To start using Google's Webmaster tools you'll need to verify that you own your website in your Google Search Console.
To do this please follow the instructions below:
- Go to your Google Webmasters account. (You can set one up for free if you do not have one following this link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/)
- Click "Add property"
- You may be asked to select a property type, select "URL prefix'
- Enter your website's URL
- Expand the "HTML tag" option, under "Other verification methods".
- You will see a code appear in the box below which looks something like this:
<meta name='verify-v1'content='F306kTbW2229Pu31E/jh7Ak6ktWV+FKPiMnkqiP8umQ=' > - Copy this code.
- Log in to your Create account
- Click on "Content" on the top menu
- Click on the "Page Settings" icon for your Home Page
- Click on "Meta Info" from the top tabs
- Paste your code from Google into the box labelled "custom HEAD"
- Click "Save Changes"
- You will now need to publish your changes to your live site by clicking on "Publish" on the Top Menu and following the instructions to "Publish to Web"
You can now return to Google Webmasters and click the "Verify" button, if you've done this correctly you should see a Continue message from Google. Next up, you'll need to Submit your Sitemap to Google.
