If you’re a website owner and you’ve been working on improving your website’s search engine optimization (SEO), then you’ve probably heard of Googlebot.
Googlebot is Google’s web crawling bot, which crawls the web to index websites for Google’s search engine.
If Googlebot can’t access your website’s CSS and JS files, then this can negatively impact your website’s SEO.
In this article, we’ll show you how to fix the “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS and JS Files” error in WordPress.
What Causes the “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS and JS Files” Error?
The “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS and JS Files” error occurs when Googlebot can’t access the CSS and JS files on your website.
This can happen for a few different reasons:
- Incorrect file permissions: If the file permissions on your website’s CSS and JS files are set incorrectly, then Googlebot won’t be able to access them.
- Security plugins: Some security plugins may block Googlebot from accessing your website’s CSS and JS files.
- Incorrectly configured robots.txt file: If your website’s robots.txt file is blocking Googlebot from accessing your website’s CSS and JS files, then Googlebot won’t be able to access them.
- CDN configuration issues: If you’re using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve your website’s CSS and JS files, then there may be configuration issues preventing Googlebot from accessing them.
How to Fix the “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS and JS Files” Error in WordPress
Now that we’ve covered the possible causes of the “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS and JS Files” error, let’s take a look at how to fix it.
Step 1: Check File Permissions
The first step is to check the file permissions on your website’s CSS and JS files.
To do this, you’ll need to connect to your website using an FTP client or through your hosting account‘s file manager.
Once you’ve connected to your website, navigate to the directory where your CSS and JS files are stored.
Right-click on a file and select “File Permissions” from the dropdown menu. Make sure that the file permissions are set to 644.
If they’re not, change them to 644 and click “OK.”
Repeat this process for all of your website’s CSS and JS files.
Step 2: Check Security Plugins
If the file permissions on your website’s CSS and JS files are correct, then the next step is to check your website’s security plugins.
Some security plugins may block Googlebot from accessing your website’s CSS and JS files.
Temporarily disable your website’s security plugins and see if Googlebot can access your website’s CSS and JS files.
If Googlebot can access your website’s CSS and JS files when your security plugins are disabled, then you’ll need to adjust your security plugin settings to allow Googlebot to access them.
Step 3: Check robots.txt File
If your website’s security plugins aren’t blocking Googlebot from accessing your website’s CSS and JS files, then the next step is to check your website’s robots.txt file.
Open your website’s robots.txt file and make sure that it’s not blocking Googlebot from accessing your website’s CSS and JS files.
If it is, then you’ll need to adjust your robots.txt file to allow Googlebot to access them.
Step 4: Check CDN Configuration
If you’re using a CDN to serve your website’s CSS and JS files, then the final step is to check your CDN configuration.
Check your CDN settings to make sure that Googlebot is allowed to access your website’s CSS and JS files.
