WiscWeb - Adding Google Search Console to Your Site

• Overview
• Steps
  • Step 1: Creating a Google Search Console account
  • Step 2: Adding Google Search Console ID to your WiscWeb project
  • Step 3: Verifying the ID in Google Search Console

Overview

Google's Search Console tool allows users to monitor and optimize their site's performance in Google search results. Among other things, a few typical functions of this tool include:

• Tracking a site's performance in search results
• Making adjustments in order to enhance placement in search results
• Requesting that Google re-crawl a website
• Linking to a sitemap

Please note that support of this tool is limited within the Google and WiscWeb teams at DoIT.

For a full list of Google Search Console's abilities, please see the related Google documentation.

Steps

Step 1: Creating a Google Search Console account

1. Open a new private browsing window/incognito window
   
   
2. Navigate to Google Search Console
   
   
3. If you already have an account, Sign In
   
   
   1. It is recommended that you use an Microsoft 365 Service (departmental) account for this purpose. For more information regarding Service Accounts, please refer to Microsoft 365 - Getting Started with Service Accounts.
      
      
   2. You would use that account to sign in
      
      
4. In the screen where you choose the Property Type, select the URL Prefix box
   
   
   
   
5. Type in the URL of the site you would like to register into the Enter URL field
   
   
   
   
6. In the Verify Ownership window, scroll down and click on the HTML tag option
   
   
   
   
7. In the box, you will see some code starting with a <meta> tag. The ID you need will be after the content= within the quotation marks.
   Example: <meta name="google-site-verification" content="this is your console ID" />




8. Copy the ID listed between the quotation marks and then scroll down to follow the steps for adding it to your WiscWeb project.
   
   
9. Keep this window open as you will need to return to it as soon as you add the ID to your project.

Step 2: Adding a Google Search Console ID to your project/website

1. In a separate browsing window, navigate to your project Dashboard in WiscWeb
   
   
2. Click on Appearance and choose Customize
   
   
   
   
3. Choose Google Services
   
   
4. In the Google Search Console field, paste in the ID you copied
   
   
5. Click Publish

Step 3: Verifying ID in Google Search Console

1. Toggle back to your Google Search Console window
   
   
2. Click the Verify button in the HTML tag box
   
   
   
   
3. Allow the tool to verify that the ID has been added to your site successfully.