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PSA Googlebot tries to render pages to understand what they look like, to better understand the value & context of your site's content. This requires that your JS & CSS files be crawlable. Don't block these files for Googlebot in robots.txt, if you want Google to understand your site optimally.

Preeti Gupta

@ilovechoclates.bsky.social

9 Apr

I am curious: why would sites block these files?

JaninaFlow Urban Ex TwinHead

@janinaruth.eurosky.social

9 Apr

Might be accidental, e.g. if they want or need need to block a certain directory (for whatever reasons) and forget to exclude the .css and .js files that might be stored there. Depends on site architecture.

John Mueller

@johnmu.com

That too! It was better known not to block these back when mobile-friendliness was a topic (you can't tell if it's mobile-friendly if you can't render it properly). It's one of those things that's obvious once you know, so it's good to post reminders from time to time :).

9/4/26, 5:09 pm0 reposts2 likes

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