How to Verify Domain Property in Google Search Console via DNS

Yesterday, Google announced that Domain properties are coming to the new Google Search Console. It means that now you will have a full picture of what’s happening with all versions of your website: https, http, m., www, non-www…

As you know, Google treats such versions as separate websites. It makes sense from a technical point of view, but for users and webmasters this involved too many unneeded steps. So it’s really great Google added this feature.

To verify your domain ownership in Google Search Console, you will need access to your hosting and add a txt DNS record there. And by the end of this post, you’ll do this even if you have no idea what a DNS record is.

Verifying Domain Property in Google Search Console

Here’s a video of the process in case you prefer visual content:

In order to verify domain ownership, complete the following steps:

1. Go to Google Search Console.
2. Click ‘Add Property’.
3. Choose Domain and enter your domain name:

   

4. Click ‘Continue’, you’ll be redirected to the next step.
5. Copy the domain verification TXT record you’ll get:

   

6. Log into your hosting. I’ll be using cPanel as an example as I’m on GreenGeeks hosting. You can find specific info for your hosting here.
7. Find Zone Editor under Domains:

   

8. Choose the domain you need to verify in Google Search Console and click ‘Manage’.
9. Add a record and select TXT as a record type.
10. Fill in the rest of the fields with the following information:
    • Valid zone name – your domain name
    • TTL – 3600
    • Text – your verification text copied in step 3.

      
      

      

11. Once you’ve filled in all the fields, click ‘Add record’ to save it.
12. Go back to Google Search Console and click ‘Verify’.

Don’t worry if your domain ownership will not be verified right away in Search Console. At first, I got this:

It may take your DNS records time to update and Google to pick them up. In my case, the domain was verified in 2-3 minutes. I just tried clicking ‘Verify’ a few more times and here’s what I finally got:

Now instead of 4 different websites, I see one domain added as a property. In my GSC it looks like this:

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Notes and Tips on Domain Properties

• It is possible to add a domain property to GSC which already has separate versions of the same website added. So these versions will not be united, they will co-exist with your new domain property. You can see it on the screenshot above.
• If you want to verify domain properties for multiple GSC accounts, you will need to add a separate DNS record for each of these accounts.
• The verification process requires advanced skills and access to DNS records, which means you’ll need to have some back and forth with the clients to get a domain property verified.
• User management for domain properties works the same way as for regular websites: you can add users with different permissions. These users will not need to verify the domain properties they were granted access to.
• If you already have your website versions added to GSC, you will not need to wait for indexation and other info to appear. After verifying your domain property, all data will be immediately available in it.
• You will see different URL variations in all Google Search Console reports. For example, here’s a Performance report:

Your Turn

Have you already played with domain properties in Google Search Console? Have you faced any problems in verifying them? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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