Setup

Once we have proper access to Google Analytics we can start using the Search Console. Getting here the first time can be a little convoluted, but once you are authorized just bookmark the link https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en

1 -While in Google Analytics, go to the Property level and choose Settings. Got to the bottom and you will see "Adjust Search Console"

There may be two tabs and we want the one where you can use “Google Analytics”. Hit verify and if this fails it is because we do not have the proper permissions in Analytics.

2 – Go to Crawl>>Sitemaps and submit the site map. This is the sample-url.com/sitemap.xml. Also under Crawl use the Fetch feature to grab the homepage and then choose to submit all linked URLs to indexing.

You can then submit this URL:

3 – Settings(The Gear in the top right)>>Site Settings and choose the preferred domain as either www.sample-url.com or sample-url.com. If multiple domains are detected and showing this is important for setting the “preferred” domain the client uses.

4 – Under the gear, there is also Change of Address. This is incredibly useful if moving to a new domain as it informs Google of the change and speeds the update of search results to the new domain.

Using the Power of Search Console