WordPress Google Search Console Install Guide

In this guide I am going to walk you through how to install GSC on your WordPress website. While there are many ways to do this, I am going to show you using the HTML tag method.

To help you follow along, I’ve included screenshots and a step by step video also walking you through how to do it.

1. Login into Search Console through any Google account:

2. Enter Your URL Prefix in Property Type:

Quick tip:

Type in your domain as such:

• https://domainname.com

(Be sure to replace “domainname” for your specific domain.)

So for Bounce Rank it would be “https://bouncerank.com”

3. Copy the HTML Tag:

It would be a good idea to copy your tag to a word doc or a spreadsheet.

That way you don’t loose it when you are moving around things on your website!

4. Add the Tag to Your Website:

Now you need to copy and paste the code into your header.

You can you use the insert headers and footers free plugin to do it.

Here’s how to install it and use it:

Login into WordPress, go to plugins and then press “add new”.

I highlighted in the screenshot the plugin I am talking about.

Press “install now”

Once installed move on to the next step:

Now it is installed navigate to “settings” and then click “Insert Headers and Footers”:

Now take that HTML tag you had from Search Console and paste it into your header.

5. Press Verify

Don’t forget to press save!

Once the code is copied and pasted, spin back on over to Search console and press verify.

If it doesn’t work check to see if you entered the code correctly.

Alternatively, you can verify via DNS lookup, This may take longer but it is still just as effective.

Okay, now that you verified your website, here are somethings that you may be asking yourself once you login.

Why is my dashboard not showing anything?

The reason your dashboard may be blank is because your website either doesn’t have enough data (this is common for newer websites) or the data may just take some time to come in.

Typically, it can take Google a few business days or a week to populate ranking data. So don’t worry just give it some time!

How accurate is the console data?

The data is pretty accurate, but Google does hide some of your keyword data for user privacy reasons. In fact, Ahrefs did a study that found that Google actually hides 45.6% (ahrefs). So I would not overly stress about it. Look and see what keywords you show up for, and then use those to further optimize your content.