WordPress doesn't give you a native robots.txt editor in the dashboard, so you have two reliable paths: direct file access or an SEO plugin. The direct method means logging into your hosting account via cPanel, Plesk, or FTP client like FileZilla. Navigate to your WordPress root directory (usually public_html or www), find robots.txt, right-click to edit, make your changes, and save. If no robots.txt file exists, WordPress generates a virtual one automatically, so you'll need to create a physical file to override it. Most hosts let you create files directly in the file manager. The plugin route is faster for most site owners. Yoast SEO (free version) includes a robots.txt editor under SEO > Tools > File Editor. Rank Math has it under Rank Math > General Settings > Edit robots.txt. All in One SEO also provides this feature. These plugins let you edit and save changes without touching the server, and they validate syntax to prevent accidental crawl blocks. At Ottawa SEO, we prefer the plugin method for clients who update their robots.txt periodically because it reduces risk of FTP errors and keeps a change log. For sites with complex crawl rules or high-traffic environments, we sometimes bypass plugins entirely and manage robots.txt at the server level for performance reasons, but that's uncommon. Common mistakes to avoid: blocking /wp-content/ entirely (breaks images and CSS for bots), disallowing /wp-includes/ (same issue), and forgetting to add your sitemap URL. Always test changes in Google Search Console's robots.txt Tester before deploying. If you're running a multisite network, be aware that WordPress handles robots.txt differently and you may need network-level configuration. One last detail: if you're on a managed WordPress host like WP Engine or Kinsta, some restrict direct robots.txt editing for security reasons. Check their documentation or support channels first. Most will still let you edit via SFTP or provide a workaround.