DotBot
Moz •
Since 2010
Quick Actions
Official Docs
What is DotBot?
DotBot is Moz's web crawler that powers their link index and various SEO tools including the former Open Site Explorer (now part of Link Explorer). The bot collects data to calculate Moz's proprietary metrics like Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), which have become industry-standard SEO metrics. DotBot crawls the web to discover and analyze links, helping SEO professionals understand link profiles and identify opportunities. As one of the pioneers in SEO tools, Moz's crawler contributes to the broader understanding of web link structures.
User Agent String
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; DotBot/1.2; +https://opensiteexplorer.org/dotbot; [email protected])
How to Control DotBot
Block Completely
To prevent DotBot from accessing your entire website, add this to your robots.txt file:
# Block DotBot
User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /
Block Specific Directories
To restrict access to certain parts of your site while allowing others:
User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Allow: /public/
Set Crawl Delay
To slow down the crawl rate (note: not all bots respect this directive):
User-agent: DotBot
Crawl-delay: 10
How to Verify DotBot
Verification Method:
Check user agent and behavior
Check user agent and behavior
Learn more in the official documentation.
Detection Patterns
Multiple ways to detect DotBot in your application:
Basic Pattern
/DotBot/i
Strict Pattern
/^Mozilla/5\.0 \(compatible; DotBot/1\.2; \+https\://opensiteexplorer\.org/dotbot; help@moz\.com\)$/
Flexible Pattern
/DotBot[\s\/]?[\d\.]*?/i
Vendor Match
/.*Moz.*DotBot/i
Implementation Examples
// PHP Detection for DotBot
function detect_dotbot() {
$user_agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] ?? '';
$pattern = '/DotBot/i';
if (preg_match($pattern, $user_agent)) {
// Log the detection
error_log('DotBot detected from IP: ' . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);
// Set cache headers
header('Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600');
header('X-Robots-Tag: noarchive');
// Optional: Serve cached version
if (file_exists('cache/' . md5($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) . '.html')) {
readfile('cache/' . md5($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) . '.html');
exit;
}
return true;
}
return false;
}
# Python/Flask Detection for DotBot
import re
from flask import request, make_response
def detect_dotbot():
user_agent = request.headers.get('User-Agent', '')
pattern = r'DotBot'
if re.search(pattern, user_agent, re.IGNORECASE):
# Create response with caching
response = make_response()
response.headers['Cache-Control'] = 'public, max-age=3600'
response.headers['X-Robots-Tag'] = 'noarchive'
return True
return False
# Django Middleware
class DotBotMiddleware:
def __init__(self, get_response):
self.get_response = get_response
def __call__(self, request):
if self.detect_bot(request):
# Handle bot traffic
pass
return self.get_response(request)
// JavaScript/Node.js Detection for DotBot
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
// Middleware to detect DotBot
function detectDotBot(req, res, next) {
const userAgent = req.headers['user-agent'] || '';
const pattern = /DotBot/i;
if (pattern.test(userAgent)) {
// Log bot detection
console.log('DotBot detected from IP:', req.ip);
// Set cache headers
res.set({
'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=3600',
'X-Robots-Tag': 'noarchive'
});
// Mark request as bot
req.isBot = true;
req.botName = 'DotBot';
}
next();
}
app.use(detectDotBot);
# Apache .htaccess rules for DotBot
# Block completely
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DotBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
# Or redirect to a static version
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DotBot [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/static/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /static/$1 [L]
# Or set environment variable for PHP
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "DotBot" is_bot=1
# Add cache headers for this bot
<If "%{HTTP_USER_AGENT} =~ /DotBot/i">
Header set Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600"
Header set X-Robots-Tag "noarchive"
</If>
# Nginx configuration for DotBot
# Map user agent to variable
map $http_user_agent $is_dotbot {
default 0;
~*DotBot 1;
}
server {
# Block the bot completely
if ($is_dotbot) {
return 403;
}
# Or serve cached content
location / {
if ($is_dotbot) {
root /var/www/cached;
try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/index.html @backend;
}
try_files $uri @backend;
}
# Add headers for bot requests
location @backend {
if ($is_dotbot) {
add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600";
add_header X-Robots-Tag "noarchive";
}
proxy_pass http://backend;
}
}
Should You Block This Bot?
Recommendations based on your website type:
| Site Type | Recommendation | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | Optional | Evaluate based on bandwidth usage vs. benefits |
| Blog/News | Allow | Increases content reach and discoverability |
| SaaS Application | Block | No benefit for application interfaces; preserve resources |
| Documentation | Selective | Allow for public docs, block for internal docs |
| Corporate Site | Limit | Allow for public pages, block sensitive areas like intranets |
Advanced robots.txt Configurations
E-commerce Site Configuration
User-agent: DotBot
Crawl-delay: 5
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /my-account/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /*?sort=
Disallow: /*?filter=
Disallow: /*&page=
Allow: /products/
Allow: /categories/
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Publishing/Blog Configuration
User-agent: DotBot
Crawl-delay: 10
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /drafts/
Disallow: /preview/
Disallow: /*?replytocom=
Allow: /
SaaS/Application Configuration
User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /app/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /dashboard/
Disallow: /settings/
Allow: /
Allow: /pricing/
Allow: /features/
Allow: /docs/
Quick Reference
User Agent Match
DotBot
Robots.txt Name
DotBot
Category
seo
Respects robots.txt
Yes
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