Setting up Google Search Console

How to add and verify Google Search Console for your website before connecting it to Okara.

Google Search Console shows you how your website performs in Google Search — clicks, impressions, average position, and top queries. Okara uses this data in your Traffic tab and to sharpen your SEO recommendations.

If your site is already verified in Search Console, skip to connecting it to Okara.

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Step 1: Add your property

1. Go to search.google.com/search-console
2. Click Add property
3. Choose Domain (recommended — covers all subdomains and protocols) or URL prefix
4. Enter your website URL and click Continue

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Step 2: Verify ownership

Google needs to confirm you own the site. Choose the method that suits your setup:

DNS record (recommended for Domain properties)

1. Copy the TXT record Google provides
2. Log in to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.)
3. Go to your DNS settings and add a new TXT record with the value Google gave you
4. Click Verify in Search Console

DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate.

HTML file

1. Download the HTML verification file Google provides
2. Upload it to the root of your website (e.g. yoursite.com/googleXXXXXXXX.html)
3. Click Verify

Google Analytics (easiest if GA4 is already installed)

If GA4 is already installed on your site, choose Google Analytics as the verification method. Google verifies ownership automatically using your existing analytics tag.

Not on GA4 yet? Follow the Google Analytics setup guide first.

WordPress (Site Kit plugin)

If you installed Site Kit by Google for GA4, it handles Search Console verification automatically. Just connect Search Console inside the Site Kit dashboard.

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Step 3: Submit your sitemap

Submitting your sitemap helps Google crawl your site faster and more completely.

1. In Search Console, go to Sitemaps in the left menu
2. Enter your sitemap URL — usually yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
3. Click Submit

Most website platforms generate a sitemap automatically. If yours doesn’t, a plugin like Yoast SEO (WordPress) or Google XML Sitemaps can generate one.

Search Console data takes 2 to 3 days to populate after verification. This is normal — Google needs time to collect and process your search data.

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Connect to Okara

Once your site is verified in Search Console, connecting it to Okara takes about a minute.

Connect Google Search Console

Pull your search performance data into your Analytics panel.