Verify Ownership of a Google Sites Web Address with Google Search Console
Why Verify a Google Sites Website Property?
Google Sites web addresses are a directory of the subdomain sites.google.com and are completely free. Not everyone wants to pay for a domain renewal yearly. Therefore a public website can run at zero cost, not even a hosting plan is needed with Google Sites. The problem is, these web addresses with the long sites.google.com/view/... might not be indexed very easily. Did you know even free Google Sites can rank well in search if you follow best SEO practices?
Google likes to index top level domains, or your www subdomain. Registering for Google Search Console can help Google find your URL and add it to search results. After all, what good is a resume or a eportfolio without being picked up and recognized.
Instructions and Video Tutorial
Go to your Google Sites website in editor mode
Check Publish and Sharing settings to ensure everything is open to the public and crawlable.
Hit Publish and assign a unique web address
Copy your published site link. It should look like https://sites.google.com/view/...
In a new tab, open Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console/about
Add a new property
Use a URL Prefix
Verify Ownership with Google Analytics
In a third browser tab, now, open analytics.google.com
Add a New Property. This can be part of a new or existing account.
Choose a platform for data collection: Web
Add your published sites.google.com URL
Copy your Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX)
Go to your Google Site > Settings > Analytics > Paste Your Measure ID, which is for Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Close out and note that Analytics is now online for your site
In your Google Search Console window/tab, complete verification
Watch this video of the whole process if you get lost on Google Site Owner Verification
The Importance of Registering Your Property on Google Search Console
As a webmaster, the owner of a website, it's important your website have an online presence. Google Search Console is a free tool that allows you to monitor and improve your property's visibility in Google search results.
Other Benefits of Registering Your Property on Google Search Console
Improved visibility in Google search results. Google Search Console can help you submit URLs for indexing and ensuring there are crawling issues.
Access to valuable data. Google Search Console provides you with valuable data about how people are searching for your property. This data can help you improve your marketing efforts and target the right audience.
Identify and fix technical issues. Google Search Console can help you identify and fix technical issues with your property. Poor performance of a website and 404 errors will negatively impact page rank.
Monitor your property's performance. It's always nice to gather statistical data because you never know when you'll need it. GSC actually gives you terrific insights into your website in search and what queries lead people to your content.