By Shad Super in Questions —

How Can You Test New Rules in Your robots.txt File Using the robots.txt Report Before Fully Implementing Them?

Summary

Testing new rules in your robots.txt file before fully implementing them is essential to ensure that they work as intended without disrupting your website’s SEO. The robots.txt report tool in Google Search Console allows you to test these rules effectively. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to do it step-by-step.

Using Google Search Console’s Robots.txt Tester

Accessing the Robots.txt Tester

First, you need to access the Robots.txt Tester tool within Google Search Console. Follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to your Google Search Console account.
  2. Select your website from the property list.
  3. In the left-hand navigation pane, select “Legacy tools and reports” and then click on “robots.txt Tester”.

Loading Your Current Robots.txt File

Once you’re in the Robots.txt Tester tool, it will automatically load your current robots.txt file. You can now view and edit the file directly within this interface.

Testing New Rules

To test new rules, you can modify the content of your robots.txt file directly within the tool:

  1. Add or edit the rules in the text editor. For instance, if you want to block Googlebot from indexing a specific directory, you can add: User-agent: Googlebot
    Disallow: /private-directory/
  2. Once you’ve made your changes, click the "Test" button to check if Googlebot can fetch specific URLs. Enter the URLs you want to test in the “Test” field and hit “Enter”. The tool will display whether the URL is allowed or blocked based on your current robots.txt rules.

Validation and Debugging

If a URL is blocked and it shouldn't be, or vice versa, you can debug the issue by reviewing the specific lines causing the blockage. Amend the rules as needed and re-test until the robots.txt file behaves as expected. The tester highlights the relevant lines directly in the file, making it easier to identify and fix issues.

Example

Suppose you have a robots.txt file blocking a specific URL, but you've decided to allow it temporarily for testing:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /test-page/
Allow: /test-page/temporary-allowance

Using the tester, input URLs to ensure they follow the new rules. For example:

  1. URL to test: example.com/test-page/ (This should be blocked)
  2. URL to test: example.com/test-page/temporary-allowance (This should be allowed)

The tester will confirm if the URLs meet the expected allowance and disallowance rules. Adjust the rules if the results are not as intended.

Implementing the Tested Robots.txt

After verifying that your new rules work correctly in the tester, it’s time to apply them to your live robots.txt file:

  1. Copy the updated content from the tester tool.
  2. Upload the revised robots.txt file to the root directory of your website (usually, example.com/robots.txt).
  3. Verify your changes by fetching and rendering your robots.txt file in Google Search Console or by directly accessing example.com/robots.txt from a web browser.

Further Reading

Conclusion

Using the Robots.txt Tester in Google Search Console is a reliable way to ensure your new rules perform correctly before deploying them live. This process helps maintain your site's SEO health by avoiding unintended blocks or excess allowances. Always test thoroughly and make informed adjustments based on the tool's feedback.

References