Robots Text Generator - A Guide

Back in 2001, I created one of the first online automated robots text generators. Things were a lot easier back then. Keyword stuffing still worked, you could buy backlinks, and black hat SEO was everywhere. I developed a robots.txt generator because most people didn’t know how to create one—it wasn't something web builder software offered at the time. So, we all had to learn how to create robots.txt files manually.

Now, in 2024, we've come full circle. Using an automated robots.txt generator is not only potentially dangerous but also ill-advised. Therefore, I would be irresponsible to offer the same tool I produced 23 years ago. Following the instructions below, you can easily create a robots.txt file that will work for your site without compromising its visibility. Alternatively, you can hire a professional like me to do it for you.

Creating and Managing Robots.txt Files: A Guide for Website Owners

The robots.txt file is a crucial component of website management, enabling webmasters to control how search engine crawlers interact with their site. Despite the availability of automated tools for generating robots.txt files, manually creating and managing this file offers greater precision and control. Here’s a comprehensive guide to understanding, creating, and submitting a robots.txt file, based on Google’s guidelines.

Understanding Robots.txt Files

A robots.txt file is a simple text file located at the root of your website (e.g., www.example.com/robots.txt). This file follows the Robots Exclusion Standard and contains rules that instruct web crawlers on which parts of the site they can or cannot access.

Example of a Robots.txt File

User-agent: Googlebot

Disallow: /nogooglebot/

User-agent: *

Allow: /

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

In this example:

The Googlebot is disallowed from accessing any URL that starts with /nogooglebot/.

All other user agents are allowed to crawl the entire site.

The sitemap is located at https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml.

Creating a Robots.txt File

Step 1: Create the File

Use a plain text editor like Notepad, TextEdit, vi, or emacs. Avoid word processors as they can introduce formatting issues.

Step 2: Add Rules

Rules consist of directives for user agents (crawlers), specifying which parts of the site they can or cannot crawl. Here’s a basic structure:

User-agent: [crawler name or * for all crawlers]

Disallow: [directory or page path]

Allow: [directory or page path]

Sitemap: [sitemap URL]

Step 3: Upload the File

Save your robots.txt file with UTF-8 encoding and upload it to the root of your website. For example, if your site is www.example.com, upload the file to www.example.com/robots.txt.

Step 4: Test the File

Ensure your robots.txt file is publicly accessible by navigating to its URL in a private browsing window. You can also use Google’s robots.txt Tester tool in Search Console to validate the file.

Writing Effective Robots.txt Rules

Basic Rules

Block Entire Site:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

Block Specific Directories:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /private/

Disallow: /temp/

Allow Specific Crawler:

User-agent: Googlebot-news

Allow: /

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

Advanced Rules

Block Specific File Types:

User-agent: Googlebot

Disallow: /*.pdf$

Allow Specific Subdirectory:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

Allow: /public/

Common Use Cases

Disallow Crawling of Entire Site - check that this is really something that you want to do!!!

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

Disallow Specific Directory

User-agent: *

Disallow: /admin/

Disallow: /confidential/

Allow Specific User Agent

User-agent: Googlebot

Allow: /

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

Block Specific File Type

User-agent: *

Disallow: /*.jpg$

Uploading and Testing

After creating your robots.txt file, upload it to your site’s root directory. Verify that it is accessible by visiting the URL directly. Use Google Search Console’s robots.txt Tester to ensure there are no errors and that your rules are being interpreted correctly.

Why Manual Creation is Better

While automated tools can generate a robots.txt file, manually creating and managing this file provides several benefits:

• Precision: You can tailor the rules specifically to your site's needs.

• Control: You avoid the risk of automated tools making incorrect assumptions.

• Flexibility: Manual editing allows for quick adjustments based on changes in your site structure or SEO strategy.

The days of automatic robots.txt generators are long gone, and I wouldn’t recommend leaving this page to visit an automated tool. By following my guidelines above, you can effectively manage how search engines interact with your site. Be sure to use Google’s Search Console to test your robots.txt file. I've also learned many of my skills by examining other websites' robots.txt files to pick up tips and tricks.