Google JavaScript and CSS Warning
Google is now making new efforts to notify you of problems with JavaScript and CSS on your website. As of July 28th, 2015, Google started to send out notifications via the Google Search Console to warn websites that are blocking access to their CSS and JavaScript assets. You also need to take optimizing proper website design into account.
Why Google Is Issuing These Warnings
The warning is to let website owners know that blocking access could result in search engine rankings that are less than optimal. This is because Googlebot, the bot that crawls sites in order to determine search engine rankings in Google, needs to access these assets in order to get a complete understanding of every website it crawls.
In October of 2014, Google made an update to the Google webmaster guidelines to explain that blocking CSS and JavaScript would result in “suboptimal rankings” Google’s webmaster guidelines are considered to be the definitive guide for website owners and SEO professionals that are looking to get the best results from Google in terms of search engine rankings.
How to Know If You Received This Notification
If you want to know if you have received this notification, you should log into Google Search Console. The message will display as “Googlebot Cannot Access CSS & JS on http://example.com” with http://example.com replaced with the name of your website. The notification will then advise you on how to fix this error which includes:
- Identifying blocked resources
- Updating your robots.txt file
- Validating the fix using “Fetch as Google”
The “Fetch as Google” tool will show you how Google renders your website so that you can see your website the way that Google does.
Not a Google Penalty
So far according to searchenginejournal.com, many users have reported experiencing this problem. While the warning should not be considered as a Google penalty, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Receiving this warning means that Google is unable to see your entire site which can mean lower rankings for your content. If you are not sure how to fix this error on your own, you should talk to your website developers in order to determine what should be done.
Watch Out If You Don’t Know What You Are Doing
Changing elements in your robots.txt file or important site files is permanent if you don’t have backup copies saved. If you are unsure how to edit these items, don’t attempt to do the fix on your own. You may end up causing more problems with your website. A lot of content management systems, such as WordPress may be already designed to block access to these files, which means that your WordPress site may automatically have this problem.
Have you received notifications from Google that are warning you about problems with your website? If you need help with fixing website errors,
Infintech Designs from New Orleans can help. Contact us today for a free review of your website.
