{"id":9371,"date":"2022-02-03T13:13:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dopinger.com\/blog\/?p=9371"},"modified":"2024-10-11T07:51:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T07:51:35","slug":"wordpress-robots-txt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dopinger.com\/blog\/wordpress-robots-txt","title":{"rendered":"Robots.txt in WordPress for SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many website managers heavily focus on search engine optimization (SEO) because of how the search engines operate. Search engines send out bots known as crawlers to index websites and convey the date back to the search engine. The majority of websites have options to include instructions to these crawlers via a text file like Robots.txt in WordPress<\/strong>. A robots.txt file provides the crawler with a site map and a list of any sections that requires no indexing. For example, blank pages, as these can negatively impact your organic search results. In the following text, you will learn everything you need to understand about robots.txt as a WordPress admin, SEO manager, or site operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>The uses of Robots.txt in WordPress<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bots that search engines regularly send out to search websites for new content are known by several names; crawlers, spiders, or search bots. Including a robots.txt is essential because it is one of the only ways for you to interact with these bots. Implementing a well-written robots.txt file will allow you to instruct bots where they should index first. It will also help you to instruct them on areas of your site that require no indexing. Because each search engine uses its own bots, you can give specific instructions to each individual search engine should you wish. This means that search bots from Google, Yahoo, Bing, and others could each behave differently according to your instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"robots.txt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Robots.txt Location in WordPress<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress automatically creates a virtual robots.txt<\/a> file when you first create a website. Furthermore, it adds to it each time you add a page or content to your site. However, most WP admins and SEO managers will find having their own robots.txt additions very useful. If you create and add a robots.txt file to the root directory of your WordPress site, it takes precedence over the automatically generated one from WordPress. To check whether your site is already using a robots.txt file, simply add \/robots.txt to the end of your URL, then press enter. If your site is already using a robots.txt file, you will now be looking at the instructions your site provides to bots looking to index it for search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How to Edit a Robots.txt File<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is very easy to edit a robots.txt file using any text editor. If your text editor allows you to save a file as .txt, you can use it to create or make changes to your robots.txt file. After you complete editing your robots.txt file, you will need to upload it to the root directory of your site, overwriting the previous one. Once you have the text editor open, you may add any lines and commands for the crawlers that are helpful for your site. When learning about how robots.txt files work, it is best to use User-agent: as it lets the crawlers know the instructions are for all search engine bots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Robots.txt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Robots.txt Commands<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Search engine crawlers will read your robots.txt file and, as such, should be written in lines of code. Below you can find the most common robots.txt commands for your file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n