Why you should use Google Search Console:
According to Google support: “Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results. You don’t have to sign up for Search Console to be included in Google Search results, but Search Console helps you understand and improve how Google sees your site.”
If you are interested in getting website visitors through search (and/or you are working to improve your SEO), it’s a great idea to use Search Console. You can read more in depth info about Search Console directly on the Google site.
Let’s get set up quick!
If you have not already, sign up for a Google account. You can use it for other useful Google tools later.
Once you have logged in to Google, head to this url: https://search.google.com/search-console/
Start by clicking the START NOW button and follow the instructions to add your website.
When asked how you want to verify, choose the HTML tag method. You will receive a code that you will copy into your WordPress website settings.
Over to WordPress!
Most WordPress themes have a setting for header code to be inserted in (usually this indicates that the code will be placed before the </head> tag). Check your theme settings for this feature. If you don’t have it, you can easily use a free plugin like “Head, Footer and Post Injections” to add code easily.
Paste the Google verification code into the header area and save. Go back over to Google Search Console and click “Verify” and you should get an affirmative message that you’ve succeeded.
Explore and Learn!
Now that you’ve connected, you can click the “Go to Property” button and see all the things you will be able to track and understand with the Console. There will initially be no data, but give it 24 hours or so, and you should start seeing some info.
You will definitely want to add a SITEMAP through the console. For now, you can see Google’s suggestions here, but I’ll be putting up another article on this SOON.