Robots.txt file issue.
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Hi,
Its my third thread here and i have created many like it on many webmaster communities.I know many pro are here so badly needs help.
Robots.txt blocked 2k important URL's of my blogging site
http://Muslim-academy.com/ Especially of my blog area which are bringing good number of visitors daily.My organic traffic declined from 1k daily to 350.
I have removed the robots.txt file.Resubmitted existing Sitemap.Used all Fetch to index options and 50 URL submission option in Bing Webmaster Tool.
What Can I do know to have these blocked URL's back in Google index?
1.Create a NEW sitemap and submit it again in Google webmaster and bing webmaster tool?
2.Bookmark,linkbuilding or share the URL's.I did a lot of bookmarking for blocked URL's.
I fetch the list of blocked URLS Using BING WEBMASTER TOOLS.
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Robert some good signs of life.New sitemap shows 5080 pages submitted and 4817 indexed.
These remaining pages are surely blocked ones?RightRobert though there is some improvement in Impressions and Clicks.Thanks a lot for staying that long with me solving this issue.
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Christopher,
Have you looked at indexing in GWMT to see if they have indexed, how many pages, etc.?
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Got your point but I Resubmit and its status is still pending.
I have test it and it was working but when I submit it 2 days ago up till now its status is pending. -
No, when you resubmit or submit a "new" sitemap, it just tells Google this is the sitemap now. There is no content issue with a sitemap.
Best,Robert
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Just one last question Robert.Does not the duplicate sitemap creates duplicate pages in searches?
Sorry my question may looks like Crazy to you but at the moment with applying every possible fix I do not mess up and make things even more worse.
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Given the only issue was the robots.txt error, I would resubmit. I do think it would not hurt to generate a sitemap and submit that in case there may be something you are missing though.
Best
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Robert the question is either I need to create a new sitemap or resubmit the existing one?
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Hello Christopher
It appears you have done a good deal to remediate the situation already. I would resubmit a sitemap to Google also. Have you looked in WMT to see what is now indexed? I would look at the graph of indexed and robots.txt and see if you are moving the needle upward again.
This begs a second question of "How did it happen?" You stated, "Robots.txt blocked 2k important URL's of my blogging site" and that sounds like it just occurred out of the ether. I would want to know that I had found the reason and make sure I have a way to keep it from happening going forward. (just a suggestion).Lastly, using the Index Status in WMT should be a great way to learn how effective what you tried in fixing it is. I like knowing that type of data and storing it somewhere retrievable for the future.
Best to you,
Robert
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