Optimizing your site with SEO is one of the most important methods to improve your online business ranking these days. One of the best and most efficient ways to optimize your website for SEO is to add it to Google Search Console, which is also known as Google Webmaster Tools.
Google Search Console or webmaster tool helps webpage owners to monitor and maintain their online search engine rankings and presence. Here we see the process of quickly adding and verifying your website into Google Search Console that is also known as Webmaster tools.
Google Webmaster- What is it? How to Use it?
Google webmaster tool is a free software of Google that helps online business website owners to monitor their website’s rankings and their online presence. It helps you to keep track of the search engine rankings as well as keeps you update with site errors, index issues, and security issues that can bring down the performance of your online site.
- Google tool for webmaster is a communication channel, and when you have a registered account their google will send webmaster information about site errors, issues, and even penalties. It also offers some limited tools that allow you to contact them about any kind of feature requests or site issues.
- It is also a control centre, where you understand that SEO is never a done deal as it goes on forever. You have to keep improving your content and refine your website settings and making as few mistakes as possible.
- Google search console is full of beneficial information about how your webpage is showing and its performance in search engine rankings. You google webmaster tool is your website’s spinal cord, where you can understand and get notified about every single activity that your site is going through.
If you are quite serious about improving your website, then you must add your website to Google webmaster tool from the initial days.
Step by step method to optimise your website technically with Google webmaster tools
Here we have enlisted a few proven ways to use Google tool for webmaster to assess the condition of your website and improve its optimization
1. Stay up-to-date with Quality Guidelines
Google provides some specific quality guidelines that webmasters should follow, or they may face a drop in the rankings. With the Google webmaster tool, you can stay up to date with your ranking status and your optimization.
2. HTML improvements
If your website is missing some important components such as meta description or title tag, then you can find it out with the help of the HTML improvements tab. You can also find it out by simply using the Structured Data Testing Tool to check the information Google can take out from your website and its content. It is done to ensure it syncs with what you are optimizing for.
3. Keywords
With the help of Google Analytics, you can take a look at the keywords and keyword phrases that people are using to discover your site. With Google Search Console, you can optimize your website with the set of keywords that people are using mostly to find your website.
4. Get the Crawling Info
There are mainly two reports of Google Crawling and which are crawl stats and crawl errors. Crawl Error is there to identify any URL or site error that can be present there. On the other hand, stats is a basic overview of the Googlebot activity/ amount of pages its been indexing and crawling in the last 90 days.
5. Sitemaps
Sitemaps are there to help Google make understand how the crawling of a website works and the number of pages your website has. Here, in google tool for webmaster, you will be able to see the number of pages you have told Google you have and how many it is there in the search result index.
6. Mobile usability
The feature of being mobile-friendly is somewhat essential to check out sometimes to ensure everything is working alright just the way it should.
7. Fast website
With the google webmaster tool, you can see how fast and efficient your site has become in recent days.
How to add your website on Google Search Console?
The very first thing that you should do is register your site on the google tool for webmaster. After registering to google webmaster, you can add and verify the ownership of your website.
Here are the steps to getting your website on the Google search console.
Step 1- Make an account with the help of Google webmaster tool
First of all, you have to go to google search console and then click on Start now.
If you have an existing Google account, then you can directly login, or the first step is to make an account and then proceed with the login process.
Step 2- You have to add your website
In this process, you have to add your website to google webmaster tool. Click on Add property that you can find from the Search Property dropdown menu. Enter the URL of your website and click Continue. For the time being, just put one of the variations, and then when you are verified, you can keep continuing this process to add all four variations of your webpage.
Step 3-
Verifying of ownership of your webpage with google webmaster tool
This step is one of the most essential steps in the process. Here, you have to verify the ownership of your website in the google tool for webmaster. There are five ways to do this.
1. HTML File Verification
If you have gone for this method, then you have to download the given file of HTML and then upload it to the Rooter folder of your webpage. Mostly, there cases where this is in the public_html folder.
Once you have uploaded, then you can click on the Verify button and continue to the next step.
2. HTML Tag
You can also verify your ownership with HTML Tag.
If you have chosen to use this verification way, then you need to copy the meta tag that is given by Google and then enter it to the head section of your webpage. If you use the Yoast SEO plugin, then you can add the verification code in the box of Google Verification Code by following the simple selection process-
Yoast SEO> General> Webmaster tools
3. Google Analytics
This third method is one of the most simple and recommended methods in the industry. If you have an existing Google Analytics downloaded and installed on your website, and you use the same google account for both GSC and GA, then all you have to do is to click the ‘Verify’ button. This method is the easiest one to verify in the google webmaster tool.
4. Google Tag Manager
It is quite similar to Google analytics. If you have an existing Google Tag Management script installed on your webpage’s head section, then you can simply verify Google Search Console automatically.
5. Domain name provider
If you cannot use the methods mentioned above, then you can also verify your website ownership by DNS settings editing. If you are someone who is not quite savvy with technical stuff, then this method is not quite recommended, as it is unlikely for you to know your domain’s DNS value. So, here, it is always better to ask for the assistance of your domain helper.
Step 4- Continuation of the process to enter every website variation
Once you have registered and verified one of your web page’s address in the verification process given above, then you just have to repeat the entire process till you have all your variations entered. If you have got https installed on your webpage, then it means that you just have to add and verify all your four changes. For example-
Google Search Console Settings
You have to go to SETTINGS to keep a check on the ownership status and then to delete or add or change users who can assess your website’s properties.
How to Use Google Tag Manager?
If you are an existing user of Google Tag Manager, then this can be the easiest way to verify your website. If you are looking forward to trying this method out, then you must have View, Edit, and Manage options permissible and enabled for your Google tag manager account. Take a look at your website’s HTML code before trying out this method to be assured the google tag manager code is placed right after your site’s <Body> tag.
From the dashboard of the search console, you have to select Manage site and then you have to click on Verify this site. If you do not see the GTM option listed under the Recommended method, then it must appear under the Alternative method.
Select Google Tag Manager and then click on the verify option. If the GTM code is found, then you must see a screen that lets you know your site has completed verification. And, once your site has been verified, absolutely do not remove the Google tag manager code from your site because if you do, then your site will lose its verification. You do not want that horror story, do you?
FAQs about Google Search Console and webmaster tool
There have been many doubts about adding your website to google webmaster tool. Hence, we have cleared out some of the most frequently asked questions about adding website to google tool for webmaster.
1. What is the process of uploading a Google HTML verification file to my website?
Google webmaster tool provides a few distinctive ways in which you can verify your website ownership. In the section mentioned above, we have covered some of the easiest ways for verification- Google site verification meta tag. Although some webpage owners want to upload the HTML file in order to verify site ownership. If you’re going to upload google tool for webmaster HTML verification file to your website, you have to log in to your website hosting cPanel.
Next, you have to upload the HTML verification file inside the /public_html/folder of your webpage. This is the leading directory where you will also find out other website folders such as /wp-content/, /wp-admin/, and so on.
2. How to give access to the google webmaster tool?
Here, you are the verified owner.
Firstly, go to overview in the google search console dashboard. H Then, scroll down a bit and click on settings. Click on Users and Permissions. Then Click on ADD USER. Here, you can add or invite a new user by a valid Gmail id. Set permission in a way as the full or restricted base on the role of the user.
3. Can I use a Google Site Verification plugin for my website?
There are a lot of website plugins available that are made in a way specifically to assist you with Google site verification. Although, you do not need to use them as you might need to verify your ownership on other google tools for webmaster and other platforms such as Pinterest, Bing, and so on.
4. Is it possible to become a power user of Google webmaster tool?
Yes, it is possible. Google search console has got a lot of beneficiary information that you can use to improve your online business.
5. Is there any way I can contact Google Search Console?
Sadly, no, there is no contact number of Google webmaster tool. Although if you are facing some issues, then you can go to their online support centre.
Conclusion
Once you have added and verified your website to Google search console, you are done with the work. But the work does not just end there. The next step should be to learn how to operate and use the information in Google, which is nothing less than a treasure. So, if you want to grow your online reach and business, then you have to make the most out of the google tool for webmaster.
Author bio
Abhishek Chatterjee is an advanced content marketer and SEO expert living in the city of joy, Kolkata. His company, Abhi Content Writer , founded in the year 2012, is the most popular content writing agency in Kolkata today working with clients like ZEE TV, Anmol Biscuits Limited, Indian Railways, Raymond, Vedantu, Travel Triangle and many more.
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