Robots.txt File Audit
Can’t see your website anywhere in the listings when you search with some of your keywords? Maybe you should have Big Nerd check out your robots.txt file. Errors in the robots.txt file can block search bots from visiting certain sections or all pages of your website. Order an audit today to make sure you’re not losing traffic to a silly typo!
Format Errors in Robots.txt
Robots.txt Not Found
What is Robots.txt File?
Robots.txt file is not essential for site indexation or health. But it can improve your site’s SEO performance by telling search bots which sections or pages are important and which ones are of no significance to the users. At Big Nerd, we usually suggest blocking spiders from visiting the following types of pages:
- Pages with thin or duplicate content
- Private pages, such as pages that are only available to certain users
- Temporary pages or pages that are under development
Sometimes spiders can ignore the code in the robots.txt file and index the forbidden pages anyway.
Fixing Errors in the Robots.txt File
Coding the robots.txt file is a no brainer for an expert developer, yet syntax and formatting errors are quite common. These errors can go undetected unless you conduct an audit of your website. They can make a perfectly good website from appearing in organic search results.
Some of the common robots.txt errors include an empty user-agent line, the wrong syntax, mismatched directives, listing each file instead of shutting indexation for the whole directory or listing multiple directories in a single line. These errors are easy to fix and can improve your site’s ranking almost immediately.
If you’re not sure if your robots.txt file is configured correctly, call Big Nerd today for a website audit and robots.txt file check.