Want your site near the top of Google searches? In that case, keeping an eye on how it’s doing and fixing problems quickly is essential. Google Search Console is the answer. This powerful tool from Google lets you track, maintain, and troubleshoot your website– and it won’t cost a thing or require any specialist knowledge.
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a valuable service offered by Google at no cost. It allows you to observe how your website performs in search results, keep it healthy, and identify problems so they can be fixed. Originally called Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console has gone through a few updates, but its main purpose has remained the same helping website owners and SEO experts manage their site’s visibility in Google Search.
What is a Property?
When we talk about property in Google Search Console, we’re referring to your website, the domain or URL you want to track. A property is a way of adding your site to Google’s tool, so you can view all the data it has about you. This might be your main domain example.com or a specific subsection of your site example.com/blog/ depending on what you want to track.
Benefits of Google Search Console
Using Google Search Console brings numerous benefits to website owners. Here are a few key ones:
1. Monitor Search Performance:
When your website appears in search results, you will be able to see the actual search terms that drive visitors to your site as well as how often they click on your link.
2. Identify and Fix Issues:
Receive reports about technical problems such as indexing errors, mobile usability issues, or page loading problems and resolve them quickly.
3. Submit Your Sitemap:
Easily submit a sitemap to Google to help its robots discover all your website’s pages faster.
4. Validate Your Site’s Presence:
Google can confirm that you possess your website and manage what is published on it. This in turn increases your trustworthiness as it appears in search results.
5. Improve Your SEO Strategy:
Examine search data to identify opportunities such as keywords you already appear for and use these insights to boost your visibility in searches.
Domain vs URL-Prefix, What’s the Difference?
When adding your website to Google Search Console, two choices are available: Domain or URL-Prefix. Selecting Domain is a good option if you want to prove ownership of the main domain (e. g., example. com). This method automatically verifies any sub-domains, as well as both HTTP and HTTPS versions, meaning whatever version visitors use, you’ll be able to see how it performs overall (and where they come from). It’s an approach that will work well for most site owners since it gives you a complete picture of all possible variations under one umbrella!
Nonetheless, the URL-Prefix attribute is much more precise since it tracks only the single URL entered by the user.
To illustrate, say you type in “https://www. example. com”. If you do not also add “http://example. com” or “https://blog. example. com”, those URLs will not be included in the data and vice versa. This way can be helpful if you’d like to keep tabs on or manage individual portions of your website separately perhaps different protocols as well.
1. Benefits of Domain Property:
• Complete and centralized data across all sub-domains and protocols.
• Ideal for tracking overall site performance.
• Recommended for long-term SEO and consolidated reporting.
2. Benefits of URL-Prefix Property:
• Easier and quicker to verify (supports multiple verification methods).
• Allows segmented tracking (useful for testing, subdirectory-specific tracking, etc.).
• Good for agencies managing only a part of a larger site.
In short, Domain properties offer a broader, all-inclusive view, while URL-Prefix properties offer more control and flexibility for specific tracking needs.
Domain Validation Methods
When setting up a website in Google Search Console, verifying ownership is a critical first step. Google offers two primary methods for domain validation: Domain and URL Prefix.
1. DNS Record Verification:
To prove you own an entire domain and all its sub-domains, Google asks you to create a DNS.TXT record in your domain’s settings. Once this DNS record is visible to Google, your domain is verified.
2.URL-Prefix Verification Methods:
a) HTML File Upload: Google provides a small HTML file that you need to download and upload directly to your website’s root directory. Once it’s there, Google checks for it to verify you own the site.
b) HTML Tag: This entails placing a small Meta tag given by Google within the <head> section of your homepage.
c) Google Analytics Tracking Code: If you already use Google Analytics and you’re an Administrator for that account, Google can use your existing Analytics code to verify your site quickly.
d) Google Tag Manager: If you’re using Google Tag Manager with Administrator rights, you can verify your site by adding a Tag Manager container snippet.
e) Domain Name Provider: It allows for a direct connection with your domain registrar– such as Cloudflare or GoDaddy– enabling you to add DNS records.
Conclusion
Google Search Console is a very valuable tool for anyone who has a website. Google Search Console provides you near-total control over your website’s performance in search engine results. You can identify technical issues and see the terms people use to find your site and spot emerging query trends. It doesn’t matter if you have a tiny business, just you and a blog or are a multinational corporation: all of us need (and can get) something from Search Console! By making intelligent decisions with this data (and more), all types of business have improved their web visibility. And it can identify problems so they’re fixed fast, an essential service if you want visitors to find your site when they use Google.
