🔎 Search Console ⏱ About 10 minutes

How to Add Your Site to Google Search Console

Search Console is Google's free tool that shows you which keywords people search to find your site, how often you appear in results, and any issues Google found. Here's how to set it up.

You'll need

✓A Google account

✓Your website URL

✓Access to your DNS or site HTML

What you'll get

✓Keyword rankings & clicks

✓Impressions & CTR data

✓Crawl errors & coverage

Open Google Search Console

Go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in. Use the same Google account you use for Google Analytics (if you have it).

💡

Completely free. Search Console has no paid tier — all data is always free.

Add Your Site as a Property

Click Add property in the top left dropdown. You'll choose between two types:

✓ Recommended

Domain

Covers your entire domain — all subdomains, HTTP and HTTPS, all at once.

Enter: lighthouselaunch.com

Alternative

URL Prefix

Covers only one specific URL — useful if you need to track a subdomain separately.

Enter: https://www.lighthouselaunch.com

Not sure which to pick? Choose Domain — it captures everything in one place.

Verify You Own the Site

Google needs to confirm you own the site before showing you its data. Pick the method that works for your setup:

🌐

DNS Record Works with Domain type

Google gives you a TXT record value. Log in to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap...) and add it as a TXT record with the name @. Takes a few minutes to verify.

🏷️

HTML Meta Tag Works with URL Prefix

Google gives you a <meta> tag. Paste it into the <head> section of your homepage, then click Verify.

📊

Via Google Analytics Easiest if GA4 is installed

If GA4 is already on your site with the same Google account, Search Console can verify automatically — just select this option and click Verify. No code changes needed.

ℹ️

Adding a DNS record? In your registrar, create a new record: Type = TXT, Name = @, Value = the code Google gives you. Save it. DNS can take a few minutes to propagate — try verifying again after 5 minutes if it doesn't work immediately.

Submit Your Sitemap

A sitemap tells Google about all the pages on your site. Once verified, go to the Sitemaps section and submit yours.

In Search Console Indexing → Sitemaps

Try opening these URLs in your browser first to find yours — paste whichever one works:

1 yoursite.com/sitemap.xml Most common

2 yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml WordPress common

3 yoursite.com/robots.txt Check here for the sitemap URL

⚠️

No sitemap? WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, and Squarespace all generate sitemaps automatically. For custom sites, use xml-sitemaps.com to generate one free.

Wait for Data

✓

You're verified and set up!

Search Console takes 2–3 days to start showing keyword and click data. Full 16 months of historical data fills in over 28 days. Check back in a few days.

Once data appears, focus on the Performance report — that's where your top search queries, click counts, impressions, and average position all live.

See your Search Console data in AnalyticsDash

Connect GA4 and Search Console together — keyword rankings, click data, low-CTR opportunities, and real-time traffic all in one dashboard.