Add the property that matches your website

Google Search Console shows how your site appears in Google Search. A property is the site, or part of the site, you want those reports for. You prove you control that site before the reports unlock. Adding a property does not change how your site ranks.

What you'll need

• A Google sign-in you control
• Your domain, such as example.com, or the exact site address, such as https://www.example.com/
• A way to prove you control the site: access to DNS for a domain property, or access to the website, Google Analytics, or Tag Manager for a URL-prefix property
• About 15 minutes, plus time for DNS to update if you use that method

Domain or URL-prefix

Search Console asks you to pick one of these:

• Domain — enter example.com with no https:// and no www. It covers the whole domain, including www, other subdomains, and both http and https. Google verifies it with a DNS record only.
• URL-prefix — enter the full address, such as https://www.example.com/. It covers only URLs that start with that exact prefix. http and https are different properties, and www is different from the address without www. Verification can use an HTML file, an HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or DNS.

For most businesses, a Domain property is the one to create, because one property covers the whole site. Choose URL-prefix when you cannot edit DNS, or when you only want one exact address.

Add the property

1. Sign in to Google Search Console.
2. Open the property selector and select Add property. On a first visit, Google shows the same choice on the welcome screen.
3. Choose Domain or URL prefix.
4. Enter the domain or the full URL, then continue.

Verify that you own it

Google then shows a verification method. Finish it in the window Google opened, or select Verify later and come back. You are the owner after verification succeeds.

Domain property. Google gives you a DNS TXT record. Sign in where your domain is managed (the company you bought the domain from, or the host that manages DNS). Add that TXT record, save it, then select Verify in Search Console. DNS can take a while to update. Leave the record in place after verification.

URL-prefix property. Pick the method you can actually complete:

• HTML file — download Google’s file and upload it to your site.
• HTML tag — paste Google’s meta tag in the head of your homepage.
• Google Analytics — works when the GA4 Google tag is already on the homepage and you use the same Google sign-in that can edit that Analytics property.
• Google Tag Manager — works when the container is already on the site and your Google sign-in can publish that container.
• DNS — the same style of record as a domain property. Using DNS on a URL-prefix property can also verify the domain property.

If verification fails, check that you edited the live site or the DNS host that actually serves the domain, then select Verify again.

Search data can take a few days to appear after the property is added.

If something looks wrong

Someone else already verified the site. Ask that owner to add you, or follow Google’s steps to verify with a method you control. Do not create a second property for a slightly different address unless you mean to track only that prefix.

The reports look empty or like the wrong site. A URL-prefix of http://example.com/ does not include https://www.example.com/. Add a domain property, or a URL-prefix that matches the address customers use.

Google’s own steps are in Add a website property to Search Console and Verify your site ownership.

Next: invite Campaignly

When the property is verified, invite Campaignly to Google Search Console on that property. Use the Campaignly email we sent you.