Verify a Square Online Site with Search Engines for SEO
Verifying your website with search engines is a great way to get your site indexed into their search results. When your site is indexed, this means that your site has a chance to appear in search results when people search certain keywords. Find out more about how to optimise your website pages for search for more information on setting up your website's SEO.
Note: It can take a number of weeks for new Square Online sites to be indexed and unindexed in search engine listings, and even longer for a site to show up in the results for specific keywords. Check out our Ultimate SEO Guide, which walks you through the ins and outs of getting indexed in search engines and improving your search ranking.
Verify Your Site with Google
Verifying a site with Google Search Console gives you access to reports about that site’s visibility in search results, and ensures that your site is indexed by Google on a faster and more regular basis.
Setting up an account with Google Search Console isn’t a necessity, but it’s a smart way to monitor your search ranking. For more resources from Google about SEO and improving your ranking on Google search results, check out Google Search Central on their developer site.
To get started, log in at Google Search Console if you already have a Google account, or create a new Google account if you don’t already have one. Any Google account email address (like Gmail or Google Workspace) will allow you to log in.
Choose a property type
The first step is to choose what’s known as a property type. There are two options:
Use this property type if you own your custom domain name. This option covers all variations of your domain, including any subdomains.
To verify ownership of a domain property, you’ll need to create a TXT record for the domain using the value Google provides. Learn how to manage records for Square Online domains if Square hosts your domain and you’d like to add a TXT record. If your domain is hosted by a third party and you aren’t sure how to add a TXT record, contact your domain host for assistance.
Use this property type if your website is published to a free subdomain.
Google offers several methods for verifying ownership of a URL prefix property, but the HTML tag method is the simplest.
- Go to Other verification methods, and select HTML tag to expand the panel.
- Copy the code Google provides,
- sign in to your Square Dashboard and go to Sales channels > Online > Settings > Tracking Tools.
- Paste the HTML tag into the header section of your site
- Publish your website.
Next, you’ll need to verify that you own the website or domain name in question. This process differs depending on which property type you selected.
Complete the site verification process
Once you’ve done the first part of the verification, return to Google and click the Verify button to complete the process. If you closed the window, go back to Google Search Central, and use the Finish verification link at the bottom of the page.
Note: If you used the domain property type, you may need to wait an hour or two for the DNS records to propagate before completing the verification process.
If everything is correct, you’ll see a message indicating site ownership is verified. If there’s an error, make sure that your site is published and that you’ve allowed enough time for the DNS records to propagate (TXT record method), then try clicking verify again. When you see the verification confirmation message, click Go To Property.
Add a site map
The next step is to add your sitemap. Open the menu, then click on Sitemaps. A sitemap is created automatically for every website hosted at Square. The filename for the sitemap is always sitemap.xml, so enter that into the "Add a new sitemap" field and click Submit.
After verification is complete
Google Search Central has various features to explore after you’re verified, which can help you see how well your site is ranked. Find out more with Google Search crawling and indexing FAQ on Google's support centre.
Verify Your Site with Bing
Although Google is one of the most well-known search engines out there, there are several others to note such as Bing by Microsoft. Find out more about how to verify your site with Bing on the Bing website.
Disclaimer: Square does not provide SEO consultation. For more information on SEO for your specific website's needs, we recommend consulting an SEO expert.