Robots.txt Syntax
-
Does the order of the robots.txt syntax matter in SEO?
For example (are there potential problems with this format):
User-agent: * Sitemap: Disallow: /form.htm Allow: / Disallow: /cgnet_directory
-
Rodrigo -
Thanks, and thanks for the follow-up. To be honest with you though...I have not seen or experienced anything about this. I tend to follow the suggested rules with code
So my answer is "I don't know". Anyone else know?
I also agree with you on the meta tags. Robots.txt is best used for disallowing folders and such, not pages. For instance, I might do a "Disallow: /admin" in the robots.txt file, but would never block a category page or something to that effect. If I wanted to remove it from the index, I'd also use the meta "noindex,follow" attribute. Good point!
-
Thanks John- good response. I think the biggest takeaway for me is to know that none of the "dis-order" above will actually cause errors in the file. However, I completely agree with your recommendations as to where the sitemap: should go, and why the allow parameter is unnecessary.
Last question, do you know if the blank line in-between the allow: and second disallow: parameter cause any issues?
side note for those using the robots.txt to block content, also consider the noindex,follow attribute in the META tag as an alternative to save some link value that those pages may be getting.
-
Rodrigo -
Good question. The syntax does in fact matter, though not necessarily for SEO rankings. It matters because if you screw up your robots.txt, you can inadvertently disallow your whole site (I did it last week. Not pretty. Blog post forthcoming).
To get to your question, it is usually best to put the "Sitemap: " line at the bottom of the robots.txt, but it is not required to have it there, so far as I know.
You do not need the Allow: / parameter, because if you leave it out, Google assumes that you want everything indexed except what is put in the "Disallow: " lines.
In your case, you are disallowing "http://www.site.com/form.htm" and everything in your cgnet_directory folder. If you want everything in these folders hidden from crawlers...you have done exactly what you need to do.
I'm still learning about this, so I'm open to any correction the rest of the community has.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Multiple robots.txt files on server
Hi! I have previously hired a developer to put up my site and noticed afterwards that he did not know much about SEO. This lead me to starting to learn myself and applying some changes step by step. One of the things I am currently doing is inserting sitemap reference in robots.txt file (which was not there before). But just now when I wanted to upload the file via FTP to my server I found multiple ones - in different sizes - and I dont know what to do with them? Can I remove them? I have downloaded and opened them and they seem to be 2 textfiles and 2 dupplicates. Names: robots.txt (original dupplicate)
Technical SEO | | mjukhud
robots.txt-Original (original)
robots.txt-NEW (other content)
robots.txt-Working (other content dupplicate) Would really appreciate help and expertise suggestions. Thanks!0 -
How to solve the meta : A description for this result is not available because this site's robots.txt. ?
Hi, I have many URL for commercialization that redirects 301 to an actual page of my companies' site. My URL provider say that the load for those request by bots are too much, they put robots text on the redirection server ! Strange or not? Now I have a this META description on all my URL captains that redirect 301 : A description for this result is not available because this site's robots.txt. If you have the perfect solutions could you share it with me ? Thank You.
Technical SEO | | Vale70 -
Robots.txt file
How do i get Google to stop indexing my old pages and start indexing my new pages even months down the line? Do i need to install a Robots.txt file on each page?
Technical SEO | | gimes0 -
Robots.txt - What is the correct syntax?
Hello everyone I have the following link: http://mywebshop.dk/index.php?option=com_redshop&view=send_friend&pid=39&tmpl=component&Itemid=167 I want to prevent google from indiexing everything that is related to "view=send_friend" The problem is that its giving me dublicate content, and the content of the links has no SEO value of any sort. My problem is how i disallow it correctly via robots.txt I tried this syntax: Disallow: /view=send_friend/ However after doing a crawl on request the 200+ dublicate links that contains view=send_friend is still present in the CSV crawl report. What is the correct syntax if i want to prevent google from indexing everything that is related to this kind of link?
Technical SEO | | teleman0 -
Disallow: /search/ in robots but soft 404s are still showing in GWT and Google search?
Hi guys, I've already added the following syntax in robots.txt to prevent search engines in crawling dynamic pages produce by my website's search feature: Disallow: /search/. But soft 404s are still showing in Google Webmaster Tools. Do I need to wait(it's been almost a week since I've added the following syntax in my robots.txt)? Thanks, JC
Technical SEO | | esiow20130 -
What does it mean by 'blocked by Meta Robot'? How do I fix this?
When i get my crawl diagnostics, I am getting a blocked by Meta Robot, which means that my page is not being indexed in the search engines... obviously this is a major issue for organic traffic!!! What does it actually mean, and how can i fix it?
Technical SEO | | rolls1230 -
Search engines have been blocked by robots.txt., how do I find and fix it?
My client site royaloakshomesfl.com is coming up in my dashboard as having Search engines have been blocked by robots.txt, only I have no idea where to find it and fix the problem. Please help! I do have access to webmaster tools and this site is a WP site, if that helps.
Technical SEO | | LeslieVS0 -
SeoMoz robot is not able to crawl my website.
Hi, SeoMoz robot crawls only two web pages of my website. I contacts seomoz team and they told me that the problem is because of Javascript use. What is the solution to this? Should I contact my webdesign company and ask them to remove Javascript code?
Technical SEO | | ashish2110