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SEO Class 9.1: What is Robots Txt. Explained by Search Analyst Sasikumar (Tamil)

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Introduction to robots.txt https://developers.google.com/search/… How Google interprets the robots.txt specification https://developers.google.com/search/… Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications https://developers.google.com/search/… Create a robots.txt file https://developers.google.com/search/…#searchanalystsasikumartalks#seo#robotstxt#searchengineoptimization#tamilyoutubechannel

The robots.txt file is a text file used to manage and control how web crawlers (like Googlebot) access specific parts of a website. It’s part of the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP) and serves as a guide for search engine bots on which pages or sections to crawl or avoid.

Key Points About Robots.txt

1. Purpose

  • Directs web crawlers to specific areas of your website.
  • Prevents indexing of private, irrelevant, or sensitive content.
  • Optimizes crawl budget by focusing crawlers on important pages.

2. File Location

  • Always placed in the root directory of the website (e.g., https://example.com/robots.txt).
  • Accessible publicly, so anyone can view it by visiting its URL.

3. Syntax

The robots.txt file uses simple directives:

  • User-agent: Specifies which bot the rule applies to.
    • Example: User-agent: Googlebot (applies to Google’s crawler).
  • Disallow: Prevents the bot from accessing specific pages or directories.
    • Example: Disallow: /private/ (blocks /private/ directory).
  • Allow: Grants access to specific files in otherwise disallowed directories.
    • Example: Allow: /private/public-file.html.
  • Sitemap: Points crawlers to the XML sitemap for the website.
    • Example: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml.

4. Example Robots.txt File

User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private-data/
Allow: /public/
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
  • This file:
    • Blocks all bots from accessing /admin/ and /private-data/.
    • Allows them to access /public/.
    • Provides the sitemap location.

5. Things Robots.txt Cannot Do

  • Prevent Unauthorized Access: It does not secure or hide content—it simply guides crawlers.
  • Guarantee Compliance: Some bots may ignore robots.txt, especially malicious ones.

6. Tools for Testing Robots.txt

  • Google Search Console: Use the robots.txt tester to check if your rules are implemented correctly.
  • Third-Party Tools: Many SEO tools provide robots.txt testing features.

Would you like help creating or analyzing a robots.txt file for your site?

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