How to Disallow Specific Folders and Sub Folders for Crawling?
-
Today, I have checked indexing for my website in Google. I found very interesting result over there. You can check that result by following result of Google.
I aware about use of robots.txt file and can disallow images folder to solve this issue.
But, It may block my images to get appear in Google image search.
So, How can I fix this issue?
-
You can, but then the content will be removed from Google's index for 90 days. I am not sure what effect this would have on pages with the images. It shouldn't have any effect, but I would hate for you to have rankings in any way affected for 90 days.
I have no experience in having images indexed in this manner. Perhaps someone else has more knowledge to share on this topic.
-
Can I use Remove URL facility from Google webmaster tools?
-
I checked your URL: http://www.lampslightingandmore.com/images/. The folder is now properly restricted and the images can no longer be seen using this method. Going forward, Google will not be able to index new images in the same manner your other images were indexed.
With respect to the images which have been indexed, I am not certain how Google will respond. The image links are still valid so they may keep them. On the other hand, the links are gone so they may remove them. If it were my site, I would wait 30 days to see if Google removed the results.
Another way you can resolve the issue is to change the file path to your images from /images to /image. This will immediately break all the links. You would need to ensure all the links on your site are updated properly. It still may take Google a month to de-index those results but it would certainly happen in that case.
-
I have added Options -Indexes for images folder in htaccess file.
But, I still able to find out images folder in Google indexing.
Can I check? Is it working properly or not? I don't want to index or display images folder in web search any more.
-
I am going to add following code to my htaccess page.
Options -Indexes
Will it work for me or not?
-
If you have a development team, they should instantly understand the problem.
A simple e-mail to any developer
E-mail title: Please fix
http://www.lampslightingandmore.com/images/
That's it. No other text should be needed. A developer should be able to look at the page and understand the index was left open and how to fix it. If you wish to be nicer then a simple "my index is open for the world to see, please don't allow public access to my server folders" should suffice.
-
Yes, I have similar problem with my code structure. Yesterday, I have set Relative path for all URLs. But, I am not sure about replacing of image name in code after make change in folder.
So, I don't want to go with that manner. I also discussed with my development team and recommend to go with htaccess method.
But, give me caution to follow specific method otherwise it may create big issue for crawling or indexing. Right??
-
The link you shared is perfect. Near the top there is a link for OPTIONS. Click on it and you will be on this page: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/core.html#options
I want to very clearly state you should not make changes to your .htaccess file unless you are comfortable working with code. The slightest mistake and your entire site becomes unavailable. You can also damage the security of your site.
With that said, if you decide to proceed anyway you can add the text I shared to the top of your .htaccess file. You definitely should BACK UP the file before making any changes.
The suggestion vishalkialani made was to rename your /images folder to something else, perhaps /image. The problem is that if your site was not dynamically coded, you would break your image links.
-
In addition to what Ryan mentioned I would rename that folder on your server. That will make google's index outdated and you won't get any visitors on the server
-
I can't getting you.
-
also you can rename it so when google 's index shows up the results you won't get any hits.
if thats what you want.
-
Yes, I checked article to know more about it.
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/howto/htaccess.html
But, I am not able to find my solution. Can you suggest me specific article which suppose to help me more in same direction?
-
Hello.
You have left your site open in a manner which is not recommended. Please take a look at the following URL: http://www.lampslightingandmore.com/images/. On a properly secured server, you should receive a 404 Page Not Found or Access Denied type of error. Since the folder is left open, a Google crawler found it and you are seeing the results.
The means to secure your site varies based on your software configuration. If you are on an Apache web server (the most common setup) then these settings are controlled by your htaccess file. I am not an htaccess expert but I believe adding the following code to your .htaccess file at the top will fix the issue:
Options -Indexes
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What are best page titles for sub-domain pages?
Hi Moz communtity, Let's say a website has multiple sub-domains with hundreds and thousands of pages. Generally we will be mentioning "primary keyword & "brand name" on every page of website. Can we do same on all pages of sub-domains to increase the authority of website for this primary keyword in Google? Or it gonna end up as negative impact if Google consider as duplicate content being mentioned same keyword and brand name on every page even on website and all pages of sub domains? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | vtmoz0 -
Google Webmaster tools -Fixing over 20,000+ crawl errors
Hi, I'm trying to gather all the 404 crawl errors on my website after a recent hacking that I've been trying to rectify and clean up. Webmaster tools states that I have over 20 000+ crawl errors. I can only download a sample of 1000 errors. Is there any way to get the full list instead of correcting 1000 errors, marking them as fixed and waiting for the next batch of 1000 errors to be listed in Webmaster tools? The current method is quite timely and I want to take care of all errors in one shot instead of over a course of a month.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | FPK0 -
Google Adsbot crawling order confirmation pages?
Hi, We have had roughly 1000+ requests per 24 hours from Google-adsbot to our confirmation pages. This generates an error as the confirmation page cannot be viewed after closing or by anyone who didn't complete the order. How is google-adsbot finding pages to crawl that are not linked to anywhere on the site, in the sitemap or linked to anywhere else? Is there any harm in a google crawler receiving a higher percentage of errors - even though the pages are not supposed to be requested. Is there anything we can do to prevent the errors for the benefit of our network team and what are the possible risks of any measures we can take? This bot seems to be for evaluating the quality of landing pages used in for Adwords so why is it trying to access confirmation pages when they have not been set for any of our adverts? We included "Disallow: /confirmation" in the robots.txt but it has continued to request these pages, generating a 403 page and an error in the log files so it seems Adsbot doesn't follow robots.txt. Thanks in advance for any help, Sam
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoeuroflorist0 -
SEO Dilution: Key Words in Sub Directories v Using a Hyphen in a Single Directory
Hi Moz Community, I'm trying to understand if there is really any material difference with going with one URL structure compared to the other. I assume the hyphen example below is what most would argue is the best option, but due to certain circumstances (I wont go into) I'm most likely going to be forced to use the sub directories URL option. I'm just concerned that going down this path will have a material SEO effect...looking for peoples thoughts? Keep in mind for this example: I'm using the Shopify eCommerce platform and am forced to use the word 'collection' in the url I sell shoes so the word ' Birkenstock ' within the URL represents the brand & 'Sandals ' represents the style. The key word search in this instance would be birkenstock sandals Example 1 http://companyname/collection/birkenstock/sandals V http://companyname/collection/birkenstock-sandals Example 2 http://companyname/collection/sandals/birkenstock V http://companyname/collection/sandals-birkenstock Will be interesting to hear if people what difference if any each will bring. Thanks in advance for any insight.....
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | chewythedog0 -
Using folder blocked by robots.txt before uploaded to indexed folder - is that OK?
I have a folder "testing" within my domain which is a folder added to the robots.txt. My web developers use that folder "testing" when we are creating new content before uploading to an indexed folder. So the content is uploaded to the "testing" folder at first (which is blocked by robots.txt) and later uploaded to an indexed folder, yet permanently keeping the content in the "testing" folder. Actually, my entire website's content is located within the "testing" - so same URL structure for all pages as indexed pages, except it starts with the "testing/" folder. Question: even though the "testing" folder will not be indexed by search engines, is there a chance search engines notice that the content is at first uploaded to the "testing" folder and therefore the indexed folder is not guaranteed to get the content credit, since search engines see the content in the "testing" folder, despite the "testing" folder being blocked by robots.txt? Would it be better that I password protecting this "testing" folder? Thx
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | khi50 -
Link exchanges of specific blogs work if relevant?
Hello, I've always wondered if I have a tech blog and wrote about "why Droid phones are better than Iphones", i would need more links pointed to my specific blog. Doing so, i find another blog that's reputable with high domain authority that talks about the SAME blog/subject. Is it wise and good for SEO if i contact the blogger and have each other reference each other's blog with the anchor text link as the brand name in our respective blogs? It's a typical link exchange, but this is more niche. Would this help my efforts? And would Google accept our good faith linking to a great article vice versa. Thanks, Shawn
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Shawn1240 -
Why is my Crawl Report Showing Thousands of Pages that Do Not Exist?
Hi, I just downloaded a Crawl Summary Report for a client's website. I am seeing THOUSANDS of duplicate page content errors. The overwhelming majority of them look something like this: ERROR: http://www.earlyinterventionsupport.com/resources/parentingtips/development/parentingtips/development/development/development/development/development/development/parentingtips/specialneeds/default.aspx This page doesn't exist and results in a 404 page. Why are these pages showing up? How do I get rid of them? Are they endangering the health of my site as a whole? Thank you, Jenna <colgroup><col width="1051"></colgroup>
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JennaCMag
| |0 -
Could Sub domains damage our SEO?
Hi there, We're currently looking into integrating a new internal search function to our site which will involve housing the search results on a sub domain of our site. We have no intention of these search result pages becoming landing pages for organic traffic but would the inclusion of a sub domain affect the optimization of the main domain? i.e. could it effect our authority? Nige
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | NigelJ0