Comprehensive Google Search Console Verification Guide

Google Search Console is one of the important tools for monitoring and tracking issues on the website. This free service from Google can help with overall site management. Therefore, it is important to verify Google Search Console so that the monitoring and audit activities can proceed without any problems.

Before going into the discussion of GSC verification, you need to learn about this free service from Google, how important it is for website management, and some of the verification methods recommended by Google. Check out the complete information below.

Learn about Google Search Console

GSC, or Google Search Console, is a free tool provided by Google for webmasters to monitor organic performance and optimize website performance. If you want to get high performance on search results pages (SERPs), especially on the Google search engine, then you need to use it.

There are many useful features available in GSC. To be able to access these features, you need to connect your website by performing Google Search Console verification process.

The Importance of Google Search Console

Primarily, GSC is used to monitor and resolve website issues in Google search results. You don't have to connect GSC to your website if you want to appear in Google's SERP because web crawlers can still find your website.

However, the features in GSC can help you optimize your website so that it performs better. What are the features available in GSC? Here is the list:

• Displays organic metrics such as clicks, impressions, average CTR, and average position, along with a graph of their growth over a period of time.
• Find a list of the most popular keywords and pages on your website.
• Performs a URL indexing request and submits a sitemap to Google.
• Detects crawling and indexing-related issues.
• Remove a URL or page from Google Search Console.
• Evaluating the performance of the website page experience.
• Detecting constraints on core web vitals.
• See website performance on mobile display.
• Monitor website security.
• Find out which pages get the most internal links.
• Find out which pages get the most external links.
• Knowing external websites that provide backlinks.
• Disavow links that harm the website.

For a more complete explanation, you can read about SEO terms in an article related to what Google Search Console is in the term collection from cmlabs.

Google Search Console Verification Methods

If you want to use Google Search Console, you need to verify your website's ownership first. This process is necessary because the data in the GSC is very sensitive. It can affect the presence and behavior of the website in Google search results.

Website owners or managers who have been verified at GSC can provide access to other users to view or manage website data. If you want to manage a website whose access is already owned by someone else, you can request access from the website owner.

However, you can try to verify GSC on your own. If you want to manually perform a Google Search Console verification, then follow the methods below:

Upload the HTML File

The way to perform a Google Search Console verification is by using HTML files. You will be required to put files from GSC into the website folder. You can use an FTP program like FileZilla or File Manager to upload files.

The steps for uploading HTML files from GSC to the website folder are as follows:

1. Open Google Search Console.
2. Click Add Properties.
3. Select the URL prefix property type.
4. On the verification of ownership page, select HTML File Method.
5. Download the available HTML files.
6. Log in to the cPanel website with a hosting account.
7. Open the File Manager menu.
8. Upload the verification file to the website's main directory.
9. Once the file is uploaded, you can return to the ownership verification page in GSC and click Verify.
10. If there is a failure in the verification process, see the description in the "Possible errors" section at the bottom to find out what the problem is.

Install HTML Tags

In this method, you need to install the meta tag provided by GSC in the <head> section of the HTML of your website page. Google will detect the presence of meta tags on the page to verify the website's ownership.

Since this process requires you to edit the HTML source code, make sure that you have access to it. You can also ask a web developer for help installing the HTML tag.

The way to perform a Google Search Console verification with HTML tags is as follows:

1. Open Google Search Console.
2. Click Add Property.
3. Select the URL prefix property type.
4. On the verification of ownership page, select HTML Tag Method.
5. Copy the available meta tags. The form of the meta tag is:

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="......." />

6. Place the meta tag inside the <head> of the website's home page. You can see an example below:

<head>
    <title>Halaman Utama</title>
    <meta name="google-site-verification" content="......." />
</head>

7. Once edited, save your home page.

8. Return to the verification of ownership page in GSC and click Verify.

9. If there is a failure in the verification process, see the description in the "Possible errors" section at the bottom to find out what the problem is.

Through Google Tag Manager

 The Google Search Console verification process can also be done through Google Tag Manager (GTM). This method uses the snippet code or container snippet to verify your website's ownership.

If you want to use GTM, make sure your account has Publish or Admin permissions. You must also use the same Google account in Tag Manager to log in to Search Console.

Here are the steps to verify website ownership with GTM that you can follow:

1. Open Google Tag Manager.
2. If it's your first time using GTM, register first. Make sure the account used is the same as the GSC account.
3. Fill in the account name, country, and website URL data.
4. In the target platform section, select Web.
5. Click the Create button.
6. After that, you will get a verification code from GTM.
7. Place the code in the <head> and <body> sections of the home page.
8. Open Google Search Console.
9. Click Add Properties.
10. Select the URL prefix property type.
11. On the verification of ownership page, select the Google Tag Manager Method.
12. Click the Verify button.
13. If there is a failure in the verification process, see the description in the "Possible errors" section at the bottom to find out what the problem is.

Use Google Analytics Code

If your website is already connected to Google Analytics, you can directly verify Google Search Console. Do note that you must use the same Google account for both tools.

Also, make sure your Google Analytics account has edit permissions. If you're not already connected to GA or GSC, you can verify both at the same time with the Google Analytics tracking code. Here are the steps to do it:

1. Open Google Analytics.
2. On the Settings menu, click Property Settings > Tracking Info > Tracking Code.
3. Copy the gtag.js snippet verification code onto the page.
4. Place the verification code in the <head> section of the HTML code of the website's home page.
5. Open Google Search Console.
6. Click Add Properties.
7. Select the URL prefix property type.
8. On the verification of ownership page, select Google Analytics Method.
9. Click the Verify button.
10. If there is a failure in the verification process, see the description in the "Possible errors" section at the bottom to find out what the problem is.

Via Domain Name Provider

Another way to verify Google Search Console is through the domain name provider. This method can be used on domain property types or URL prefixes. You can choose to verify the root domain (example.com) or only certain subdomains (blog.example.com).

Performing verification on the root domain will also connect all subdomains of the website to the GSC. On the contrary, verifying the subdomain only will not automatically verify the root domain.

The steps you can follow to verify with the domain name provider are:

1. Open Google Search Console.
2. Click Add Properties.
3. On the select property type page, you can select either a domain property or a URL prefix property.
4. If you choose a URL prefix, select the Domain Name Provider Method.
5. Copy the TXT record that is on the page.
6. Log in to the cPanel website with a hosting account.
7. Open the Zone Editor menu, then click Manage on the domain you want to use.
8. Click the Add Record button, then select TXT record.
9. Back to the Google Search Console
10. Click the Verify button.
11. If there is a failure in the verification process, see the description in the "Possible errors" section at the bottom to find out what the problem is.

Verification Method on Website Hosting Platforms

If you're using a hosting platform like WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Blogger, and so on, there may be plugins or special settings that make it easier for you to verify Google Search Console, even automatically.

You can find out how the Google Search Console verification settings are on the website hosting platform that you are using. Alternatively, try to use the official plugin from Google, namely Site Kit.

For example, you can learn how to verify the Google Search Console in WordPress. You can simply download the Site Kit for WordPress plugin and follow the instructions to connect your website to the GSC.

Thus, the complete explanation of Google Search Console verification using various methods, ranging from HTML files, HTML tags, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, DNS records, and verification methods on the website hosting provider.

If you find it difficult to connect your website with GSC and need further consultation, don't hesitate to ask for help from SEO service providers.