Edge your site SEO presence by getting a shoutout from the WordPress search console! Think of it this way: Search Console is your word-of-mouth marketing team, ensuring your site is seen by as many people as possible.
Have you ever searched for your site on Google and couldn’t find it? You must sign up for Search Console if you have a WordPress site. It’s a tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor your site’s visibility on the web. This guide will show you how to set up and use Search Console on your WordPress site. Let’s break it down:
What is a Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor and manage your website’s visibility on the web. It allows you to see how your site performs in organic search and ensure that Google can find and index your content.
Formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, Search a Console is a powerful tool every WordPress site owner should use. It’s especially important if you want to make sure that your site is visible in Google search results. With it, you can:
- Add sitemap
- Test structured data
- Fix crawl errors
- Submit URLs to Google
- Set up email alerts
- Analyze which pages get the most traffic
- Find if your site passes all core web vitals
- Ensure everything is configured properly for AMP pages
In a nutshell, combining WordPress and Search Console is a recipe for SEO success. The best part is it’s free of cost and easy to set up.
But why shall you stop and connect Google search console?
Why do you use Google Search Console?
The simple answer is to improve your SEO. By understanding how your site appears in search results, you can ensure that people can find it when searching for keywords related to your business.
Search Console also allows you to submit your sitemap, a file that tells Google about all the pages on your site. This is especially important if you have a large website with many pages or if you’ve recently added or deleted content.
Additionally, Search Console can help you identify and fix crawl errors, which are problems that prevent Google from indexing your site. If your site isn’t indexed, it won’t appear in search results, so this is an important issue to address.
Finally, Search Console can help you monitor your website’s performance in organic search. You can see how many people are clicking on your site in search results, which keywords they use, and which pages get the most traffic. This information can be helpful in fine-tuning your SEO strategy.
How to set up Google Search Console?
Now let’s show you how to set up and use Search Console on your WordPress site.
- Go to the Google Search Console website and sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one for free.
- Once you’re logged in, click on the Add a property button.
- Enter your website’s URL in the field provided and click on the Add button.
- Google will now ask you how you want to verify that you own the website. There are several options but clicking on the HTML tag option is the easiest.
- Copy the code that appears and paste it into the <head> section of your website’s code. If you’re using WordPress, you can go to Appearance > Editor and select the header.php file from the list on the right.
- Once you’ve added the code, click on the Verify button.
- Google will now take you to the Search Console dashboard. From here, you can start using the various features that Search Console offers.
Now let’s get to the nitty gritty of verifying your ownership.
Ways to verify your WordPress on Search Console: step-by-step
As Google Search Console is a free service, you don’t need to verify your website with them. However, if you want to use any of the features that Search Console offers, you must verify that you own the website.
You will be given different verification options as you get to step 4 of verifying ownership.
You must choose from the above according to what’s best for you!
Verify with HTML Tag
This is the easiest method of verification and only takes a few seconds.
- Copy the code that Google provides you with
- Now you have 2 verification options
Via SEO Plugin:
If you use an SEO plugin like Yoast or All in One SEO, go to the General Settings tab and paste the code in the Google Verification Code field. Save your changes, and you are done!
Manually Via Headers And Footers Plugin:
If you don’t want to use an SEO plugin, then you can use a free plugin like Headers and Footers. Once you install and activate the plugin, go to Settings » Insert Headers and Footers. Paste your code in the header field and click on the Save button.
HTML file
- Download the HTML verification file that Google provides you
- Now, you need to upload this file to the root directory of your website. You can do this using an FTP client like Filezilla or the cPanel file manager.
- Once you have uploaded the file, go back to the Google Search Console page and click on the Verify button. Google will now verify your website.
Verify with Google Analytics
- If you use Google Analytics on your website, you can verify your site by connecting it to Search Console. First, you need to get your Google Analytics tracking code.
- Log in to your Google Analytics account and click on the Admin link in the left sidebar. In the property column, click Tracking Info and then the tracking code.
- Copy the tracking code and return to your Search Console tab. Paste the code in the box and click on the Verify button.
Verify with Google Tag Manager
- If you use Google Tag Manager on your website, you can verify your site by connecting it to Search Console. First, you need to get your Google Tag Manager code.
- Log in to your Google Tag Manager account and click on the Admin link in the left sidebar. In the container column, click on Tags and then create a new tag.
- Select the Custom HTML Tag option and paste your code into the HTML field. Click on the Save button, and you are done!
- Go back to your Search Console tab and click the Verify button. Google will now verify your website.
DNS Txt Record
- If you use a DNS provider like Cloudflare, you can verify your site by adding a DNS TXT record.
- Log in to your Cloudflare account and click on the DNS tab.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Add Record button.
- Select TXT from the Type dropdown and enter the code that Google provides you with in the Name/Host/Alias field. Click on the Save button, and you are done!
- Go back to your Search Console tab and click the Verify button. Google will now verify your website.
View Google Search Console reports in WordPress
Lastly, you can also view your google search console reports in WordPress.
- To view your Google Search Console reports in WordPress, you need to install and activate a supporting plugin like monster insights, Jetpack etc.
- You need to connect your WordPress site to the plugin upon activation. You must log in to your Google account and click on the Allow button.
- Once you are done with the connection, you can view your reports by going to Insights » Reports.
That’s it! You have successfully verified your WordPress site with Google Search Console. If you like this article, please share it with your friends and followers.