How To Add WordPress Site To Google Search Console
- Last Update: September 12, 2024
You’ll need all the SEO tools available to you if you’re serious about expanding your website and improving your Google ranking.
The success of your website can be greatly influenced by how it appears in search engines and how many visitors it gets each month, especially for big players like Google.
It is, fortunately, possible to find out more about your website’s current rankings thanks to tools like Google Search Console.
Why and How we will see in this guide.
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What Is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tool) is a free tool offered by Google that helps you in analyzing the performance and behaviour of your website in a search engine.
It identifies the issues of your website and can also let you know if your site is infected with malware.
If you don’t have a Google Search Console account, then you need to get one now.
Google Search Console (or GSC) is completely free, and it can be used by any website, regardless of platform.
To get the most out of it, you must first set it up correctly, understand what the metrics mean, and know how to access its features.
How To Add Google Search Console To WordPress Website
First of all, go to Google Search Console click on Start Now and sign up using your Google account.
Upon signup, when you click on the hamburger menu at the top right corner you will see an option of ‘Add a property’ click on that.
Now you will get two methods for site verification:
- Domain name
- URL prefix
We recommend using the URL prefix method because it is more flexible.
Enter the URL of your website and click on continue. Make sure you’re using the correct protocols.
Because Google considers HTTP and HTTPS as two different protocols. It also considers https://www.example.com and https://example.com as two different websites.
Once you add your website. You will get a few options to verify the ownership of the website you are adding.
You can go with the recommended method. However, I suggest you go with the alternate method (This is the most reliable way).
In the recommended method you need to download and then upload the HTML file to your website root directory using FTP.
If you are familiar with adding the file through FTP you can go with this process else choose the Alternate method.
To do so, go to other verification methods followed by ‘HTML tag’. Copy the meta tag and paste it into your header file (header.php) of your WordPress theme.
However, I don’t recommend directly editing header files because if you update or change your theme, then the HTML tag will disappear.
Google periodically checks for the HTML tag and will disable your access to the site data in the search console if it cannot find the verification tag.
Instead, I recommend using Insert Header and Footer plugin (it’s free and reliable) to insert code into your WordPress website. It is the safest way to add any kind of script.
Once you install and activate this plugin simply go to the dashboard of your WordPress admin panel click on Settings followed by Insert Header and Footer and paste the meta tag into the header field.
Save the changes, get back to the webmaster console and hit the ‘Verify’ button.
Google Search Console will now look for the HTML tag in your website code and will show you a success message. That’s it simple as that.
If you don’t see a success message, then you need to clear your WordPress cache. This will ensure that Google can fetch the latest version of your website.
That’s all. You have successfully added your site to the Google Search Console (Webmaster tools). You can now click on the ‘Go to Property’ link to visit your Google Search Console dashboard.
From here you can see your website’s performance reports and index coverage.
Then tell Google a little bit more about your website by adding an XML sitemap. It helps Google to crawl your website a bit more efficiently.
Method 2: Use Yoast SEO Plugin To Link Your Website With Google Search Console
If you are using the Yoast SEO plugin.
Then Copy the Verification Key Code* from the Google search console and go to the Site connection tab of your Yoast SEO plugin and paste the verification code to the respective search engine.
For reference check the below screenshot.
That’s all you need to do to integrate your website with Google Search Console.
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FAQs On Google Search Console
These FAQs provide essential information about Google Search Console and how it helps website owners optimize their sites for better visibility and performance in Google search results.
How do I access Google Search Console?
You can access Google Search Console by signing in with your Google account at https://search.google.com/search-console/.
Why should I use Google Search Console?
Google Search Console provides valuable insights into how Google crawls, indexes, and ranks your website. It helps you identify and fix issues that might affect your website’s performance in search results.
How do I add my website to Google Search Console?
To add your website, sign in to Google Search Console, click on “Add Property,” enter your website’s URL, and follow the verification steps to prove ownership.
What is the purpose of verifying ownership in Google Search Console?
Verifying ownership ensures that only authorized users can access and manage data related to a specific website.
What are the different verification methods in Google Search Console?
Verification methods include HTML file upload, HTML tag, domain name provider, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager.
How do I submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console?
After adding your website, go to the “Sitemaps” section and submit the URL of your XML sitemap. This helps Google understand and index your website’s content more effectively.
What are performance reports in Google Search Console?
Performance reports provide data on how often your website appears in Google search results, the queries that lead to clicks, click-through rates, and more.
How does Google Search Console help with mobile usability?
Google Search Console provides a Mobile Usability report that highlights issues affecting the mobile-friendliness of your website. It helps you identify and fix mobile-related problems.
Can Google Search Console help me identify and fix crawl errors?
Yes, Google Search Console’s Coverage report shows you pages with errors, issues, or excluded pages that Google couldn’t crawl or index properly.
How can I check if Google has indexed my website's pages?
The Index coverage report in Google Search Console provides information on the indexing status of your website’s pages, including the number of indexed pages.
What is the "Manual Actions" section in Google Search Console?
The Manual Actions section informs you if Google has detected any manual penalties against your website due to violations of Google’s quality guidelines.
Can Google Search Console help with structured data and rich results?
Yes, Google Search Console’s Enhancements section can identify issues with structured data on your site and show which rich results Google has found.
How often should I use Google Search Console to monitor my website?
It’s recommended to regularly monitor your website’s performance and address issues promptly. Weekly or monthly checks are often sufficient, depending on the size of your website.
What’s a Google Search Console query?
This is a search term that generated impressions of your site page on a Google SERP.
What’s average position?
This represents the average position of your page(s) for the selected query(s).
Suppose our guide to SEO tools is ranking #2 for “SEO software” and #4 for “keyword tools.” The average position for this URL would be 3 (assuming we were ranking for literally nothing else).
Filtering in Google Search Console
GSC provides a variety of options for viewing and parsing your data.
Although these filters are quite useful, they can be difficult to understand when you’re just getting to know the tool.
Is Google Search Console suitable for both beginners and experienced website owners?
Yes, Google Search Console provides a range of tools and reports that cater to both beginners and experienced SEO professionals, helping them improve their website’s search presence.
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Rajeev, You are most welcome.