What is the difference between `allow: /` & `disallow: ` in robots.txt?
1 answer
@jamison
In the robots.txt file, allow: / and disallow: serve as directives that guide search engine crawlers on how to access and index specific parts of a website.
allow: / is a rule that permits all search engine crawlers to access and index the entire website. This means that there are no restrictions on crawling and indexing any page or directory on the site.
On the other hand, disallow: (without specifying any path or directory) implies that there are no explicitly disallowed pages or directories. It signifies that all parts of the website are allowed to be crawled and indexed by search engine bots. Essentially, it has the same effect as allow: /.
In summary, the difference between the two directives is primarily in their specificity. allow: / explicitly allows access to the entire website, while disallow: implies that there are no restrictions, allowing complete access as well.