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
-
Sub Domain Usage
I see that the gap uses gap.com, oldnavy.gap.com and bananarepublic.gap.com. Wouldn't a better approach for SEO to have oldnavy.com, bananarepublic.com and gap.com all separate? Is there any benefit to using the approach of store1.parentcompany.com, store2.parentcompany.com etc? What are the pros and cons to each?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | kcb81780 -
Added sub-folder to GWT no data?
Added sub-folder to GWT no data? Hi guys, I've added a sub-folder to GWT: domain.com.au/us/ about 5 days ago. I have no yet received any data via GWT around the subfolder. The main domain domain.com.au has been added separately and is receiving traffic. Any ideas why i'm not seeing data for the sub-folder above domain.com.au/us/ I simply added it as a new property in GWT. Thankyou.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | jayoliverwright0 -
Sub domain vs. sub folder
I know this has probably been asked many times and answered too, but things change a lot, so I would like to know with current search engine algos and co. The scenario is as follows: Building an ecommerce site and also want to incorporate a Q&A section, for support and FAQ's and such. should we go ahead and sub domain this like: community.test.com or rater go with test.com/community. I would really like to know why, why not and maybe some real life examples. Thank you all
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | s-s0 -
I've seen and heard alot about city-specific landing pages for businesses with multiple locations, but what about city-specific landing pages for cities nearby that you aren't actually located in? Is it ok to create landing pages for nearby cities?
I asked here https://www.google.com/moderator/#7/e=adbf4 but figured out ask the Moz Community also! Is it actually best practice to create landing pages for nearby cities if you don't have an actual address there? Even if your target customers are there? For example, If I am in Miami, but have a lot of customers who come from nearby cities like Fort Lauderdale is it okay to create those LP's? I've heard this described as best practice, but I'm beginning to question whether Google sees it that way.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RickyShockley2 -
Should I disallow via robots.txt for my sub folder country TLD's?
Hello, My website is in default English and Spanish as a sub folder TLD. Because of my Joomla platform, Google is listing hundreds of soft 404 links of French, Chinese, German etc. sub TLD's. Again, i never created these country sub folder url's, but Google is crawling them. Is it best to just "Disallow" these sub folder TLD's like the example below, then "mark as fixed" in my crawl errors section in Google Webmaster tools?: User-agent: * Disallow: /de/ Disallow: /fr/ Disallow: /cn/ Thank you, Shawn
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Shawn1240 -
Sub Domain
Hi everybody, My competition has started to use the sub-domains vastly. He has created one sub domain for every single city and keyword. Is it something that I should be worried of? Is it a good idea I start doing the same thing? Thanks for your help.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Armin6660 -
Sub domain on root domain
Hello,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | dror999
I have a question that I can't find a good answer on.
I have a site, actually a "portal"/ "directory" for service providers.
Now, for start, we opened every service provider own page on our site, but now we get a lot of applications from those providers that thy want sites from their own.
We want to make every service provider his own site, but on sub domain url. ( they don’t mind… its ok for them)
So, my site is www.exaple.com
There site will be: provider.exaple.com
Now I have two questions:
1. can it harm my site in SEO?
2. if one from those sub domain , punished by google because is owner do "black hat seo" , how it will affect the rood domin? It can make the root domain to get punished?
Thanks!!0 -
What is the best tool to crawl a site with millions of pages?
I want to crawl a site that has so many pages that Xenu and Screaming Frog keep crashing at some point after 200,000 pages. What tools will allow me to crawl a site with millions of pages without crashing?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | iCrossing_UK0