Before you can access information about your site using Google’s Webmaster Tools (WMT), you must successfully complete Google’s site verification process. This is a process that Google has put in place to allow you to verify that you are, indeed, the webmaster or owner of the web site whose information you are attempting to access.
How to verify your site for Google’s Webmaster Tools
If you don’t already have one, you will need to create a Google Webmaster Tools account. Next you will need to log into your WMT account. On the WMT home page click on the ADD SITE button, and enter the URL of the site that you would like to verify and manage. Then press the CONTINUE button.
You will next be taken to a verification screen that allows you to select a verification method. Be sure that the Site URL is correct. The verification status should display as NOT VERIFIED. The user interface will ask you to select how you would like to verify your site. There are two methods which available for site verification. They are:
- Meta tag verification method
- HTML File verification method
Both methods are acceptable and neither provides any additional benefits over the other. Since a single Google WMT account can be used to manage multiple web sites, it should be noted that not ALL of those sites have to be verified the same way. Some can be verified with the meta verification method, others with the file verification method.
How does meta site verification work?
This method of verifying your site is typically the easiest method if you have the ability to change the HTML for your home page. It uses… yep… you guessed it… an HTML <meta> element.
The general idea is that you place a <meta> element in the <head> section of your home page with a specific value specified by the Google WMT interface. Google figures that if you can add a <meta> element to the home page HTML of the site then you MUST be the owner or webmaster for that web site.
To use the meta verification method, select “Meta tag” from the Verification Method dropdown. A text box will appear below the dropdown and display a <meta> element that looks similar to the following:
<meta name=”verifiy-v1” content=”pg9LeoR9wh4szzb9Qv/bUUgsaWbfH+P9Q=” />
Copy the <meta> element from the text box into your clipboard, Notepad, or another editor. You will need it later! Don’t worry. If you “lose it” the you can always get it back by using the following steps:
- Log into WMT
- Click on the VERIFY THIS SITE button next to the web site name
- Select the “Meta tag” option from the Verification Method dropdown
The <meta> element will reappear in the text box below the dropdown. You can return to your WMT home page by pressing the VERIFY LATER button.
Note: This <meta> element value doesn’t change each time you visit the verification screen. In fact, ALL sites that you verify using a single WMT account will share the same <meta> element value.
To prove that you are the site owner or webmaster, add this <meta> element to the <head> section of your home page’s HTML. Just “how” you do this will vary from site-to-site depending on whether you have a strictly HTML site, use a server-side scripting language, or use some type of content management system (CMS).
You will know you have made the correct change to your home page when you can browse your home page, view the HTML source from the browser, and see the Google <meta> verification element in the <head> section.
Once you have the Google verification <meta> element appearing properly in the <head> section of your home page, simply:
- Log into Webmaster Tools
- Click on the VERIFY THIS SITE button next to the web site name
- Be sure the “Meta tag” option is selected from the Verification Method dropdown
- Click the VERIFY button at the bottom of the screen
Google will request your home page and check that the appropriate <meta> element is there. If it is then your site will be flagged as VERIFIED.
How does HTML file site verification work?
The HTML file verification method is often simpler in that it does NOT require modifying code on your site. However, if your site does not handle 404 Not Found errors correctly then you will NOT be able to use this method to verify your site. Allow me to explain!
The general idea for the file verification method is that you place an empty file in the root folder of your web with a specific file name specified by Google’s Webmaster Tools. Google figures that if you can add a file to the root of your web then you must be the owner or webmaster for the site in question.
To use the file verification method, select “HTML file” from the Verification Method dropdown. A text box will appear below the dropdown and display an HTML file name that looks similar to the following:
google6a9d5c8b6aa72973.html
Copy the HTML file name from the text box into your clipboard, Notepad, or another editor. You will need it later! Again, you need not worry. If you “lose” the the file name then you can always get it back by using the following steps:
- Log into WMT
- Click on the VERIFY THIS SITE button next to the web site name
- Select the “HTML file” option from the Verification Method dropdown
The HTML file name will reappear in the text box below the dropdown. You can return to your WMT home page by pressing the VERIFY LATER button.
Note: Similar to the <meta> element value, the HTML file name doesn’t change each time you visit the verification screen. In fact, ALL sites that you verify using a single WMT account will share the same HTML file name.
To prove that you are the site owner or webmaster, create an empty file using a text editor like Notepad and save the file as the HTML file name specified on the Google WMT verification screen (for example, google6a9d5c8b6aa72973.html). If your text editor will not allow you to save an empty file then simply add a single space to the file and save it. Google will not look at its contents. They only verify that the specified file exists.
Once you have the Google verification <meta> element appearing properly in the <head> section of your home page, simply:
- Log into Webmaster Tools
- Click on the VERIFY THIS SITE button next to the web site name
- Be sure the “HTML file” option is selected from the Verification Method dropdown
- Click the VERIFY button at the bottom of the screen
Google will request the file name specified on the verification screen from the root of your web.
If your web server does NOT return a 200 Ok status when Google requests the verification HTML file from the root of your web then your site will fail verification.
If your web server DOES return a 200 Ok status when Google requests the verification HTML file then you are half way there! With HTML file verification Google takes things one step further.
To insure that your web server is configured to handle 404 Not Found errors appropriately Google will next request some random file name which they KNOW should not exist on your server (for example, they might requests something random like “/googlewlskjwer31398198sois8e8191838slldd831.notfound”).
If your web server returns a 200 Ok status for the request for the non-existent file then your site will fail verification. Your server “should” return a 404 Not Found status when a request for a non-existent file is processed. Since your server, in this case, is returning 200 for non-existent files, Google cannot trust that the verification HTML file actually exists on your server. So the verification process fails.
If your server returns a 404 Not Found status for the request for the non-existent file then Google knows that it is properly configured to handle requests for non-existent files and can therefore feel sure that the HTML verification file DOES exist on your server. Google will flag your site as VERIFIED.
Once your site is verified with Google
Be sure that you have verified both the www AND non-www version of your site. As long as the DNS for both are pointed to the same code base and/or same root folder, to verify the “other” version of your site all you need to do is:
- Log into Google’s Webmaster Tools
- Click on the ADD SITE button
- Enter the URL of the “other” version of your site (www version if you previously verified non-www version OR non-www version if you previously verified the www version)
- At the Verification screen select the same verification method used to verify the previous version of the site (“Meta tag” or “HTML file”).
- Press the VERIFY button at the bottom of the screen.
Since both versions of the URL (www.example.com or example.com) both render the same HTML (for meta verification) or can be used to access the same files in the root (for HTML file verification), the verification should succeed immediately.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Does the size of the font, small case or uppercase have an effect on validation. If my page name starts with a capital do I have to do the same in the verification? I have not done this reading that it doesn’t matter but since my other pages have not been verified yet i am now wondering.
I’m not sure I really understand the question. Validation and verification are two totally different things. When people speak of validation they are typically talking about comparing the (X)HTML and CSS used on their site against the W3C standards to see what types of rules they might have broken. This post was specifically about Google Webmaster Tools site verification… proving to Google that you are, indeed, an authorized webmaster for a given site.
Most people typically verify two versions of their site – the www and non-www version. Once you get one verified (using the meta tag or HTML file method) all you have to do is ADD the other site in WMT and press the verify button. In 99.999% of the cases it will verify immediately unless you’re doing something “funky” in code so that you’re not rendering the same home page for both (meta tags are different) or somehow the DNS for the www and non-www resolve to different folders on your web server. If you want to set the preferred domain (www or non-www) in WMT then you have to verify both the www and non-www version of the domain. So page name, font, case, etc. really have no bearing on verification because people typically verify their domains.
One little known fact, however, that most people don’t know… you CAN verify a file on your site. Say I’ve verified http://www.example.com and example.com and I’ve set my preferred domain to http://www.example.com... I can also add http://www.example.com/some-folder/ and verify it. This will automatically verify as well (assuming you’ve already verified http://www.example.com). This will allow you to get information specifically about the http://www.example.com/some-folder/ section of the site (that page and all pages that live under it like http://www.example.com/some-folder/some-sub-folder/page-name.html). You’ll notice when you do this a lot of the info in WMT for that “section” of the site are blank because they are real “site” level information… but a lot of the info is there and adjusted so that it is only about that “section” of the site.