In order to rank a website in search results, Google needs to crawl and index it. This process allows Google to discover the content of your website, understand what is on the page, and display your pages in the appropriate search results.
The robots.txt file in SEO may seem like a minor technical element, but it can have a huge impact on your site’s visibility and rankings.
With the explanation of robots.txt, you can now see the importance of this file for the functionality and structure of your site. Read on to find out more.
What is a robots.txt file?
A robots.txt file is a directive that tells search engine robots or crawlers how to navigate a website. During the crawling and indexing processes, these directives act as instructions that guide search engine bots, such as Googlebot, to the appropriate pages.
Robots.txt files are plain text files located in the root directory of websites. For example, if your domain is âwww.robotsrock.com,â the robots.txt file will be at âwww.robotsrock.com/robots.txt.â Robots.txt files serve two main functions for bots:
- Block (disallow) crawling of a specific URL path. However, this is not the same as noindex meta directives, which prevent pages from being indexed.
- Allow crawling of a specific page or subfolder if its parent folder has been blocked.
Robots.txt files are more of a suggestion than hard-and-fast rules for bots. Your pages can still be indexed and appear in search results for certain keywords. Primarily, these files control the load on your server and manage crawl frequency and depth. They also designate user–agents, which can apply rules to a specific bot or extend to all bots.
For example, if you want only Google to crawl pages instead of Bing, you can send a specific directive as a user-agent. Developers or website owners can use robots.txt to prevent bots from crawling certain pages or sections of a site.
You may be interested in learning more about meta tags.
Why use robots.txt files in SEO?
You want Google and its users to easily find the pages on your website, right? Well, that’s not always true.
What you really need is for Google and users to effortlessly locate the right pages on your site. Like most websites, you probably have thank-you pages that appear after conversions or transactions. Do these thank you pages qualify as ideal for ranking and being crawled regularly?
Probably not. It’s also common to block pages on development sites or login pages in your robots.txt file. Constantly crawling non-essential pages can slow down your server and lead to other issues that negatively impact your SEO efforts.
The robots.txt file is the solution to moderating what bots crawl and when they do it. One of the reasons this file helps SEO is that it allows for new optimization actions to be processed. Crawl visits record the changes you make to header tags, meta descriptions, and keyword usage, and effective search engine crawlers rank your site based on these positive developments as quickly as possible.
When you implement your SEO strategy or publish new content, you want search engines to recognize the modifications and for the results to reflect these changes. If your site’s crawl rate is slow, evidence of your improvements may be delayed. The robots.txt file can help keep your site clean and efficient, although it doesn’t directly boost your page to higher positions in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Indirectly, it optimizes your site by avoiding penalties, managing your crawl budget, protecting your server, and preventing bad pages from sucking up link juice.
Key robots.txt directives
Here is a comparison of common robots.txt directives and their functions:
| Directive | Function | Example |
| User-Agent | Specifies which bots the rules apply to | User-agent: * (applies to all bots) |
| Disallow | Block crawling of specific pages or directories | Disallow: /private-page/ |
| Allow | Allows certain pages to be crawled even in a blocked directory | Allow: /public-page/ |
| Sitemap | Point bots to your sitemap to improve indexing | Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml |
| Crawl-Delay | Reduce the speed at which bots crawl your site | Crawl-delay: 10 (10 seconds delay) |
What is the role of robots.txt in SEO?
These lines of code play a crucial role in how search engines interact with your website, dictating SEO performance and rankings in search results. Below, we break down their role in SEO:
Crawl Budget Control:
âCrawl budgetâ refers to the number of pages a search engineâs bots crawl in a given period. If the number of pages on your site exceeds the budget, the bots will waste time on irrelevant or duplicate pages, preventing them from indexing important pages. Robots.txt helps filter out those irrelevant pages, allowing the bots to focus on essential pages, improving rankings for critical keywords.
Preventing duplicate content issues :
Duplicate content is a common SEO problem. If your site has multiple versions of the same content, crawlers may have a hard time determining which page to index and rank. Robots.txt restricts access to these pages, preserving your site’s credibility and relevance in search results.
Avoid indexing irrelevant content :
Not all pages need to be indexed. Pages, like thank you pages, login pages, or pages with outdated content, can negatively impact your SEO performance. Blocking these pages helps maintain a focused and clean presence in search engines, improving user experience and click-through rates.
Improving site speed and performance :
Each bot visit consumes server resources. If bots crawl unnecessary pages, server performance can be negatively impacted. Robots.txt redirects bots to crawl only the essential parts of your site, ensuring a faster and smoother web experience.
Google Mobile-First Indexing:
Robots.txt can help bots correctly interpret the mobile version of your site by ensuring that essential elements such as CSS and JS files are accessible, improving functionality on all devices.
Strategic SEO campaigns:
During campaigns, such as launching new pages or promotions, it is important to temporarily restrict or enable access to certain pages. Robots.txt offers flexibility to adjust crawling behavior based on your marketing goals.
If you are not using any strategy to increase traffic to your website, we recommend reading our article on what long-tail keywords are.
Best practices for using robots.txt in SEO
- Review crawl reports regularly: Use tools like Google Search Console to monitor how your site is crawled and ensure that directives are being followed correctly.
- Test your robots.txt file: Before implementing it, use tools like Google’s robots.txt Tester to avoid errors that can harm your SEO.
- Be selective: Avoid blocking pages with valuable SEO content, such as product pages, blogs, or landing pages.
The robots.txt file is more than just a technical tool; it’s a strategic resource that influences how search engines crawl and index your website. Using it correctly can improve your SEO performance and user experience, but configuring it incorrectly can have significant negative consequences for your site’s search engine visibility.
