Robots.txt Generator

A robots.txt file is a simple text file that tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of your website they can and cannot access. Think of it as a bouncer at a club - it controls who gets in and what areas they can visit. Every website should have one, and creating it doesn't have to be complicated.

How Does Robots.txt Work?

When search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo visit your website, the first thing they look for is the robots.txt file at your root domain (like https://example.com/robots.txt). This file gives them instructions about what they should and shouldn't crawl. If certain pages are marked as "Disallow," well-behaved bots will skip those pages entirely.

Here's the thing though - robots.txt is more like a suggestion than a law. Good bots (like Googlebot) respect it, but malicious bots might ignore it completely. So don't use robots.txt for security - it's purely for SEO and crawl budget management.

Common Use Cases for Robots.txt

You'll want to use a robots.txt generator to block certain areas of your site from being indexed. Typical examples include admin panels (/admin/), API endpoints (/api/), login pages, duplicate content, or staging environments. You might also want to prevent crawlers from accessing image or CSS files to save bandwidth, though this is less common nowadays.

Another critical use is including your sitemap URL in robots.txt. This tells search engines exactly where to find the master list of all your important pages, making it easier for them to discover and index your content efficiently.

Best Practices for Creating Robots.txt

Keep it simple. Start with "User-agent: *" which targets all bots, then use "Allow: /" to permit crawling by default. Add specific "Disallow" directives only for paths you genuinely don't want indexed. Always include your sitemap URL at the bottom - this is crucial for SEO.

Avoid blocking important resources like CSS and JavaScript files unless you have a specific reason. Google needs to see these to properly render and understand your pages. Also, don't use robots.txt to hide sensitive information - use proper authentication and password protection instead.

Testing Your Robots.txt File

After you create and upload your robots.txt file, test it using Google Search Console's robots.txt Tester tool. This shows you exactly how Googlebot interprets your directives and helps catch any mistakes before they impact your SEO. Common errors include accidentally blocking your entire site or using the wrong syntax.

Ready to create your robots.txt file? Use our free generator above to build a custom file in seconds. Then check your site's overall health with our SEO Audit tool and verify all your URLs are working with the HTTP Status Checker.