Search Console tutorial

Set up your Search Console in 5 minutes

Search Console is Google's free tool that shows how people find your site. Claude reads it to build your plan. Four steps, without touching your site's code.

Start at step 1 Open Search Console
  • 5 minutes
  • Free, from Google
  • Claude only reads it

First, your situation

  • You already have oneNothing to create: connect it right away, step 5 of the guide.
  • An agency runs your siteAsk them to add you as a user of their Search Console (full access), with your Google address, then connect it.
  • Your site is newCreate it anyway. Google has no data yet, and that is normal: Claude starts with what exists and refines later.

None of these steps changes how your site looks.

The 4 steps

Keep two tabs open: Search Console and your WordPress.

  1. 1

    Add your site to Google

    Open Search Console with your Google account, click Add property, choose URL prefix, paste your site's address and click Continue.

    To get the exact addressOpen your site's home page and copy the address from the browser bar, https:// included.

    Search Console · diagram of the screenDiagram of the Search Console Select property type window: the URL prefix option, the site address and the Continue button
  2. 2

    Copy Google's code

    Open HTML tag and copy only the code between the quotes after content= (in yellow in the picture), not the rest of the line.

    Keep this window open.You come back to it in step 4 to click Verify.

    Search Console · diagram of the screenDiagram of the Verify ownership window: the HTML tag method open, the code to copy highlighted in yellow and the Verify button
  3. 3

    Paste it into Hack The SEO

    In WordPress, open Hack The SEO, Réglages (Settings), tab Indexation, then Pour les experts (For experts): paste the code into the Google field under “Codes de vérification des moteurs” (search engine verification codes) and click Enregistrer (Save).

    It worked when…the bottom bar disappears after you save: the code is now on your home page, invisible to your visitors.

    WordPress · Hack The SEO · RéglagesHack The SEO settings, Indexation tab, with the Pour les experts link in the left column

    Further down, in “Pour les experts”:

    WordPress · Hack The SEO · RéglagesThe Google field of the search engine verification codes, with a sample code pasted, and the Enregistrer button at the bottom
  4. 4

    Verify, then connect Google

    Go back to Search Console and click Verify, then in Hack The SEO click Relier avec Google (Connect with Google, on the Démarrer screen or in Réglages, Google tab) and choose that same account.

    Google says “Verification failed”?If your site uses a cache plugin, clear the cache, wait a minute and click Verify again.

    WordPress · DémarrerThe Hack The SEO Démarrer screen at the Google step, with the Relier avec Google button

Done? Back to the guide.

Your Search Console is ready. Pick up the getting started guide at step 5, Connect Google: Claude will read your data without changing anything on Google's side.

Back to the guide, step 5 See the steps again

Talk soon, the Hack The SEO team