Are you wondering how to edit the robots.txt file in WordPress effectively? This tiny but mighty File is like a roadmap for search engine crawl bots, guiding them on which parts of your site they should or shouldn’t explore. By controlling this, you can help search engines focus on your most important pages, boosting your site’s speed and SEO rankings.
Now, while WordPress automatically generates a robots.txt file for your site, it might not always meet your specific needs. Sometimes, you’ll need to tweak it to ensure search engines see only what you want them to.
If the idea of editing robots.txt feels intimidating, don’t worry—you’re in the right place! In this guide, we’ll break down what a robots.txt file does, why it’s important, and the easiest ways to edit it on your WordPress website. Let’s get started.
Understanding Robots.txt File in WordPress
Let’s talk about the robots.txt file in WordPress—it’s simpler than it sounds! This plain text file sits in your website’s root directory and gives web robots, or bots, a set of instructions. Basically, it tells them which parts of your site they should or shouldn’t explore and index.
Think of it like giving search engines a set of guidelines. For example, Google’s crawlers (called Googlebot) frequently check websites to update their search index. When they visit your site, they look at the robots.txt file for instructions on what to do.
The main goal of this File is to help you, as a website owner, control what information search engines can access. You can use it to block bots from crawling specific pages or directories on your site. But here’s a heads-up: not all bots play by the rules. While reputable ones like Google follow the guidelines, some rogue bots might ignore them.
Explore: Crawler List -Exploring The Best Web Crawlers for SEO
Why Do You Need to Edit a Robots.txt File in WordPress?
Why should you bother editing the robots.txt file on your WordPress site? It turns out there are several smart reasons for doing so. Let’s break them down:
Boost Your Site’s Speed
Not all pages on your website need to be crawled by search engine bots. By telling these bots to skip the unnecessary ones, you can free up resources and improve your site’s load speed. Faster websites not only make visitors happier but also rank better in search results!
Optimize Server Performance
Bots that don’t contribute to your website’s success can end up hogging server resources and cluttering your logs with 404 errors. Editing your robots.txt file helps you block these unwanted bots, which keeps your server running efficiently and ensures better performance.
Protect Sensitive Information
Certain parts of your website—like admin pages, private documents, or confidential content—shouldn’t be indexed by search engines. Using the robots.txt file, you can instruct bots to avoid these areas, helping safeguard your privacy and security.
Learn: How to Fix “new reason preventing your pages from being indexed” Search Console Issue
Guide Bots to the Right Content
Want search engines to focus on specific pages or posts? The robots.txt file lets you direct bots to your most important content. This helps you prioritize what gets indexed, improving your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Avoid Duplicate Content Issues
Duplicate content, such as category or tag pages, can confuse search engines and hurt your SEO rankings. With a well-optimized robots.txt file, you can prevent bots from indexing these pages, keeping your site’s content clean and search-engine-friendly.
Related: How to Fix Duplicate Title Tags in WordPress to Improve SEO
Edit a Robots.txt File in WordPress: 3 Methods
So, now that you understand the function of the Robots.txt file in WordPress, let’s see how you can edit it in three easy ways.
We’ll walk you through each method step by step. But before diving in, keep in mind that if you’re using the FTP client or cPanel approach, you’ll need to manually create a robots.txt file first. Let’s get started!
Editing Robots.txt Using an FTP Client
To edit your robots.txt file in WordPress with an FTP client, you’ll need to set up the FTP client and connect it to your website. Popular options like FileZilla and Cyberduck work great, but we’ll use FileZilla for this guide.
Step 1:Connect Your WordPress Website to FTP.
- First, install FileZilla on your computer. Once installed, open the app and navigate to File> Site Manager (or press Ctrl+S for a shortcut).
- Next, click New Site and give it a name under “My Sites.”
- Now, switch to the General tab and enter your site’s credentials. These credentials can usually be found in your hosting provider dashboard.
- Once the credentials are entered, click Connect.
Now, you’re in! You’ll see your site’s file directory on the FTP client. Let’s move on to uploading the robots.txt file.
Step 2: Upload the Robots.txt File to WordPress
- Navigate to your website’s root directory—it’s commonly called public_html. This is where the robots.txt file should be stored.
- If your robots.txt file is already there, you can replace it with the new one. Otherwise, simply upload the File you created earlier.
And that’s it! Your robots.txt file is now in place. To confirm everything is working, go to your browser and add /robots.txt at the end of your domain. For example, example.com/robots.txt.
Learn: How to Setup an FTP Account for WordPress?
Editing Robots.txt Using cPanel
The process for using cPanel is pretty similar to the FTP client method. Here’s what to do:
Step 1: Log In to cPanel
Start by logging into your website’s cPanel. Your hosting provider should have already given you the login details.
Once you’re in, scroll down to the Files section and click File Manager.
Step 2: Upload the Robots.txt File
In the File Manager, navigate to the public_html directory. This is the root folder where your robots.txt file should be placed.
If there’s already a robots.txt file here, replace it with the new version. If not, upload your newly created File.
Step 3: Test the Robots.txt File
To ensure the File is correctly uploaded, type your domain followed by /robots.txt in your browser (e.g., example.com/robots.txt).
And there you go! Whether you used FTP or cPanel, your robots.txt file is now updated and ready to guide search engines on how to interact with your site.
Explore: Top cPanel Alternative Hosting Platform for WordPress
Edit Robots.txt Using AIOSEO
One of the easiest ways to edit your robots.txt file is by using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin, which is one of the best WordPress SEO plugins out there. It comes with an advanced robots.txt editor, making it super simple to override the default WordPress robots.txt file and set up your own rules for how search engines crawl your site.
Let’s dive into editing your robots.txt file using AIOSEO!
Step 1: Enable Custom Robots.txt
First, go to the All in One SEO menu in your WordPress dashboard and click on Tools. From there, select the Robots.txt Editor tab.
AIOSEO will automatically generate a dynamic robots.txt file. This File is stored in your WordPress database and can be viewed in your browser (we’ll show you how in a bit).
When you’re in the Robots.txt Editor, the first thing you need to do is Enable Custom Robots.txt. Simply click the button so it turns blue, and you’ll unlock the ability to customize your File.
You’ll then see a preview of the default rules at the bottom of the screen. These default settings tell robots not to crawl certain WordPress core files, like admin pages. You can overwrite these rules with your own!
Step 2: Adding Your Own Rules
Now, it’s time to add your own custom rules. You have two options for this: you can either use the Rule Builder or import a robots.txt file from another site.
Method 1: Add Rules Using the Rule Builder
The Rule Builder allows you to easily create your own rules for which pages should be crawled or not. For example, if you want to block all robots from a temporary directory, this is where you’d do it.
Here’s how it works:
- User Agent: Type the name of the robot (like “Googlebot”) in the User Agent field. If you want to apply the rule to all robots, just use the * symbol.
- Directive: Choose from the available directives like Allow, Disallow, Clean-param, or Crawl-delay.
- Value: Enter the directory path or filename where the rule should apply.
Once you’ve set everything up, hit Add Rule to create another rule if needed. Don’t forget to click Save Changes when you’re done.
You’ll see your new rules appear in the Robots.txt Preview section. To view your updated File, just click Open Robots.txt. This will take you to the live URL of your robots.txt file.
Method 2: Import Rules from Another Site
If you’ve seen a robots.txt file from another site that you’d like to use, you can easily import it into your site using AIOSEO. Here’s how:
- Go to Tools > Robots.txt > Enable Custom Robots.txt in the AIOSEO menu.
- Click the Import option.
- Paste the URL of the site from which you want to import the robots.txt file, or copy and paste the contents directly into the provided space.
- Click Import, and AIOSEO will pull the File and add it to your site.
This is probably the quickest way to get a custom robots.txt file on your site!
Editing Your Robots.txt Rules
Once your rules are set, you can edit them again using the Rule Builder. You can even delete a rule by clicking the trash can icon next to it.
And here’s a cool feature: you can change the order of your rules. Just click and hold the six dots next to the trash can, drag the rule to a new position, and release it. This helps you prioritize the rules that matter most!
When you’re done making changes, just click Save Changes to apply everything.
And that’s it! You’ve successfully edited your robots.txt file using AIOSEO. Easy, right?
Further reading: Optimal SEO On WordPress: A Comprehensive Guide
Conclusion
In conclusion, editing the robots.txt file in WordPress is a simple yet powerful way to manage how search engine bots interact with your site. By creating and customizing this File, you can prevent bots from crawling sensitive or duplicate content, ensuring that only the most relevant pages are indexed.
Additionally, you can use the robots.txt file to guide bots towards your preferred content, helping to improve your site’s SEO and visibility. Regularly reviewing and updating this File is a key step in maintaining control over your site’s search engine performance.
