Setting Up Google Search Console 

Goal: To establish Google Search Console for the first time and integrate it with the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin.

Ideal Outcome: Verification of your Google Search Console property is completed, enabling you to monitor recent crawl issues directly within your WordPress Admin.

Why this is important: Google Search Console, a complimentary tool, facilitates monitoring of your website’s Google search performance, providing valuable insights into rankings, enhancing visibility, and serving as the primary communication channel with Google to detect potential penalties or crawling errors before impacting rankings.

Where this is done: Google Search Console and your WordPress admin.

When this is done: Once per domain, with additional setup required when creating subdomains or adding new protocols (e.g., migrating to https://).

Who does this: Individuals responsible for website management, analytics, or SEO.

Signing up for Google Search Console and verifying your domain:

1. Visit https://search.google.com/search-console/.
2. Sign in with your Google Account.
3. Navigate to the welcome page and choose “URL prefix” as the property type. a. Note: Ensure your URL matches precisely, including the protocol and subdomain. b. Note 2: If your website supports multiple protocols and subdomains, add them individually to Search Console.
4. Authenticate your account using Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or the recommended method.
5. Select “Google Tag Manager” and click “Verify.”
6. Upon successful verification, proceed by clicking “Continue” to access your Search Console dashboard.

Connecting Search Console with Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin:

1. Access your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
2. Hover over “SEO” on the sidebar and select “Search Console.”
3. Click “Get Google Authorization Code.”
4. Log in with your Google Account and authorize access.
5. Click “Allow.”
6. Retrieve the code provided and paste it into the Yoast SEO Search Console configuration panel.
7. Click “Authenticate” to proceed.
8. Choose your URL from the dropdown menu and click “Save Profile.”
9. Congratulations! You have seamlessly linked Yoast SEO with Google Search Console, enabling retrieval of crawl issues directly from your WordPress Admin panel.