How do I set up Google Search Console from scratch?

Setting up Search Console is five steps and takes about fifteen minutes, most of it waiting for a DNS record to propagate.

1. Choose the Google account carefully

Whatever account you use becomes the first verified owner. Use a company account rather than a personal one, because ownership is awkward to move later if that person leaves. You can add more owners afterwards.

2. Add the property

At search.google.com/search-console, click Add property and pick a type:

• Domain property (example.com) covers every subdomain and both protocols in one place. DNS verification only.
• URL-prefix property (https://www.example.com/) covers exactly that prefix and protocol, and accepts several verification methods.

Most sites want a domain property. Details in domain property vs URL prefix.

3. Verify ownership

A domain property needs a TXT record at your DNS provider. A URL-prefix property can be verified with an HTML file, a meta tag, Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager. See verification methods, and verification failed if it does not take.

Leave the verification token in place. Removing it removes your ownership and that of anyone you granted owner access to.

4. Submit a sitemap

Under Indexing > Sitemaps, submit the full URL of your sitemap, usually https://example.com/sitemap.xml. This is how Google learns about pages that are not well linked. See submitting a sitemap.

5. Set up people and expectations

Add colleagues under Settings > Users and permissions, choosing Owner, Full or Restricted. See owner vs user.

Tip: you do not have to wait to see data. Search Console backfills up to 16 months of performance history when a property is verified, because the data was collected whether or not anyone had claimed the site. Only forward-looking reports such as Core Web Vitals start from scratch.

Two things to expect afterwards: performance data runs about two days behind, and the Pages report will list URLs as not indexed for perfectly normal reasons.

How AutoPSEO helps

Once the property is verified, connect it to AutoPSEO with the same Google account. The connection is read-only, the last 16 months load within a minute, and stored properties keep building a 10-year archive past Google's own limit. See connecting Search Console.