How to edit the robots.txt file in Shopify: A Step-by-Step Guide

E-commerce market has become one of the fastest-growing industries in the global economy for a decade. It has changed the way people interact with products and services. Shopify has quickly become the preferred platform for e-commerce businesses. Its SEO capabilities are one reason behind its success. Its SEO-friendly URL structures, builtin tools for on-page SEO, fast loading speeds, and automatic sitemap and robots.txt files are only a few examples. This blog focuses on how to edit robots.txt while also covering other basic information about robots.txt files.

What is a robots.txt file and how does it work?

A robots.txt file has all the information of the website that is crucial in indexing and ranking.

Shopify generates a default robot.txt file. This file contains all the information that Google needs to determine which pages to crawl and which to ignore, offering automatic and reliable results. However, it also gives the ability to customize the code to your specific needs for full control.

Here are all the things that you can edit:

• Allow or disallow specific URLs from crawling
• Add crawl-delay for specific crawlers
• Add extra sitemap URLs
• Block specific crawlers

Important note: Shopify recommends users hire a Shopify Partner to edit the code, as incorrect usage of this feature can significantly lower the traffic and sales. Partner with Webomindapps, a top Shopify store development company for reliable and safe processes.

How to edit Robots.txt file?

The more optimized your robots.txt file is, with clear information about which parts and pages of your website should be crawled by Google bots and which should not, the greater the chances of getting all other pages indexed and ranked. This is because you are indirectly optimizing the crawl budget that Google assigns to your website. Here is how to edit your robots.txt file.

• Log in to your Shopify account at shopify.com
• Before making any changes, make sure to duplicate the theme to avoid complications
• Go to the admin panel and then settings.
• Select Apps and sales channels.
• Click on the online store and then Open sales channel.
• Now, click on the Themes and button to access the Edit Code button.
• Click on Add a new template and then select Robots.
• Then, click on Create Template.
• Make all the necessary changes you need.
• Save the changes to the robots.txt, liquid file in the published theme.

Please note that the changes are instantly applied across the store, however, the crawlers many not always be active. So please be patient and let the crawlers do thei job.

Example Customizations

User-agent: *
Disallow: /specific-page
                                        

User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /special-section
User-agent: *
Disallow: /special-section

    User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Tips for Editing Robots.txt

• Avoid blocking essential pages like product pages or collections, as it can harm your SEO.
• Use tools like Google’s Robots.txt Tester in the Search Console.
• Consult a developer or SEO expert for complex changes.

If you are looking to optimize your shopify store and rank higher in the targeted product or service category, Webomindapps can be your ideal partner. We specialize in developing fast, secure, and SEO-optimized shopify stores for businesses across diverse industries. Book a free consultation to know more about services. For more informative blogs on niche topics, stay tuned on insights hub.