Getting started with Google Search Console

Step 3 of 3 · About 15 minutes, then a few days of waiting

Google Search Console is a free tool that shows how Google sees your website. You can use it to tell Google your pages exist, find out whether they are indexed, and see which searches bring visitors to you.

1. Verify that you own the domain

Add your site as a Domain property. Google gives you a TXT record that starts with google-site-verification=. Add it in your DNS (in Cloudflare: DNS → Records → Add record, type TXT, name @) and click Verify. Leave the record in place permanently; removing it un-verifies the property.

2. Add a robots.txt file

The robots.txt file at the top of your site tells crawlers what they may visit. A simple, open version looks like this:

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

3. Add and submit a sitemap

A sitemap is an XML file listing the pages you want indexed. Upload it as sitemap.xml, check that it opens in your browser, then go to Indexing → Sitemaps in Search Console, enter sitemap.xml and choose Submit. Update the sitemap whenever you add a page.

4. Request indexing for important pages

Paste a page's full address into the URL inspection bar at the top of Search Console. If it is not on Google yet, choose Request indexing. Google runs a live test first; if the test finds a problem, the request is rejected and View live test shows the reason.

5. Understand the indexing statuses

Processing data, please check again in a day or so: the property is new and Google has not collected data yet.
Discovered – currently not indexed: Google knows the URL exists, usually from your sitemap, but has not crawled it yet.
Crawled – currently not indexed: Google visited the page but chose not to index it for now. Thin pages, such as an "under construction" notice, often end up here.
Page with redirect: the URL redirects elsewhere. This is expected for addresses like www.example.com that redirect to the root domain.

6. Give Google something worth indexing

Indexing is never guaranteed, and new sites take time, often a few days to a few weeks. You improve your chances by publishing several pages with useful, original text, giving each page a clear title and description, and linking your pages to each other so crawlers can find them all.

Back to all guides →