Hi, I'm Daniel Waisberg, Search Advocate at Google.
And in this video,
I'll talk about how to activate Search Console for your site
so that you can get access to your Google Search Data.
There are seven ways to verify your site ownership
in Search Console,
providing you with a wide range of options to choose from.
This video should help you find the method that works best for you.
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Verification is the process of proving to Google
that you own a property.
This is needed in order to make sure you are the owner of the website
and to prevent others to see your private search data.
Proving ownership on the web,
is simply demonstrating the ability to update
and make a small non visible change to your website.
If you're the site owner, this should be a very simple operation for you.
It could literally take only a few minutes.
As the title of the video suggests,
Search Console supports seven verification methods:
DNS Record,
HTML file upload,
HTML Tag,
Google Analytics tracking code,
Google Tag Manager container script,
Google Sites,
and Blogger.
First of all, for all methods described here,
you'll start in the same place.
Open your Search Console account
and click Add property in the properties list.
If you have never verified the property,
the first time you log into Search Console,
you'll find our special wizard asking you to verify a property.
If it's your first or tenth verification,
when you click to add a new property,
you'll be asked what property type you want to create.
You have two options:
Domain property and URL prefix property.
I suggest creating at least one domain property
to represent your site,
as it is the most comprehensive view of your website information.
It will include all URLs in all subdomains and across HTTP and HTTPS.
It requires you to add the DNS record in your domain name provider
but it's worth your time.
URL prefix property verification is usually a bit simpler
as you have multiple verification methods,
such as using your existing Google Analytics or Tag Manager Account.
URL prefix properties also make sense
if you want to view a section of your site separately.
For example, if you work with a consultant on a specific part of your site,
you might want to verify this part separately
so that you can limit access to your data.
Now, let's talk about each of the verification methods
available to you.
If you're feeling sleepy,
now's the time to pause and go get a coffee.
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DNS verification requires you to add the DNS record
in your domain name provider.
This is the only method supported for domain properties.
So I'll demonstrate DNS record verification
by creating a domain property.
But note that you can also use DNS record verification
on URL prefix properties.
Add your domain to the domain option as shown in the screen and click Continue.
In the instructions dialog you'll see two options.
If your domain registrar is listed in the instructions drop-down,
you'll be walked through in an easier automated process
to verify your site.
For example, if your DNS provider is GoDaddy,
choose it from the list and click Start verification.
This will lead you to their login page
where you'll need the credentials used in GoDaddy.
After logging in, click Authorize
and you'll be redirected to Search Console.
But don't worry if the verification doesn't work immediately.
Just wait a few hours or a day
and try verifying again by choosing it from the Properties list.
Sometimes, DNS record changes can be slow.
If your Domain Name Provider is not in the list,
you'll need to follow written instructions in the Help Center
to copy your DNS Text Record into your domain provider.
Start by copying the text record from the dialog
after entering your domain.
Then, click Full details to open up the Help Center.
You'll see the full process documented there.
We have instructions for a lot of domain providers,
find yours in the list and click the link for more information.
Now follow the instructions for your specific provider.
If you are asked to provide a Google Security Token,
that's the token you copied from Search Console's verification dialog
a minute ago.
After you change your DNS record, go back to Search Console
and click Verify in the verification pane.
If the verification doesn't work immediately,
wait a few hours or a day and try again
as the change may take some time to take effect.
Just choose the unverified property from the Properties drop-down,
and it will try to verify you automatically.
To stay verified, don't remove the DNS Record
even after verification succeeds.
If you perform the steps above and your verification does not succeed,
check the full details link mentioned previously
to learn about potential errors.
You can find out more about those errors and how to handle them in the Help Center.
In order to verify your website using HTML file upload,
you'll need to have permission to upload the file to your website
where it can be accessed by a browser.
After you click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option
and click Continue.
Expand the HTML file section where you'll find a file Download button.
Download your HTML verification file
and upload it to the Root directory of the property you want to verify.
For example, if you want to verify
then the root directory is the homepage.
If you want to verify
then the root directory is
In this case, you would upload the file to
and all child directories would be verified.
Note that you can use this file in any site you want to verify,
it's personalized to your user and can't be reused.
Once you complete this step, click Verify in Search Console.
If you perform the steps above correctly, verification should work immediately.
If it doesn't, click the Full details link to learn about potential errors.
You can find out more about those errors and how to handle them in the Help Center.
In order to verify your website with an HTML Tag,
you'll need permission to edit the source code of your websites homepage.
After you click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option
and click Continue.
Expand the HTML Tag Section to find the meta HTML Tag
with a personalized key.
Copy the tag and paste it into your homepage head tag.
Make sure not to change the text.
Verify that the tag is present on your live page
by visiting your homepage and checking the page source text
to confirm that the tag is present.
Once you complete this step, click Verify in Search Console.
If you perform the steps above correctly, verification should work immediately.
If it doesn't, click the Full details link to learn about potential errors.
You can find out more about those errors and how to handle them in the Help Center.
In order to verify your website using the Google Analytics tracking code,
you'll need an account with Google Analytics
that use the same Google account.
You must have at least edit permission on the Google Analytics account.
If you're not sure which permission you have,
check the Google Analytics Help Center.
Before verifying, ensure that your homepage
has the Google Analytics tracking code in the head section of the page.
Although your Analytics tracking code
might work for Analytics in the body section as well,
for Search Console verification it must be in the head section.
Open your homepage in a browser, look at the page source code
and confirm that the tag is present in the head tag of the page.
After you click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option
and click Continue.
You must be logged in to Search Console with the same Google account
that you use for Google Analytics.
If you perform the steps above correctly, verification should work immediately.
If it doesn't, click the Full details link to learn about potential errors.
You can find out more about those errors and how to handle them in the Help Center.
The Google Analytics tracking code
will be used only to verify site ownership.
No Google Analytics data will be accessed following this process.
If you're looking to configure Search Console data and Analytics,
that's an entirely separate process.
Check the link below to learn more.
In order to verify your website
with a Google tag manager container snippet,
you'll need publish permissions to your container in Google tag manager.
You'll also need to be logged in to Search Console
with the same Google account that you use for Google tag manager.
If you're not sure which permissions you have,
check the Google tag manager Help Center link below.
Before verifying, ensure that your home page
has the no script portion of the tag manager code
immediately after the opening body tag.
If it does not, verification will fail.
Open your home page in a browser, look at the page source code
and confirm that the tag is present,
and immediately after the body tag with nothing in between.
After you click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option
and click Continue.
Expand the Google tag manager section where you'll find the button to verify.
If you have the necessary permission,
your verification should work immediately after clicking it.
if you perform the steps above correctly, verification should work immediately.
If it doesn't, click the Full details link to learn about potential errors.
You can find out more about those errors and how to handle them in the Help Center.
The Google tag manager container ID
will be used only to verify site ownership.
No Google tag manager data will be accessed following this process.
In order to verify your classic Google site,
you must be logged in to Search Console
with the same account used to manage your site.
Click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option,
and click Continue.
That's it.
Your Google site should be verified automatically after this step.
If you have a new site or a site with a custom domain URL,
you will not be automatically verified.
If that's the case with your site,
you should use the Google Analytics method.
If you're not sure whether your site is classic or new,
check the link below in the site's Help Center.
In order to verify your website with blogger,
you must be logged in to Search Console
with the same account used to manage your blog.
After you click Add property,
add your website URL under the URL prefix option
and click Continue.
That's it, your blog should be verified automatically after this step.
Wow! That was a lot.
But before I leave you,
I would like to suggest you to try and verify your website
with more than one verification method
just in case one of your existing verification method fails.
Verification methods are checked periodically by Google,
and if all verification methods for a property fail,
your access to that property will expire.
But if you lose access to your account, don't worry, we have your back.
You can always reverify with your user or verify a new owner
using one of the methods described in this video.
Every Search Console property requires at least one verified owner.
But I recommend companies to have more than one owner,
as employees may change roles or leave the organization.
So, it's good practice to have several verified owners in Search Console.
When it comes to security,
account owners will always be able to see the list of all owners and users
verified to that site,
as well as the verification methods for each owner.
You can then, optionally, unverify previous owners
by removing their verification token.
For example, removing the HTML tag from the site
for HTML tag verified owners.
Make sure to check your list of owners once in a while,
so that you remember to remove previous employees
or agencies you have worked with in the past.
That's it.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding
of how to verify websites on Search Console.
Now choose your method and get to work.
In the next video,
I'll discuss the performance reports in Search Console,
which you can use to monitor your site's performance in Google Search.
Don't forget to subscribe to the GoogleWebmasters YouTube channel,
where we'll be publishing lots of Search Console videos.
Stay tuned.
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