Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with the Blocked due to access forbidden (403) error. This error indicates that Googlebot is being denied access to certain pages on your website, which can indeed waste your crawl budget.
To resolve this issue, you can follow these steps:
- Check File Permissions: Ensure that the file permissions for your website’s files and directories are set correctly. Incorrect permissions can lead to the 403 error.
- Review Firewall Settings: Make sure that your firewall settings allow Googlebot to access your site.
- Inspect .htaccess File: A corrupt
.htaccess file can cause this error. You may need to edit or restore it to its default state.
- Check for IP Address Blocking: Ensure that Googlebot’s IP addresses are not blocked on your server.
- Disable Security Plugins Temporarily: If you have security plugins installed, they might be blocking Googlebot. Try disabling them temporarily to see if that resolves the issue.
For a more detailed guide on fixing this error, you can refer to our article here.
If you continue to experience issues or need further assistance, please reply to this ticket with your site URL, and a human agent from our support team will assist you further.
Thank you for raising this concern!
Sources:
How to Fix Indexing Issues in Google Search Console » Rank Math
How To Fix Blocked Due to Access Forbidden (403) Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Hello,
That is a clear indication that a website is infected with malware. This is usually related to the Japanese keyword hack:
https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-japanese-keyword-hack/
If this is happening very recently and you take action now, you could still stop the results from going to SERPs.
We would recommend starting by performing a security audit of the website and fixing any issues you find.
Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.
If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you.
