Search Console Setup Settings

Google announced that it has switched to a completely new interface for Search Console Setup as of March 2019. We have covered the differences between the old interface and the new interface and the innovations brought in our “New Search Console” article. In this article, we cover the Search Console Setup settings.

How to Login to Search Console with Google Account

You need to have an active Google account to use the Search Console service. If you have an account ending with @Gmail , it will work. If you don’t have a Google Account, you can get it for free from Gmail.

Search Console Setup – Adding a Property – Adding a Site

After a successful login with your Google account, the Search Console home page will open. If you are logging into Search Console for the first time with this account, you will be asked to add a Property, i.e. Site.

As seen in the picture above, you will be asked for the domain information of your site in two fields on the right and left. The Domain Name section on the left was not there before. It was added when Google decided to unify sub domains under a single property.

Probably the right side will be removed soon. Type the domain address of your website as“example.com” in the Domain Name section on the left side and click Continue. If you have subdomains hosted on a different server, you may need to add them separately (such as m.example.com or mobil.example.com).

Even if you put“www.” at the beginning of your domain name, Google will ignore it. The following example about adding sub domains will be explanatory.

example.com
– m.example.com
– mail.example.com
– shop.example.com
– …… example.com

example.com
– example.com/ana-sayfa
– example.com/kuslar.html
– example.com/blog/kategori/fotograflar
– example.com/ …………….

example.com
– http://www.example.com
– http://example.com
– https://example.com
– https://www.example.com

example.com
– example.com.tr
– example.co.uk

Property Verification Options

The website you add here must be managed by you. Google will provide Methods to Verify Your Site on this page. You must be an administrator for the site to be verified.

Verify Domain Name via DNS

I do not recommend the Authentication method for Search Console via DNS record for two reasons. First, domain management is an unforgiving task. The second reason is that the verification process can take a long time.

It may take time for your change to reach Google DNS servers. Therefore, click on the link“try the URL preview property instead” at the bottom right of the image above and go back to the previous step.

In the“URL prefix” section on the right, type the domain address of your site as “https://example.com” or “http://example.com” and press the CONTINUE button.

Verify Ownership with URL Prefix (Recommended Method)

This is the most preferred verification method for site owners. At this stage, Search Console will offer you 5 different verification procedures.

HTML file: Google creates a unique Html file just for you. You download the file from the console and copy it to the main directory where your site is located via Ftp. Then click the VERIFY button on the Search Console Setup screen and your site will be verified by Google. At the end of the verification, you can delete the file you copied from the directory.

HTML tag: This is a simple site verification method preferred in this method. You can add a unique tag such as <meta name=”google-site-verification” content= “HzaF2GekFienjrx-s” /> , also produced by Google, between the Meta-tags of your site and verify it.

Google Analytics: If there is a previously verified Analytics membership for this site, you can verify it using this.

Google Tag Manager: If there is a previously verified Tag-Manager membership for this site, you can verify using it.

Domain Name Provider: Verification can be done through the DNS Record as described in the first step. However, it is a risky and time-consuming method.

HTML file: Google creates a unique Html file just for you. You download the file from the console and copy it to the main directory where your site is located via Ftp. Then click the VERIFY button on the Search Console Setup screen and your site will be verified by Google. At the end of the verification, you can delete the file you copied from the directory.

HTML tag: This is a simple site verification method preferred in this method. You can add a unique tag such as <meta name=”google-site-verification” content= “HzaF2GekFienjrx-s” /> , also produced by Google, between the Meta-tags of your site and verify it.

Google Analytics: If there is a previously verified Analytics membership for this site, you can verify it using this.

Google Tag Manager: If there is a previously verified Tag-Manager membership for this site, you can verify using it.

Domain Name Provider: Verification can be done through the DNS Record as described in the first step. However, it is a risky and time-consuming method.

How to Remove Search Console Property?

To remove sites and properties you have added to Search console, select the property you want to remove under the Google Search Console logo at the top left of the page.

Then click on the Settings tab in the left menu. On the Property Settings page, click on the REMOVE PROPERTY button.