How can I block unwanted bots using the .htaccess file?

If your website is receiving heavy traffic from random or unwanted bots, you can block them by adding rules like this to your .htaccess file:

# Block bad bots

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (AhrefsBot|SemrushBot|MJ12bot|DotBot|Baiduspider) [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]

This example blocks some commonly known crawler bots.
You can replace or add bot names as needed (e.g., competitors bots).