Add your WordPress site to Google Search Console

To verify ownership in Google Search Console, add your site as a URL prefix property, choose the HTML tag method, paste Google's tag (or just the code inside it) into your site's verification field, then click Verify. Leave the tag in place afterwards, because Google keeps checking for it. Once you're verified, submit your sitemap so Google can find every page.

Search Console shows how your site does in Google search: which searches bring people in, which pages are indexed, and any errors Google finds.

Add your site

1. Open Google Search Console and sign in with the Google account you want to keep using for it.
2. Open the property selector and click Add property.
3. Choose URL prefix. (Domain can only be verified through your domain's DNS settings. See Other ways to verify.)
4. Enter your site address exactly as it appears in the browser, including https:// and www if you use it, and continue.

A URL prefix property only covers addresses that start with exactly what you entered. If you later switch from http to https, or add or drop www, add a new property.

How to verify with the HTML tag

1. After you add the property, Search Console lists ways to verify ownership. Choose HTML tag. If Google suggests another method first, look further down the list. If you need time to add the tag, click Verify later, then pick the property in the property selector when you're ready.

2. Google shows a tag like this, made for your Google account:

   <meta name="google-site-verification" content="abc123…" />

   The code is the part between the quotes after content= (here, abc123…). Some fields want the whole tag, some want only the code.

3. Paste it into WordPress (see the next section) and save.

4. Check it's live: open your home page in a private window, view the page source (in Chrome, right-click and choose View page source), and search for google-site-verification.

5. Go back to Search Console and click Verify.

Where to paste the tag in WordPress

The tag has to sit in the <head> section of your home page, the part of the page WordPress builds behind the scenes. Pasting it into a page or post, or a Custom HTML block, puts it in the page body, where Google won't find it.

If your site runs on Dirigible

Dirigible has a field for it, so you don't need a plugin:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize → Scripts & Embeds → Analytics & Tracking.
2. Paste Google's whole meta tag, or just the code, into Google Site Verification ID. Dirigible keeps just the code either way.
3. If there's already a code in the field, put yours on a new line. Leave the other codes alone: each one may be keeping someone else verified.
4. Click Publish, then click Verify in Search Console.

Dirigible adds the tag to the head of every page for every visitor. It doesn't depend on your tracking settings or the cookie banner. Don't also paste the tag into Custom Embeds.

Verifying your domain for Facebook or Instagram ads works the same way, with its own field on the same screen. See Verify your domain with Meta (Facebook).

If the field says "This doesn't look like a Google site verification code", you've pasted something else, such as an Analytics tag. Copy the tag from the HTML tag method again.

On other WordPress sites

Most SEO plugins have a field for Google's verification code in their settings. Check the plugin's help pages for where it is, and whether it wants the whole tag or just the code. Without one, a plugin that adds code to your site's header can hold the whole tag.

Verification failed? Common causes

Search Console says why it couldn't verify. Fix the cause below, then click Verify again.

• Your site is showing an old copy. Google checks the home page a logged-out visitor sees. Hosts with a page cache or CDN (Rocket.net and Cloudflare, for example) may still serve a copy from before you added the tag. Saving a setting doesn't always refresh it. If the tag is missing from the page source in a private window, purge the site's cache (in your hosting dashboard or caching plugin) or wait for it to refresh. See Fix WordPress changes not showing on your site.
• The tag is in the wrong place. "Meta tag not found" usually means it's in page content, a footer box, or a field meant for something else. It must be in the head of the home page.
• The code doesn't match. "Your meta tag is incorrect" means Google found a verification tag, but not yours. Copy it again with no missing characters or extra spaces. Each Google account gets its own tag, so a tag copied while signed in to a different account won't verify yours.
• The property address doesn't match your site. Compare the property with your site's address bar, including https and www. Google follows redirects when it looks for the tag, so a mismatched property can still verify, but it will show little or no data. Add a new property with the exact address. If your site still loads over http, see Fix the "Not secure" warning on your website.
• Something hides your home page. A coming-soon or maintenance plugin, a password, or a login screen can stop Google seeing the tag. Turn it off while you verify, or verify with DNS instead.
• Another plugin changes the page head. A theme or plugin that leaves out WordPress's head output can drop the tag. An SEO plugin that has its own verification field may add an old code too. More than one verification tag is fine, as long as yours is there.
• You chose a Domain property. Domain properties can't use the HTML tag. Verify with DNS, or add a URL prefix property.
• Google couldn't reach your site. Errors like "The connection to your server timed out" mean Google couldn't load the page. Make sure your site loads, then try again later. See Website down? What to check first.

Other ways to verify ownership

DNS record steps: choose Domain, enter your domain without https:// or www, and copy the TXT record Google shows. At your DNS provider, add a TXT record, leave the host or name blank or set it to @, paste Google's value, and save. Then click Verify. A new record can take up to two or three days to start working. Not sure who manages your DNS? See Get your domain, hosting, and logins from a former web developer.

On a Dirigible site, use the HTML tag rather than the Analytics or Tag Manager methods. Dirigible loads Analytics and Tag Manager with its own loader, not the code exactly as Google provides it.

Keep the tag after you verify

Google checks for the tag from time to time. If it's gone, Search Console warns you, and you lose access after a grace period. Leave the code in its field. When you redesign the site, switch themes, or change SEO plugins, carry the code over. See Keep your SEO when you redesign or move a website.

To add a verification method later, open Settings → Ownership verification in Search Console.

Submit your sitemap

Once you're verified, submit your sitemap so Google finds every page:

1. Open your sitemap in your browser first to check it loads:
   • WordPress makes one automatically at yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml.
   • Some SEO plugins replace it with their own. Yoast SEO, for example, uses sitemap_index.xml.
2. In Search Console, open Sitemaps.
3. Paste the sitemap address into Add a new sitemap and click Submit.

If wp-sitemap.xml doesn't load, go to Settings → Reading and make sure Discourage search engines from indexing this site is unticked. WordPress turns its sitemap off while that's ticked.

On a Dirigible site, Dirigible SEO keeps WordPress's own wp-sitemap.xml, so submit that address.

If the sitemap shows Couldn't fetch, see "Sitemap could not be read" in Google Search Console.

Data starts to appear in Search Console within a few days. If pages show up as not indexed, see "Crawled – currently not indexed" in Google Search Console.

Search Console is not Google Analytics

Search Console covers search results. To see visitor traffic, set up Google Analytics separately. See Add Google Analytics 4 to WordPress. Page titles and descriptions are covered in Edit the SEO title and meta description for a page. For the markup Dirigible already adds to pages, see Check your site's structured data.