Robots.txt: A Non-Expert's Guide

Learn what robots.txt is, why it's important for your website's SEO, and how non-experts can easily check if their developer has properly configured it.

Even if you're not a web developer, understanding basic website components can save you headaches and improve your site's visibility. One such crucial, yet often overlooked, component is robots.txt.

What is robots.txt?

Think of robots.txt as a polite notice board for search engine robots, also known as web crawlers or spiders. These automated programs scan the internet to discover new and updated web pages for search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. The robots.txt file tells these crawlers which parts of your website they are allowed (or not allowed) to visit and index. It's not a security measure, as crawlers can ignore it, but well-behaved bots (like those from major search engines) always respect these instructions.

Why is it Important?

robots.txt plays a vital role in your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and overall health. It helps:

  • Prevent sensitive content from being indexed: You wouldn't want your admin login pages, private user data, or development files showing up in search results.
  • Manage crawl budget: For very large sites, it helps direct crawlers to the most important content, preventing them from wasting time on less critical pages.
  • Avoid duplicate content issues: Sometimes, a single page might be accessible via multiple URLs. robots.txt can help prevent crawlers from indexing all of them, which could dilute your SEO efforts.

How to Check Your robots.txt

As a non-expert, verifying your developer has handled robots.txt correctly is surprisingly simple. Here's how:

  1. Open your web browser: Go to your website's domain.
  2. Add /robots.txt to the URL: For example, if your website is www.example.com, type www.example.com/robots.txt into your browser's address bar and press Enter. You can click this example link for Google's robots.txt to see what a large site's file looks like.

What to Look For?

Once you're on the robots.txt page, here's what to check:

  • Does the file exist? If you see a page that says "404 Not Found" or something similar, it means the file is missing. While a missing robots.txt isn't necessarily a disaster (it typically means search engines are free to crawl everything), a good developer should generally have one in place.
  • Is it empty? An empty file is similar to a missing one – it gives no instructions, so crawlers will generally crawl everything.
  • Does it contain Disallow: /? If you see a line like Disallow: / under User-agent: * (where * means all crawlers), it tells search engines not to crawl anything on your site. This is usually a mistake unless your site is under construction and intentionally hidden. If you see this on a live site you want indexed, contact your developer immediately.
  • Are there specific Disallow rules? You might see lines like Disallow: /wp-admin/ or Disallow: /private-files/. These are good signs, indicating your developer has taken steps to prevent specific sections or files from being indexed. For instance, Facebook's robots.txt shows many such specific rules.

In most cases, if you can access a robots.txt file and it doesn't contain a blanket Disallow: / rule, your developer has likely taken care of the basics. If you see anything concerning, or if the file is missing, it's a good idea to bring it up with them. It’s a simple check that can offer peace of mind regarding your website’s SEO health.