So, you’ve got a brand new blog. And, you want Google to take notice, index you, and start sending you some traffic love.

How do you kick things off?

First of all, realize that getting a good footprint with Google is a long-term project and takes some time. It takes a solid content strategy and some good SEO.

That said, there’s that pesky matter of getting Google to know about your site in the first place. How do you do that?

To kick things off, we’re going to set your blog up with Google Search Console.

Search Console is a pretty useful tool. It allows you to easily track your performance in Google searches. Much like you would a paid ad, you will be able to see how many impressions you’ve gotten in search, your click-through rate, etc. You’ll also be able to tell what keyword phrases you are actually showing up for.

Important for our purposes here, however, is the ability to simply tell Google we exist. So, let’s get set up, shall we?

How To Set Up With Google Search Console

First things first… head on over into Search Console. You’ll need to be logged into your Google account. Then use the menu option to add a new property.

You will then have 2 options

The “Domain” option is the most flexible as it will allow you to control your site regardless of how your domain is used. Any sub-domains will work. Secure and non-secure URLs will work. Your address with or without the “www” on the front will work. The process for verifying you own the site will require DNS verification. It is a wee bit geekier, but not too difficult.

The “URL Prefix” option is an easier setup. It provides more options to verify you own the site. The tradeoff is that it is pretty picky in how it will match your domain. For instance, if your blog is accessible both using “www” or not, it will mess things up. If you have both secure and non-secure URLs, it could present issues.

For the simple “URL Prefix” option to work best for you, I recommend that you have your blog set up to be consistent with URLs. If you’re going to use secure (“https”) URLs (which is better for SEO anyway), then do so for your entire site. Often, your web host will help you enforce secure URLs even if not directly specified. Likewise, I recommend you enforce “www” in your URL. It is a cleaner footprint for SEO, anyway.


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