How to verify your domain with Google Search Console

This guide shows how to add your website to Google Search Console and prove you own it with a DNS record in cPanel. Once verified, you can see how your site appears in Google search and tell Google about your pages.

Domain property or URL prefix

When you add a site, Search Console asks you to pick a property type.

• Domain. Covers the whole domain in one go: http:// and https://, with and without www, and every subdomain. It can only be verified with a DNS record. This is the one we suggest.
• URL prefix. Covers only the exact address you type, such as https://www.yourdomain.co.uk. It offers other ways to verify, like uploading a file or adding a meta tag, but you may end up needing several properties for one site.

The rest of this guide uses a Domain property.

Get your TXT record from Google

1. Go to Google Search Console and sign in with the Google account you want to manage the site with.
2. Open the property menu at the top left and click Add property.
3. Under Domain, type your domain without http:// or www, for example yourdomain.co.uk.
4. Click Continue.
5. Google shows a TXT record starting with google-site-verification=. Click Copy.

Leave this window open. You’ll come back to it to finish.

Add the TXT record in cPanel

1. In a new tab, log in to cPanel.
2. Open Zone Editor in the Domains section.
3. Next to your domain, click Manage.
4. Click the arrow next to Add Record and choose Add TXT Record.
5. In Name, enter your domain followed by a full stop, for example yourdomain.co.uk. (cPanel usually fills this in for you).
6. In Record, paste the whole value you copied from Google, including the google-site-verification= part.
7. Click Save Record.

It’s fine to have other TXT records on the domain, such as your SPF record. Don’t edit or replace them. Add Google’s record as a separate one.

For a general walk through of the screen, see how to edit DNS records in cPanel.

Verify in Search Console

1. Go back to the Search Console window.
2. Click Verify.

If your domain uses our nameservers, Google can often see the record within a few minutes. Sometimes it takes longer. If Google says it couldn’t find the record, wait an hour and click Verify again. In rare cases it can take up to a day.

Keep the TXT record in place after verifying. Google checks it again from time to time, and removing it can cause you to lose access.

Submit your sitemap

A sitemap is a list of the pages on your site. Giving it to Google helps it find new and updated pages.

1. Find your sitemap address. On WordPress 5.5 or later it’s usually https://yourdomain.co.uk/wp-sitemap.xml. SEO plugins often create their own, commonly at /sitemap_index.xml or /sitemap.xml. Open the address in your browser to check it loads.
2. In Search Console, pick your property and click Sitemaps in the left menu.
3. Type the end of the sitemap address into Add a new sitemap and click Submit.

Google will show the status. It may say Couldn’t fetch at first. Check back after a day or two.

If it doesn’t work

• Verification keeps failing. Make sure the record is on the right domain and that you pasted the whole value, with no spaces at the start or end.
• Your domain uses Cloudflare or another DNS provider. Records added in our Zone Editor won’t be used. Add the TXT record wherever your DNS is managed. See how to use Cloudflare with your hosting.
• You’re not sure which nameservers your domain uses. See how to check DNS propagation to look up the current records.
• Someone else set up Search Console before. Ask them to add you as an owner from Settings, then Users and permissions, instead of verifying again.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we’ll help.