When it actually makes sense to block crawlers in robots.txt
Learn which areas are worth blocking in robots.txt and which ones are usually better left crawlable.
Block low value areas, not core content
Robots.txt is most useful when it trims wasted crawling. Good examples include internal search results, duplicate filtered views, temporary staging sections or utility paths that do not need visibility.
That is very different from blocking core categories, money pages or key editorial content. Those sections often need crawling so search engines can understand and evaluate the site properly.
Think in terms of crawl quality and launch risk
A useful rule is simple: block what creates noise, not what carries value. If the path exists mainly for internal workflows or creates endless URL combinations, it may be a strong robots.txt candidate.
Before publishing, check whether the rule could hide a section you plan to rank. Many robots.txt mistakes happen not because the syntax is wrong, but because the decision behind the rule was never reviewed.