How many of you use Google search console to keep track of your website performance? Even if it’s something you don’t use often, it’s important to know what this free tool can do for you and how to use it. This guide on the Google search console will help you become an expert in no time, so you can start using the data Google search console provides to improve your business.
Today I am writing this article for new Bloggers if they want to know How to add a website in the Google search console or how to submit your sitemap.
This is very simple to add your site to Google Search Console.
But before that, if you liked to read about how to write a blog post Or how to optimize your blog to get a place in the search engine results? then make sure you visit here.
Now let’s discuss the search console and how it works..
What is Google Search Console?
If you want to check your site’s performance and how your site is performing in Google then this is the best free tool that you have.
As it is a product of Google that is why it will show you the exact data that all the bloggers need.
You will get information on keywords and the queries that are ranking and bringing traffic to your blog.
You can also check how the mobile version of your website is performing.
As well as you can check if the employee of Google has penalized your Website manually or not.
So, you can understand that this is a very powerful tool that you should use.
What is Google Search Console and how does it’s works Read the complete guide on all the parameters?
Use of Google Search Console
As I said earlier, this tool is provided by Google. That’s why it’s one of the most accurate and best free tools you can have.
Some of the best features and uses of this tool are-
- Mainly use Search Console to submit your sitemap so that Google can crawl and index your website.
- You will get all the important information that you want for your blog.
- You will get to know about the keywords that are ranking with their position on Google.
- If your post is not indexed, you can request Google to index your blog post as soon as you are publishing your new blog post.
- You can check your coverage errors in the Search Console.
So, these are some of the important and unique features that this tool has. And you should use it.
How to add a Website to Google Search Console?
It is very easy to add your site to Google Search Console. It will take just a few easy steps to add.
Here I will discuss the steps in detail.
#Step-1 ( Visit Google Search Console )
First, you need to visit Google Search Console. And then click on the Login or Start Now option to get started.
#Step-2 ( Select Property Type )
Click on Start now Here you will get 2 options. Which one you choose is up to you. The best will be if you choose the Domain option to verify. But here you need to verify through DNS.
If you want then you can choose the URL prefix option. Now make sure that you enter your full URL.
Like- https://xyz.com/ then make sure you enter the full domain. Do not forget the ” / ” at the end of the domain or URL. You can add www, HTTP also.
But HTTP is not the right thing. It means you don’t have the SSL certificate. Contact your hosting provider to make it HTTPS or you can read one of our articles on How to get a free SSL certificate.
#Step-3 ( Verify Your Account )
Here you will see the different options to verify your website with a search console.
HTML File Verification :
If you want to verify your site through this method, you need to download the HTML file, and then you need to upload that into the root folder of your site.
HTML TAG :
Here you need to paste the meta tag into the header section of your website’s theme.
If you are using WordPress then go to your dashboard >> click on Appearance >> Theme Editor >> Select header.php >> Add into head section.
And you will be able to access your Google Search Console account.
Google Analytics :
It is the easiest process to verify.
If you already have a Google Analytics account and you are using the same Google account for both GA and GSC, now you just need to click on the verify button.
Google Tag Manager :
It is the same as Google analytics. You can auto-verify your account if you are already using Google Tag Manager.
If you do not have a Tag Manager account then first create an account then add your website URL and after adding your site you will get a code paste that code in your head section.
You can read an article by Google on How to Verify with a Tag Manager.
Verify via DNS Record :
It is the most popular way to verify your account. But here you need to be a little bit technical. Because after putting the domain name, you will get to see a page like this-
Here you can see Google has given you a code. By this, you need to verify. To verify, just sign in to your domain name provider ( Like- Godaddy, Namecheap,Hostinger ) and then go to the DNS management section.
Then copy and paste this TXT record code in your DNS. When you access your hosting account in DNS you can see the TXT record option here you just need to paste this code.
After that, just click on save, and in the Google Search Console click on verify.
You will be done.
#Step-4 (Verify using Yoast SEO Plugin)
But if you don’t want to verify through the theme then use the SEO plugin to verify.
Like- if you are using the Yoast SEO plugin then, first log in to your WordPress admin panel and then click on SEO and then the General section.
Here you can verify for all the webmaster tools like- Yahoo, Bing, etc.
Just click on the webmaster tool section here.
And then paste the code in the blank field of Google. And then click on save changes.
If you want to verify using an SEO plugin then click on this link showing on the image and verify using any option.
After that, you will get the code and paste that code into the Yoast SEO plugin.
#Step-5 ( Back To Search Console )
Now you are almost done. So, here you need to go back to the Google search Console and then click on verify.
After verification of your site, you need to wait for 24 hours to show your website performance data.
How to generate a sitemap and add it into Google Search Console?
It is a very important thing. If your site has a sitemap it means Google can easily access your site. Google doesn’t need to visit here and there to know about your website’s information.
Like- How many posts are there? Do you have all the needed pages or not? etc.
At least you should generate two sitemaps. One is for the posts and the other one is for the pages ( Like- Privacy Policy, About Us, etc. )
The best and easiest way to generate this is by using Rank Math or Yoast SEO plugin. This is a very good SEO plugin. It can easily generate a sitemap for you.
You don’t need to do anything.
Here you can see-
In the WordPress admin panel go to the rank math section and then click sitemap setting ( After installing the rank math plugin ).
Just copy that sitemap URL and visit Google Search Console. And then in the site map section add your sitemap and you are all done.
Here you can see the blank portion. Here you need to enter your sitemap and then click on submit.
It is done now.
How to check your verification tag in the search console?
It is very easy to check your verification tag. You just need to follow some easy and simple steps for this.
First, go to the left section of Google Search Console and then select your domain.
And then Click on the setting section on the left-hand side and then click on Ownership Verification.
Here you can see that you are a verified owner. There is one thing you can do to cross-check.
And that is to match the HTML tag with the tag you used to verify your account earlier.
You will see that both are similar.
What’s the difference between Google Analytics and Google Search Console?
There is no huge difference between these two tools. Both are products of Google. So, both will give you accurate data that you will be needed for your website.
Google Analytics is user-oriented. It will provide data related to the visitors who visit and interact with your website.
Here you will see the questions on which the visitors are landing directly in the landing page section.
As well as it will show you the page session also. The bounce rate will also reflect in this tool.
By this Bounce Rate option, you will get to know that the people are entering into your website through a page and they are also leaving your website from that page only.
The people are not interested in visiting the other pages or posts. Maybe this is not directly a ranking factor but it is indirectly related to ranking.
Many other features are also available that can be very valuable for your website.
On the other hand, Google Search Console is search-engine focused. It is providing tools and insights that can help the site owners.
It can help to improve your visibility on Google or any search engine. Here you can also check the keywords or questions that are ranking in Google with their position.
As well as you can see the ultimate performance on Google. Like how many impressions your blog posts or site is getting when the people are searching for those keywords on which you are ranking.
As well as how many people are clicking on them.
So, both the tools are very powerful and accurate. And I think you know that both of the tools are free. So, what can be better than that?
Some best insights or tools in Google Search Console
All the tools or insights that this tool has have been very important and powerful. You will feel the need for all these insights from time to time.
But some main tools that you need to use from start to end is-
- URL Inspection.
- Overview.
- Sitemaps.
- Core Web Vitals.
- AMP.
- Page Experience.
These are some best features that this tool has. And you have to use most of them from the start of your blogging career.
Frequently Ask Questions
How often does Google crawl my site?
There is no exact time limitation or bindings for this. This depends on you how frequently you are publishing posts.
Google also has a budget for this. And I think you know that there are millions of sites on Google. And Google has to crawl all of them.
And it is related to the index. As soon as Google will crawl your blog it will get started indexing.
So make regular posts or update your posts regularly and then Google will increase the budget of crawling for your site.
And then your posts will start indexing very quickly.
Normally if your site is very new then it can take 10 to 15 days also to crawl or index.How does URL Inspection insight work in the Google Search Console tool?
It is one of the main and most important insights that this tool has. This tool is quite used by the new bloggers.
As I told you in the previous section that if your site is very new then it will take a long time to index.
Because it takes time to understand that there is a new site entered a few days back for Google.
So, URL Inspection insight helps to request Google to index your new post’s URL fast.
After publishing your post if you copy that URL into this insight and press enter then you will see a request indexing option. And if you click on that, then Google will index your post soon.
Conclusion :
In the end, I think you understand how to add websites to the Google search console. And why you should use it after reading this article.
So, if you are a new blogger then this tool will help you a lot in improving your visibility in search engines or Google.
So, make sure you are using it. Although it is very easy to set up, the setup process will be easier for you after reading this article.
Now, use all the information you need to improve your position in Google and eliminate the wrong things in your blog.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.