect sensitive information and improve overall SEO performance.

Uploading Robots.txt file

After writing the robots file, it should be uploaded to root and checked once again. And results will be visible by following the instructions as per the given rules. There is a Robots.txt file checking tool that can help you. For this there is help from the hosting company.