Are you looking for an easy method to complete the verification of your site ownership in Google Search Console?
Or maybe not in Search Console but in Google Analytics?
Well, you’re not alone.
That’s the need of almost all site owners who want to drive or track organic traffic to their websites.
The good news is that your search has brought you to the right place.
In this article, we shall explore how to complete your Google site verification using two different methods.
Let’s get started!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google Site Verification?
It’s a method Google uses to make sure that you are the owner of any website for which you want to use Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or other such Google tools (such as a Google domain email) intended for site owners.
Why Do I Need to Complete Google Site Verification?
If you want to use Google Search Console to fine-tune your SEO efforts, or if you want to use Google Analytics to track your visitors and user behavior, you’ll have to go through this process.
Does it Cost to Get Google Verified?
Fortunately, NO.
Getting your site Google Verified is completely free of cost until you decide to hire someone to do it for you.
Most Website owners can do it on their own.
How Long Does it Take for Google to Verify a Website?
Usually, once you have added the necessary Verification info (I.e. header tags, TXT records, or HTML file with Verification code) to your website and uploaded its link to your Google Search Console, Google will check it and verify your website instantly.
In rare situations it may take an hour or two, but never more than that.
What You’ll Need To Complete Google Site Verification
You’ll need the following things, depending on the verification method you choose:
- Site Kit plugin (if verifying using WordPress plugin)
- HTML verification file (if verifying manually).
How to do Google Site Verification: Step-by-Step Instructions
Method #1: By installing the Google Site Kit plugin
Google Site Kit plugin is a comprehensive package from Google that can not only connect your WordPress site to all of Google’s tools developed for site owners (i.e. Search Console, Analytics, AdSense, etc.) but also allow you to access the data of those tools without leaving your WordPress dashboard. Sounds cool, doesn’t it?
Here’s how can you set up Google Site Kit on your WordPress site to verify it:
Navigate to Plugins >> Add New in your WordPress dashboard
Search for “Site Kit”, and then installed the Google Site Kit plugin once it shows in the search results.
After installation, activate the plugin by hitting the “Activate” button.
You’ll now see a Site Kit banner on your Plugins page.
In that banner, click the “Start setup” button.
If you don’t see the button shown below, you can also click on the “Site Kit” option in the gray panel on the left side to arrive on the same page.
Now check the “Connect Google Analytics” checkbox if you also want to enable Google Analytics for your site right after the end of this setup.
If not, keep it unchecked and click the “Sign in with Google” button.
Next, sign in with your Google Account, and you’re done. Site Kit takes care of the rest, and your site gets Google verified on its own.
Now your site will be added to the Google Search Console linked to your Google Account.
You can access it from there, or you can also access the Search Console dashboard from within your WordPress dashboard.
Method #2: By manually uploading a file
Alternatively, you can also do Google site verification by uploading a file generated from your Google search console to your server.
Here are the steps to do so:
- Log in to Google Search Console with your Google account.
- Go to the ownership verification page of the Search console by following this link.
- Select the HTML file upload method to verify your ownership.
- Download the file generated by Search Console. This file contains your unique verification code.
- Now log in to your hosting server’s file manager. The exact steps of doing this will vary from host to host, but we are sharing the links to instructions for some of the popular hosts (i.e. HostGator, InMotion, Liquid Web, BlueHost, etc).
- Once you’re logged in to the File Manager, navigate to the public_html folder. This is where you need to upload the HTML verification file provided by Search Console. If you have multiple sites hosted on the same server, make sure you’re uploading the file to the public_html folder of the correct site.
- Once the file has been uploaded, go back to Search Console’s ownership verification page and click the “Verify” button.
If everything is fine, your site ownership will be verified and you’ll have full access to all the Search Console features for your site.
Similar Tutorials to Check Out
- How to Submit a Website to Google: Before you can verify a website for Google to claim its ownership, you’ll have to submit it to Google using the Search Console. This tutorial explains how to do that.
- How to Apply for Google AdSense: After your website starts attracting some traffic, you’ll obviously want to earn from it. That’s where Google AdSense comes in. This tutorial explains how to apply for Google AdSense.
- How To Add Google AdSense To Your WordPress Website: This tutorial explains how to add Google Adsense ads to your website after you have been approved for the AdSense program.
Wrapping Up
Getting your Google site verification done is the first step towards collecting accurate data and analytics about it.
There can’t be a better source of search data and traffic analytics than the tools provided by Google, and if you want to tap into that data you need to verify your site ownership in Google Search Console.
We hope the methods explained above can help you get verified quickly without any issues.
If you still have any doubts, feel free to shoot them in the comments.
And if this guide helped you feel free to share it on social media.
