How to write and submit a robots.txt file? Robots.txt example file

You have the ability to manage which files web crawlers are permitted to access on your website using a robots.txt file.

The robots.txt file is typically located at the root of your website. For example, if your site is www.imranonline.net, the robots.txt file can be found at https://www.imranonline.net/robots.txt. This file is in plain text format and adheres to the Robots Exclusion Standard. It consists of one or more rules, and each rule dictates whether a specific web crawler is granted or denied access to particular file paths on the domain or subdomain where the robots.txt file is situated. By default, unless you specify otherwise in your robots.txt file, all files are considered as implicitly allowed for crawling.

Here is a simple robots.txt file with two rules:

User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /nogooglebot/

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Here’s what that robots.txt file means:

1. The user agent named Googlebot is not allowed to crawl any URL that starts with https://example.com/nogooglebot/.
2. All other user agents are allowed to crawl the entire site. This could have been omitted and the result would be the same; the default behavior is that user agents are allowed to crawl the entire site.
3. The site’s sitemap file is located at https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml.

Resource: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/create-robots-txt

Simple Robots.txt File

User-agent:*
Disallow: /index.php

FAQs

1. What is a robots.txt file and why is it important?

Answer: A robots.txt file is a plain text file located at the root of your website that follows the Robots Exclusion Standard. It allows you to manage which files web crawlers can access on your site, helping to control search engine indexing and manage server resources.

2. How do I create and locate my robots.txt file?

Answer: To create a robots.txt file, use a text editor to write the desired rules and save the file as robots.txt. Place this file in the root directory of your website. For example, if your site is www.imranonline.net, the robots.txt file should be accessible at https://www.imranonline.net/robots.txt.

3. What are some common directives used in a robots.txt file?

Answer: Common directives include:

• User-agent: Specifies the web crawler the rule applies to.
• Disallow: Prevents the specified user-agent from accessing certain paths.
• Allow: Grants access to specific paths, even if a broader disallow rule exists.
• Sitemap: Provides the location of your sitemap to help crawlers index your site more effectively.

These directives help control crawler behavior and optimize your site’s interaction with search engines.

4. Can you provide an example of a robots.txt file?

Answer: Certainly! Here’s an example:

makefileCopyEditUser-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /nogooglebot/

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

In this file:

1. The Googlebot user-agent is disallowed from crawling any URL starting with /nogooglebot/.
2. All other user-agents are allowed to crawl the entire site.
3. The location of the site’s sitemap is specified.

This structure helps manage crawler access and provides sitemap information.

5. How do I submit my robots.txt file to search engines?

Answer: Once your robots.txt file is in place, you don’t need to submit it directly to search engines; they will automatically check for it. However, to ensure it’s correctly configured, you can use tools like Google’s Robots Testing Tool to test and validate your robots.txt file.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively manage web crawler access to your website using a robots.txt file.