00:00Google Search Console allows you to simply track and measure your website's organic
00:05search traffic and performance, as well as other key metrics that you can use to improve
00:10your website's visibility on Google.
00:12Hey team, Stuart here.
00:14Welcome back.
00:14I hope you're all well.
00:16Now today, I'm going to guide you through how to simply set up and verify your website
00:20with Google Search Console in 2021.
00:23Now in this tutorial, I'm going to share three simple methods that you can use to verify
00:28your website with Google Search Console in just a few easy steps.
00:33So make sure you watch this video all the way through to the end in order to identify the
00:37best method for you based on your personal preferences.
00:41Okay, so before we launch into this Google Search Console tutorial, consider subscribing
00:46if you haven't done so already or if you're new to this channel and that way you'll stay
00:50updated with actionable videos and tutorials designed to equip you with the skills, knowledge
00:54and tools to grow your small business online.
00:57And with that happy note, let's go ahead and set up and verify your website with Google
01:02Search Console.
01:16Okay, so let's get straight into setting up and verifying your website with Google Search
01:21Console.
01:22The first thing you need to do is head over to search.google.com slash search dash console
01:29or simply type in Google Search Console into Google and then click on their website and you'll
01:35arrive here.
01:36I'll also share the link in the description below this video.
01:39Then all you need to do is navigate over to start now.
01:43Then go ahead and log in with your Google account.
01:46Now, if you don't already have a Google account, what you can do is come down here and create
01:51a Google account for free.
01:53And that's going to allow you to access Google Search Console.
01:57So, what we're going to do is add our details and meet you inside Google Search Console.
02:03And here we are within our Google Search Console.
02:06Now, like I mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial, what we want to do is cover three
02:11simple methods that you can use to verify and set up your website with Google Search Console.
02:18So, the first method that we want to cover today is verifying your website with Google Search
02:24Console through Google Analytics.
02:26Now, this is the fastest and easiest method that we're going to discuss today.
02:30However, you might not already have Google Analytics connected with your website.
02:35Now, if you do, all you need to do is navigate up here and simply add your website URL exactly
02:41how it appears online.
02:43And as you can see, what I've done is pasted in our website URL.
02:48Now, you want to make sure that your account, your Google account that you're using, that
02:53you signed up to Google Search Console, is the same as your Google Analytics account.
02:58Then, simply come down and click continue.
03:01And Google Search Console will take a moment to verify.
03:06And just like that, you can see that we've verified our website with Google Search Console.
03:12The verification method that we used was with Google Analytics because we already had Google
03:17Analytics connected with our website.
03:20Now, if you haven't already installed and set up Google Analytics with your website, then
03:25what you can do is watch our step-by-step beginner's guide that will take you through the process
03:30of initially setting up Google Analytics.
03:33So, what I'll do is add that up above and link it down in our description below this video.
03:38Okay, now the next method to set up and verify your website with Google Search Console is
03:46through your cPanel.
03:47So, if you have access to your cPanel, most websites do have a cPanel these days, then I'm
03:54going to show you how to verify your website with Google Search Console through the cPanel.
03:59Simply come down and click done.
04:02And then what we're going to do is simply navigate under URL prefix and add our website URL in
04:07here again.
04:08Then come down and click continue.
04:11Then simply navigate up to HTML file and come down to download the file.
04:16Simply click on this file here to download it.
04:19And that's going to download this file onto your computer.
04:23Then from here to verify our ownership through the cPanel, what we want to do is log into
04:29our cPanel.
04:30So, we're going to go ahead and do that now and meet you inside the cPanel.
04:35Okay, so here we are within our cPanel.
04:38What we want to do is navigate over to files, under files, click on file manager.
04:44Now, if you're verifying your website with Google Search Console through this method, through
04:49the cPanel, it might look daunting, but trust me, it's very straightforward.
04:54Then simply navigate up to public HTML and click here.
04:58Then all we need to do is simply upload the file that we downloaded from Google Search
05:03Console into our public folder.
05:06To do that, simply navigate up to upload and then come down and locate the file that we
05:12downloaded earlier.
05:13And here is the HTML file that we downloaded.
05:17And now what we want to do is simply click it and click open to upload the file into
05:23our folder.
05:24And just like that, you can see that we've successfully uploaded the file.
05:28Then navigate back to your folder.
05:31And down here, you can see that we've successfully uploaded this HTML file into our public folder.
05:37Now what we can do is head back to our cPanel dashboard by simply navigating up to the top
05:42left-hand side and just like that, we've completed everything we needed to do within our cPanel.
05:49So what we can do now is head back to Google Search Console.
05:53And like I just showed you, what we've already done is we've downloaded this HTML file and
05:59we've uploaded that to our public folder within our cPanel.
06:02Then once you've done that, come down and simply click verify.
06:08And just like that, through the cPanel, the HTML file, we have completed the verification.
06:14So that is the second method.
06:16Now what we want to do is discuss the third method.
06:19And this method is verifying your website with Google Search Console, however, through
06:25a plugin.
06:25So what we're going to do is come down and click done.
06:28And the third method is a simple process if you have a WordPress website.
06:33Because what we want to do is install a WordPress plugin.
06:37Now first things first, again, what we need to do is enter in our website URL.
06:42And just like that, again, I've entered in our website URL.
06:46Now an important note, we're using HTTP, not HTTPS, which is more secure.
06:54Now most likely, if your website is already up online and you have a lock icon in the top
07:00left-hand corner, then that means your site is secured.
07:04Now because this is just a test site, an example site, we only have HTTP.
07:11So remember, if your site is secured, you want to add HTTPS.
07:16Then come down and click continue.
07:19And this time, what we want to do is come down to HTML tag, click here, and then scroll
07:25down.
07:25And what we want to do is copy this bit of code over here by simply clicking copy.
07:31And then what we want to do with this copied HTML tag is we want to insert it in the
07:37head
07:37section of our website.
07:38And we're going to do this through a WordPress plugin.
07:42It's a very straightforward and simple process to follow.
07:45So what we need to do now is head over to our WordPress dashboard and install a plugin.
07:51So head over to your WordPress dashboard and we'll meet you there.
07:56Okay.
07:56So once you've logged into your WordPress dashboard, simply navigate over to plugins and then come
08:02down and click add new.
08:04Then simply navigate up to the search bar and type in insert headers and footers.
08:12Then come down and simply locate insert headers and footers by WPBeginner.
08:18So you can see that this plugin is by WPBeginner.
08:22You can see that they've had over 1 million active installations and positive reviews.
08:28Then simply navigate up to install now.
08:32And then click activate.
08:35Okay, so now that we've installed and activated this plugin, what we need to do is head over
08:41to settings on the left-hand side.
08:43And under settings, what we want to do is come down to insert headers and footers.
08:50Then here simply navigate up to scripts in header.
08:54Here all we need to do is simply paste in the code that we copied from Google search console
09:01under HTML tag.
09:03And as you can see, this is the HTML tag that we copied.
09:07And once you've done that, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and click save.
09:12And as you can see, settings have been saved.
09:15And now that we've done that, all we need to do is verify this method.
09:20So to do that, head back to Google search console.
09:23And then here, all we need to do is locate HTML tag again, and then come down and click verify.
09:31Give Google search console a moment to check the verification.
09:35And just like that, you can see that the ownership is verified.
09:39Verification method, HTML tag.
09:42And there we have it guys.
09:44Those are three ways, three methods that you can use to verify your website with Google search console.
09:52Now to simply dive into your Google search console, so you can start measuring your traffic and performance.
09:58All you need to do is click go to property.
10:01And congratulations, just like that, you've set up and verified your website with Google search console.
10:08Now the information you can see on this screen, what we're going to do is go through a more in
10:14-depth tutorial
10:14on actually understanding all the different features and metrics within Google search console in another tutorial.
10:22And that is it for this part one tutorial to help you initially set up and verify Google search console.
10:29Make sure you watch part two, which will cover how you can navigate and make the most of Google search
10:34console.
10:35I'll pop that video down in the description below this video.
10:38Now if you have any questions about this video, make sure to pop them down below.
10:42And with that said, thank you so much for watching this tutorial all the way through to the end.
10:46If you got value, make sure you leave a like below this video, subscribe to the channel, and that way
10:51I'll see you in the next video.
10:53Take care guys.
11:05Take care guys.
