Getting started
How to add a site to Google Search Console and verify ownership
You add a property in Search Console, choose how to prove you own it, and click Verify. The choice that matters is the property type, because a Domain property can be verified only through your domain name provider.
Checked against Google Search Console Help · October 2026
Short answer
Open the property selector, choose Add property, pick Domain (all subdomains and protocols, verified by a DNS record) or URL prefix (one exact address, many verification methods), follow the steps for the method you choose and click Verify. If you cannot prove ownership, ask a current owner to add you.
Google describes both property types in Add a website or platform property ↗ .
The steps, in order
Each step below is taken from Google’s own help pages.
Choose the property type
A Domain property covers every subdomain and the http, https and ftp protocols of a domain and is verified only through your domain name provider. A URL-prefix property covers URLs that start with the exact address you type, including http or https and www, and accepts many verification methods. Use a URL-prefix property when you need data limited to a folder or a protocol.
Add the property
Open the property selector on any Search Console page, choose Add property and pick Website property. You can hold up to 1,000 properties in one account. Adding a property does not change your site.
Pick a verification method
For a URL-prefix property: HTML file upload, an HTML tag in the homepage head, a Google Analytics tracking code, a Google Tag Manager snippet, or a Google Sites or Blogger account. For a Domain property: a record at your domain name provider, which is more complex but the only way.
Verify now or later
Follow the steps and click Verify in the same window, or choose Verify later to save the state and finish by selecting the unverified property and pressing Verify.
Leave the token in place
Verification lasts as long as Search Console can confirm that the token is present and valid. It checks periodically, so removing the file, tag or record later can end your ownership.
Add a second method
In the property’s Settings under Ownership verification you can add more than one method, so a template change that drops one tag does not cost you access.
If verification fails or data is missing
Tag methods look in the page a signed-out visitor is redirected to from your property address, not always the homepage you see; put the exact tag there.
File upload does not follow redirects, so the file must be served at the exact address without being redirected.
Google lists these server-side causes: the server is down or slow, the domain does not resolve, a redirect loop, or a password-protected site. Fix the site and try again.
The site may not have been seen in Google Search yet, or the property address is wrong, for example http instead of https for a URL-prefix property.
Search Console rechecked the token and could not find it; restore the token or verify again.
OWNERSHIP
When you cannot verify, and what happens to access
If you cannot prove ownership, ask a current owner to grant you access in Search Console. Child properties you add under a verified property are verified automatically by the same method. If every verified owner loses verification, all users lose access to the property, so keep more than one owner and more than one method.
Data starts before verification
Google collects data for a property from the moment anyone adds it, even before verification, though it takes a few days to appear. Verification unlocks access to the data; it does not start collection.
Common mistakes
Do not delete the verification file, tag or record afterwards
It is what keeps your ownership valid.
Do not overwrite another owner’s token
Several people can verify the same property by the same method; each needs their own token.
Do not guess the property address
A wrong protocol or a missing www gives a property that matches nothing you care about; use a Domain property if you want everything.