Are you looking for a way to help your website rank higher in the search results??

Google Search Console (GSC) is a powerful, free tool that helps website owners monitor, maintain, and optimize their site’s presence in Google Search results.

With Google holding approximately 89.98% of the global search engine market share, understanding how to optimize for Google is essential. GSC provides insights into how Google views your website, highlights issues affecting its performance, and offers data that helps you make informed decisions to enhance your site’s visibility and user experience.

This blog is designed to help beginners set up their GSC account step-by-step, including creating and verifying a GSC property and linking it to Google Analytics (GA) for comprehensive insights.

If you’re unfamiliar with GSC or its capabilities, you’re in the right place — let’s get started! 👇

Create a Google Search Console Property

Visit Google Search Console and click the blue button labeled Start now.
On the setup screen, keep the default DOMAIN type selected, and enter your domain name in the field provided. For example, “hoffbeck.co.”
Click CONTINUE.

Verify Domain Ownership

Next, you will need to verify that you are the domain owner. Follow these steps to confirm you own the domain via DNS record.

Log in to your domain provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Bluehost, Squarespace).
Copy the provided TXT record from Google Search Console.

3. Access your domain's DNS settings, add a new TXT record, and paste the value you copied.

For Squarespace users:

Navigate to Domains from the homepage.
Select your domain and click DNS settings in the left menu.
Scroll to the bottom and under Custom Records, click ADD RECORD.
Set HOST to “@,” TYPE to “TXT,” and paste the TXT record into the TEXT field. It will begin with “google-site-verification=...” Click SAVE.

4. Return to the Google Search Console tab and click Verify.

Note: DNS changes may take some time to propagate. If verification fails, wait 24 hours and try again. Google offers more information to troubleshoot here.

Once verified, you’ll see the message Ownership verified. Congratulations!

If you have any difficulty with this and would like some help, schedule a call with us.

Now click GO TO PROPERTY.

Link Google Analytics with Google Search Console

The last step is to connect Google Search Console to Google Analytics. By doing this, you gain a comprehensive understanding of how users find your website through organic search and what they do once they arrive. It’s another piece of the puzzle to making actionable business decisions based on data.

Here’s how:

Open Google Analytics and click the Admin Gear in the lower-left corner.
Under Product links, select Search Console links.

3. Click the blue Link button.

4. In the window that opens:

For Step 1, click Choose accounts and select your GSC property. Confirm your selection.
Continue with Select Web Stream and click Review and Submit.

To confirm the connection, return to Google Search Console, click Settings, and check under Associations. You should see your Google Analytics account listed.

They should now be linked. You can confirm this by going back into Google Search Console, clicking on the Settings gear on the left hand side menu. Click into Associations, and you will see under Associated services the Google Analytics account.

NOTE: If you have not set up your GA account yet, we have the blog The Ultimate Guide to Google Analytics GA4 Setup for Beginners, which will help you do just that.

Great job! You’ve successfully set up Google Search Console and linked it to Google Analytics. 🎉

By doing this, you now have the tools to monitor your website’s performance on Google and make data-driven decisions to improve its visibility. To read more on how to do this from Google, see Google’s article here.

To explore more about optimizing your website, check out these related resources:

If you’re ready to dive deeper into Google Search Console’s capabilities, visit the official Google Search Console page.

If you have any difficulty with the steps in this guide (or feel stuck with your SEO strategy), feel free to schedule a call with us; we’d love to help!