Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console is essential for maximizing your website's visibility in Google search results. This process helps Google efficiently discover and index all your website's content, including products, images, pages, collections, and blog posts. Google Search Console also provides valuable tools and reports to measure search traffic, identify and address potential issues, and ultimately optimize your website's performance.

This guide offers comprehensive instructions on verifying your domain ownership in Google Search Console and submitting your store's sitemap to enhance your Google search presence.

In This Article

• Verifying Google Search Console Domain Ownership
• Submitting the Sitemap of Your Store

Verifying Google Search Console Domain Ownership

Before submitting your store's sitemap, you need to verify your domain ownership in Google Search Console. Follow these steps: 

1. Visit Google Search Console and click Start now.
   
   
   
2. Select URL prefix as the property type and enter your store's unique URL in the URL field. Then, click CONTINUE to start the verification process immediately.
   
   
   
3. In the Verify ownership pop-up, go to Other verification methods and select the HTML tag. Copy the alphanumeric code inside the double quotes after content="xxxxx" in the code segment.
   
   
   
4. In your SHOPLINE admin panel, go to Channels > Google > Google data tracking. Find Using Google tools to verify websites and click Add.
   
   
   
5. Paste the copied code into the field and click Save.
   
   
   
6. After adding the meta tag, go to Settings > Basic Settings > Store status to confirm that your store status is Open. This step is necessary to complete the verification process.
   
   
   
7. Return to Google Search Console and click VERIFY.
   
   
   
8. You will receive an Ownership verified message once your website is successfully verified.
   
   
   

Submitting the Sitemap of Your Store

A sitemap is a file that assists search engines like Google in understanding the structure of your website's content. When configuring your online store, SHOPLINE automatically generates a sitemap for each store. You can access your sitemap at "www.your domain.com/sitemap.xml".

To submit your sitemap, follow these steps:

1. Go to Google Search Console, select your site from the top dropdown, and navigate to the Sitemaps section.
   
   
   
2. In the Add a new sitemap field, enter "sitemap.xml" and click SUBMIT.
   
   
   
3. You will receive a success message pop-up, along with the Success status displayed under the Submitted sitemaps section.