Last Updated on October 13, 2026

This training covers how to set up Search Console for a client in 4 parts: adding and verifying the site, linking Search Console to Google Analytics, submitting a sitemap, and fixing crawl and indexing errors.

Adding A Site to Search Console

  1. Open the property dropdown in the top left corner of Search Console.
  2. Click Add property at the bottom of the list. If asked, choose a website property. (Platform properties are for social accounts like YouTube.)
  3. Choose Domain or URL prefix:
    • Domain combines every subdomain and every variant (http, https, www, non-www) into one property. It requires DNS verification. Use it whenever we can get DNS access.
    • URL prefix only covers URLs that start with the exact address you enter, such as https://www.example.com/. As long as the site forces one variant (preferably https), a URL prefix property is fine.

Search Console Verification Methods in Order of Preference:

  1. Domain name provider (DNS) – Always try this first. It is the only way to verify a Domain property, and it won’t break when the theme or plugins change. Either the client gives us access to where their DNS records are managed, or we send the client the TXT record and instructions. While you’re at it, have the client verify the domain in their own Search Console account too.
    • Verify a Domain in GoDaddy
      • In Search Console, copy the TXT record value. It starts with “google-site-verification=”.
      • Sign into the GoDaddy account that manages the client’s domain. If we don’t have access, ask your manager.
      • Go to Domain Portfolio, select the domain, and open the DNS tab.
      • Click Add New Record. Under Type, select TXT. Under Name, put @. Under Value, paste the record you copied from Search Console. Leave TTL at the default. Save.
      • Go back to Search Console and click Verify. If it fails, wait a few hours and try again.
      • Other DNS providers (Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc.) work the same way: add a TXT record on the root domain (@).
  2. Google Tag Manager – Verifies a URL prefix property if GTM is installed correctly on the site and you have Publish or Admin permission on the container.
  3. Google Analytics – Verifies a URL prefix property if the GA4 tag (gtag.js) is installed directly in the <head> of the homepage and you have Editor access to the property. If GA4 is installed through GTM instead, use the GTM method.
  4. HTML Tag – Add the meta tag Search Console gives you to the <head> of the homepage. On WordPress sites with Yoast, go to Yoast SEO > Settings > Site connections, paste the full tag in the Google field, and save. On other sites, use the theme or platform setting for custom head code.
  5. HTML File – Upload the file Search Console gives you, unedited, to the site’s root directory. This requires hosting (SFTP) access. Avoid file manager plugins. They have had major security vulnerabilities, and it is easy to break the site with one. If one is ever your only option, delete it as soon as you finish.

Leave verification in place. Search Console rechecks verification periodically. If the TXT record, tag, or file is removed, access is lost after a grace period. Never delete verification records that belong to other owners.

Link with Google Analytics

Linking pulls Search Console query and landing page data into GA4, so you can see what people searched and what they did on the site after.

  1. In GA4, go to Admin > Product links > Search Console links and click Link.
  2. Click Choose accounts, select the client’s Search Console property, then click Confirm and Next.
  3. Select the site’s web data stream, click Next, and submit.
  4. Publish the reports. They are hidden by default. In GA4, go to Reports > Library, find the Search Console collection, and publish it.

You need Editor access in GA4 and verified owner access in Search Console.

Sitemaps

A sitemap lists the pages on a site and when they were last updated. It helps Google find new and updated pages faster, but it does not guarantee they will be indexed.

  1. Find the sitemap URL. On WordPress sites with Yoast it is /sitemap_index.xml. On Shopify and Webflow it is /sitemap.xml.
  2. In Search Console, go to Indexing > Sitemaps.
  3. Paste the URL into Add a new sitemap and click Submit.
  4. Check the status. Success means Google read it. If it says Has errors or Couldn’t fetch, click the row to see why.

Crawl and Indexing Errors

The Page indexing report (Indexing > Pages) shows which URLs Google has indexed and, for the ones it hasn’t, why. Not every URL should be indexed (redirects and duplicates with a proper canonical are supposed to be left out). The goal is to get the important pages indexed and fix real errors.

The most common errors are broken links that point to a URL that no longer exists (a 404). A 404 for a page removed on purpose is not a problem by itself. Fix it when the site still links to it, it is in the sitemap, or other websites link to it. Those visitors hit a dead end, and the link value is lost.

There are 2 ways to fix a broken link. The best way is to update the links on the site to point to the right page. If other websites link to the old URL, or the page moved, set up a 301 redirect to the replacement. Only redirect to a relevant page. Google often treats redirects to the home page or an unrelated page as a soft 404, so the redirect does nothing. If there is no good replacement, let it stay a 404.

Step 1 – In Search Console, go to Indexing > Pages. Under “Why pages aren’t indexed,” click a reason to see the affected URLs. Focus on reasons where the source is “Website.” Those are the ones you can fix.

Step 2 – Using the Redirection plugin, add redirects one at a time, or upload a CSV for longer lists.

Step 3 individual option – Go to Tools > Redirection and add a new redirect. Paste the relative URL of the broken page (for example, /old-page/) in the “Source URL” field and the relative URL of the replacement page in the “Target URL” field. Repeat for each redirect.

Step 4 bulk option – Export the list of URLs from the report. Build a CSV with 2 columns and no title row: the broken URL in the first column and the replacement URL in the second (for example, /old-page/,/new-page/). Convert all URLs to relative URLs by doing a find and replace to remove the “https://domainname.com” part. Upload the CSV in Tools > Redirection > Import.

Step 5 – Test a few of the old URLs in your browser to make sure they redirect to the right pages.

Step 6 – Return to the Page indexing report, click the issue you fixed, and click Validate fix. Google will recrawl the URLs over the next couple of weeks and email you the result. If validation fails, click See details to find the URLs that are still broken.

Repeat as needed until the real errors are gone.

Common reasons you will see:
  • Not found (404) – The page doesn’t exist. Fix internal links or redirect to a relevant replacement as described above.
  • Soft 404 – The page loads but looks empty or like an error page, or it redirects to an unrelated page. Add real content, redirect to a relevant page, or let it return a true 404.
  • Redirect error – Usually a redirect loop or a chain of redirects that is too long. Check the redirects on that URL.
  • Server error (5xx) – The server failed when Google tried to load the page. Make sure the page loads. If the error keeps showing up, bring in the host or developer.
  • URL marked ‘noindex’ – The page tells Google not to index it. Double check that we don’t want any of these pages indexed.
  • Crawled – currently not indexed and Discovered – currently not indexed – Google knows about the page but hasn’t indexed it. Usually a content quality or internal linking issue.

Bulk Redirects