How to set-up Google Search Console & connect your website

Google Search Console is a useful free tools that can give you a quick, reliable snapshot of your website's SEO effectiveness

Here’s a very beginner-friendly, step-by-step guide for someone who has never used Google Search Console before (scroll to option 3 if you have Google Analytics set-up):

Step 1: Go to Google Search Console

Step 2: Add Your Website

  • Click “Add property”
  • You’ll see two options:

Option A (recommended): Domain
(requires access to your domain provider, ie. where you bought your domain)

  • Enter your website using exactly this format: yourwebsite.com
  • This tracks all versions (http, https, www, non-www)

Option B (easier): URL prefix
(this is usually the easiest option for beginners)

  • Enter the full website address, for example:
    https://www.yourwebsite.com
  • Only tracks that exact version

Step 3: Verify You Own the Website

Google needs to confirm you’re allowed to access the site. Choose from one of these two methods:

Option 1: HTML file upload

  • Download the file Google provides
  • Upload it to your website’s main folder
  • Click Verify

Option 2: HTML tag

  • Copy the meta tag Google gives you
  • Paste it into your website’s header
  • Save and click Verify

(On Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Shopify, this is usually done in “Settings → SEO”)

Option 3: Google Analytics

  • If Google Analytics is already setup for your site
  • Use the same Google account
  • Click Verify

Step 4: Verification Complete 

Once verified:

  • Your website is now connected to Google Search Console
  • Data will start collecting, it can take a few days before you see meaningful data

Step 5: Submit Your Sitemap (optional but recommended)

  • Click Sitemaps
  • Enter the sitemap URL (usually something like https://www.yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml)
  • Click Submit

This helps Google discover and crawl your pages faster.

Step 6: Bookmark It

  • Bookmark Google Search Console so you can check it easily later

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