Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Back in February, we announced
domain-wide data in Search Console,
to give site owners a comprehensive view of their site, removing the need to switch between
different properties to get the full picture of your data.
We’ve seen lots of positive reactions from users who verified domain properties. A common feedback
we heard from users is that before moving to domain properties they were underestimating their
traffic, and the new method helped them understand their clicks and impressions aggregated data
more effectively. When we asked Domain property users about their satisfaction with the feature,
almost all of them seem to be satisfied. Furthermore, most of these users reported that they find
domain properties more useful than the traditional URL prefix properties.
However, changing a DNS record is not always trivial, especially for small and medium businesses.
We heard that the main challenge preventing site owners from switching to Domain properties is
getting their domain verified. To help with this challenge, we collaborated with various domain
name registrars to automate part of the verification flow. The flow will guide you through the
necessary steps needed to update your registrar configuration so that your DNS record includes the
verification token we provide. This will make the verification process a lot easier.
How to use Auto-DNS verification
To verify your domain using the new flow, click ‘add property’ from the property selector (drop
down on top of Search Console sidebar). Then, choose the ‘Domain’ option. The system will guide
you through a series of steps, including a visit to the registrar site where you need to apply
changes—there will be fewer and easier steps than before for you to go through. You can
learn more about
verifying your site
at the Help Center.
We hope you can use this new capability and gain ownership of your Domain property today. As
always, please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve via the product feedback
button, the
Webmasters community
or mention us
on Twitter.
How we apply this
Google announcements age. We keep this post here for the record, and we note for clients whether the behaviour it describes still applies today or has since been superseded.
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