What Is Robots.txt and How Does It Affect SEO?

A robots.txt file is a plain text file placed in the root directory of a website that instructs web crawlers (bots) which parts of the site they are allowed or disallowed to crawl and index. It uses directives like "Allow" and "Disallow" to control crawler access to specific pages or directories, helping website owners manage how search engines interact with their content.

In terms of SEO, robots.txt affects how search engines discover and index your website’s pages:

• It helps prioritize crawling by directing bots to focus on valuable content while skipping duplicate, irrelevant, or sensitive pages, which can improve crawl efficiency and resource allocation.
• It can conserve server resources by reducing unnecessary bot traffic, preventing server overload from excessive requests.
• It supports better crawl budget management, ensuring that search engines spend their limited crawling capacity on important pages, potentially improving your site’s visibility in search results.
• It can prevent indexing of confidential or non-public content by disallowing crawlers from accessing those URLs.
• It works best when used alongside XML sitemaps and canonical tags to guide search engines effectively.

However, improper configuration of robots.txt can harm SEO by accidentally blocking important pages from being crawled and indexed, so it requires careful planning and regular validation (e.g., via Google Search Console).

In summary, robots.txt is a fundamental SEO tool that controls crawler access to your website, helping optimise indexing, protect sensitive content, and improve overall search engine performance when used correctly.