Google Search Console: why it matters and how to set it up

Last updated September 2026

Google Search Console is Google’s free tool for seeing your website the way Google sees it. Google Analytics tells you what visitors do once they reach your site. Search Console tells you how you show up in Google before anyone clicks.

Why it is worth setting up now

You see what people search to find you. The actual searches your website appears for, how often it appears, how often people click, and your average position.
You hear about problems first. If Google cannot read a page, or finds a security issue, Search Console is where it tells you.
New pages get found sooner. It is where your sitemap is submitted, so Google knows about new pages without waiting to stumble on them.

Search Console only collects data from the day your website is verified, and it never fills in the months before. Verifying it today means you have a record to compare against later.

Before you start

You need a Google account your business controls. The same one you use for Google Analytics is ideal.

Verifying your website means adding a short line of text to your domain’s settings (its DNS). If we manage your domain for you, we add it. Otherwise it goes in at whoever you bought your domain from, such as GoDaddy or Namecheap.

If you already use Search Console for your website, skip to giving us access.

Set up Search Console

Step 1: Add your website

Go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in. Click Add property, or Start now if this is your first time.

Step 2: Choose Domain

Google offers two kinds of property. Choose Domain, on the left, and enter your website address without the https:// or www, for example yourbusiness.com. A Domain property covers every version of your address at once.

Step 3: Copy the verification record

Google shows a TXT record that starts with google-site-verification=. Click Copy.

If we manage your domain: send it to us in a request in your client portal. We add it for you, usually the same day.
If you manage your domain: sign in where you bought it, open its DNS settings, and add a new TXT record. Use @ for the name or host, and paste what you copied as the value.

Step 4: Verify

Back in Search Console, click Verify. If it fails, the record may not have spread yet. That can take anywhere from a few minutes to a day, so wait a while and click Verify again.

Step 5: Give us access

Follow Give Superhero access to Google Search Console so we can submit your sitemap and keep an eye on how your website appears in Google.

Once verified, the first data takes a few days to appear.

Something looks different?

Google rearranges these screens from time to time. If a button is not where this article says, open a request in your client portal and we will walk you through it.