Robots.txt is a very useful tool used to instruct search engine crawlers on how you want them to crawl your website. It can help block certain web pages from being crawled. It can help block certain resource files like unimportant external scripts. It can also block media files from appearing in Google search results. However, if you have this crawl block on place, you need to be sure that it is being used properly, especially when your website has an infinite number of pages. If not, there could be a number of issues you may have to face. Nevertheless, almost every mistake made, in terms of applying robots.txt to your pages, has a way out. By fixing your robots.txt file, you can recover from any errors quickly. Let’s help you understand the same by getting into the details.
Mistake 1 – Robots.txt not in the root directory
Search engine robots can only discover the file if it is in your root folder. If it is in a subfolder instead, your robots.txt file won’t be visible to search robots. To fix this issue, you need to move your tobots.txt file to your root directory.
Mistake 2 – Blocked access to important JavaScripts and cascading stylesheets
Blocking crawler access to external JavaScripts and cascading stylesheets is quite normal, but at the same time, it is also important for Google bots to have access to these files in order to see your HTML and PHP pages correctly. So, how can you solve this issue? It’s actually quite simple. You can remove the line from your robots.txt file that is blocking the access, or you can insert required exceptions for restoring access to necessary JavaScripts and cascading stylesheets, while blocking the rest.
Mistake 3 – Incorrect or improper use of wildcard characters
Robots.txt files can support only two wildcard characters, which are the asterisk and the dollar sign. The asterisk represents a valid character, and the dollar sign denotes the end of a URL. Using any other wildcard character, or even poorly placing these two wildcards, can end up blocking robot access from your entire site. It is thus important to stick to only the asterisk and dollar sign, ensuring that they both are placed correctly. In case of any wrong placements or an incorrect wildcard character, move or remove it respectively, in order to have your robots.txt file to perform as intended.
Mistake 4 – An old noindex command
As of September 1, 2019, Google has stopped obeying noindex rules in robots.tx files. So, if your robots.txt file was created before this date and contains noindex instructions, the commands will not be considered, and the pages will be indexed in Google’s search results. To solve this issue, you need to implement an alternative noindex method, such as using the robots meta tag, which can be added to the head of any web page you want to prevent Google from indexing.
Mistake 5 – Allowing and disallowing commands for pages under development
It is always wise to block crawlers from indexing pages that are under development. You thus need to add a disallow instruction to the robots.txt file of a web page under construction so that it can’t be visible to online visitors, until the page is completely developed. Equally, it is crucial to remove this disallow instruction once the page is developed.
While the above mistakes can be resolved, remember that prevention is always better than cure. Every SEO company in Bangalore thus always suggests that you be very certain while using a robots.txt file, or you may end up having your website removed from Google, thus immediately impacting your business and revenue. So, any edits made to robots.txt should be carefully done and double-checked. Yet, if any issues arise, don’t panic. Diagnose the problem, make the necessary repairs, and resubmit your sitemap for new crawl.
