Search Engine registration
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I was asked by Matthew to send a question rather than respond to an existing ongoing question relating to how to register onto a search engine (google, etc). I have followed the directions provided and for some reason it does not ‘activate’. Any assistance would really be appreciated…it’s been a few weeks of trying myself.
My website is kseiko.com Thank you for any guidance (very simple language please)The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
I took a look at what you have entered in the Google Webmaster Tools section under Tools > Available Tools in your dashboard. I noticed that what you entered has .html at the end — please note that you cannot verify your website with the HTML file from Google.
Please make sure you follow the instructions here carefully:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/#google-webmaster-tools
When you add a site in Google Webmaster Tools, you will be presented with several verification methods. Do not use the HTML file upload option. Instead, choose the Alternate Methods tab, and then select “Add a meta tag to your site’s home page.”
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Hello: I have attempted your instruction with the alternative methods several times and failed…. this may really be a stupid question but I don’t know where on the site’s home page to add the meta tag. I gave it a go and copy/paste on the line that says ‘Home’ but that did not work.
Can you assist please.
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You should have a meta tag that looks something like this:
<meta name='google-site-verification' content='dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwH'/>You will need to copy the content value (the string of letters and numbers) from that meta tag. In the example above, the content value is this: dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwH
You can then enter your content value in the text box next to “Google Webmaster Tools” under Tools > Available Tools in your blog’s dashboard.
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Hello Rachel
Thank you for the added information. I have another issue that popped up with Google and hope you can assist. Google tells me:
“You don’t have access to this site. Verify this site or ask a site owner to add you as a user”. I do have another gmail address with different name and wonder if that could be the issue(?)I visited your blog; it’s very good.
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Hi there,
It sounds like the content value you entered under Tools > Available Tools in your dashboard may not be correct. If the value isn’t quite right, you can get that error from Google.
Can you provide a screenshot of what you see on Google’s “Alternate Methods” tab? You can upload screenshots to your Media Library under Media > Add New in your dashboard, or you can use an online service such as Snaggy. I can take a look and try to find out what is going on.
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Hi Rachel:
I am sorry for the delay. I think I know what the problem is but not the solution but before I explain, I followed your suggestion and posted a screen shot of what the Google Web Tools page shows – I did it with Paint and it is tiny so I hope you can see it.
When I try to verify with GoDaddy, it says I cannot because I have changed the DNS to WordPress so essentially verifying by this method (which is easiest) does not work(?) Or is there a way to verify through WordPress as the DNS host?
By the by thank you for the ‘snaggy’ info – I hope to use this site in the future (it looks to be very easy to move media).
Thank you for your help, Kolua -
Hi Kolua, thank you for uploading that screenshot. :)
Since your site is hosted here at WordPress.com, you will need to follow the directions on this page to verify it for Google Webmaster Tools: http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/#google-webmaster-tools
The other methods for site verification (including verifying with GoDaddy) are not possible for WordPress.com sites.
In your screenshot, I see that you are trying to use the Recommended HTML File Upload method for site verification. That method doesn’t work with WordPress.com sites. Instead, you will need to click the tab on that screen that says Alternate methods, and then select “Add a meta tag to your site’s home page.”
Please let me know if you have any questions about that.
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Hi Kolua,
I wanted to give a couple screenshots so you can see what steps to take:
When you go to the Google Webmaster Tools verification page, you will see the Recommended method for verification. Instead of using those directions, you will need to click on Alternate methods: http://cl.ly/image/3J340S2b0l2X
When you click on Alternate methods, you will see a list of options. You will need to click on HTML tag: Add a meta tag to your site’s home page: http://cl.ly/image/081Y2R2U3C0r
You can then follow the instructions here to complete the verification process: http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/#google-webmaster-tools
I hope this helps! :)
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Hi Rachel: Yay! Your instructions are excellent; the site has been verified. Thank you so much for your help and even more for your patience.
If there is anything else I need to do to be on board with Google’s search engine, please let me know. It still doesn’t show up when I ‘google’ but perhaps it needs time.
Thank you again, and hope to pop over to your blog shortly,
Kolua -
Hi Kolua,
I’m so glad the site verification worked for you! :) Your site may just take some time to start appearing in Google, or for the site to start ranking higher in their search results.
You can read more about your site and search engines like Google on this page: Search Engines
Google also has tips and information for webmasters that could help your site’s ranking here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/
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Hi Rachel
You’ve been a wealth of information. I checked out the links and they really helped a lot. Thanks so much, Kolua
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