The Tilda platform is ideal for quickly creating beautiful storefronts with minimal costs. However, its functionality is almost always insufficient for scalable and complex online stores. OpenCart, on the other hand, provides flexibility, expandability, and deep customization, making it the preferred choice for serious business growth, provided there is a willingness to invest time and resources in technical support.
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Closing the site during development is an important step that allows you to avoid many issues related to indexing, unwanted visits, and premature accumulation of duplicate or low-quality content. Let's take a closer look at why it's necessary to block the site from indexing and what advantages it brings.
1. Protecting Test Content from Indexing
During website development, the content and structure of pages are often incomplete, and some design and functionality elements may not work correctly. If search engines start indexing such a "raw" site, there's a risk that they will remember errors and empty pages. This can negatively affect the site's visibility in search engines in the future. For example:
2. Protecting Against the Formation of an Incorrect Site Image
When a search engine finds and scans your site, it builds an understanding of which pages to display in search results and how they should be evaluated based on its content. A site under development may have many unfinished pages or even test data that is not related to the real content. As a result:
3. Protecting Against Unwanted Visitors
An open but unfinished site can attract the attention not only of search engines but also of real users. They may stumble upon the site accidentally or as a result of you testing various marketing tools. An incomplete site often disappoints users and leads to negative reviews. Additionally, there is a risk that:
By restricting access to the site, you can focus on its improvement without worrying about accidental visitors.
Which Method of Closing the Site Should You Choose?
Various methods can be used to block the site from indexing, helping to avoid all the aforementioned issues. It's important to choose the method that best suits you:
Closing the Store Using Built-in OpenCart Tools
System > Settings > Store > Server > Maintenance Mode
.After activating maintenance mode, all users will see a message that the site is temporarily unavailable. Meanwhile, the administrator can continue working on the site.
Closing Using robots.txt
robots.txt
file, for example, to robots1.txt
robots.txt
fileUser-agent: * Disallow: /* User-agent: Yandex Disallow: /*
This entry prohibits all search engine bots (and specifically Yandex) from indexing the entire site. Once you finish configuring and testing the site, change or delete these lines to allow search engines to start indexing your store.
Closing Using Password Protection with .htaccess
The .htaccess
file allows you to restrict access to the site using a password. Thus, only users who know the login and password can access the site.
.htaccess
file, for example, to .htaccess1
.htaccess
fileAuthType Basic AuthName "Restricted Access" AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd Require valid-user
AuthUserFile
is the path to the .htpasswd
file, which stores the login and hashed password. Create this file and add the login and password using special utilities, such as online .htpasswd
generators. Some hosting providers also allow you to do this in the control panel..htpasswd
file is correct..htpasswd
file correctly can be challenging for beginners.
Closing Using IP Restriction with .htaccess
The .htaccess
file allows you to restrict access to the site based on the user's IP address.
.htaccess
file, for example, to .htaccess1
.htaccess
fileOrder deny,allow deny from all Allow from 1.1.1.1
1.1.1.1
is your IP address. You can find out your IP, for example, by visiting Yandex..htpasswd
file is correct..htpasswd
file.
Closing Using noindex
and nofollow
Meta Tags for Specific Pages
OCStore has built-in settings for adding such tags to products, categories, and service pages. This is convenient for closing specific pages of the store.
Closing the site during development is an important step that allows you to avoid many issues related to indexing, unwanted visits, and premature accumulation of low-quality content.