Author: Web Administrator

How to Add Your WordPress Site to Google Search Console

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One of the most important step in optimizing your WordPress site for SEO is adding it to Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools).

Google Search Console offers specific webmaster tools to help website owners monitor and maintain their search presence and rankings.

In this guide, we will show you how to easily add and verify your WordPress site in Google Search Console also known as Webmaster Tools.

How to easily add your WordPress site to Google Search Console

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google to help website owners monitor their website’s presence in Google search results.

It helps you track search rankings along with keeping you updated about site errors, security issues, and indexing issues that may affect your website’s search performance.

If you are serious about WordPress SEO, then you need to add it to Google webmaster tools from day one.

That being, let’s take a look at how to easily add your site to Google Search Console.

Video Tutorial

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If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.

Adding Your WordPress Site to Google Search Console

First, you need to visit the Google Search Console website and click on the ‘Start Now’ button.

Start Google Search Console

Next, you’ll need to sign in with your Google / Gmail account.

Once logged in, you’ll be asked to enter your website URL.

There are two methods for site verification: domain name or URL prefix. We recommend the URL prefix method because it is more flexible.

Add website URL

Keep in mind that Google considers an HTTP and HTTPS as two different protocols. It also considers https://www.example.com and https://example.com as two different websites.

You need to enter the correct website URL used by WordPress.

If you are unsure, then there is an easy way to find out the exact URL you need to enter. Simply login to your WordPress admin area and go to Settings » General page.

There you will see your website’s URL in the site address field.

Copy your site address from WordPress settings page

After entering your correct website address in Google webmaster tools setup wizard, click on the ‘Continue’ button to go to the next step.

Now, you’ll be asked to verify ownership of your website. There are several ways to do that, but we will show the HTML tag method because it is the easiest one.

Copy the HTML tag

Click on the HTML tag to expand it and then copy the code inside it.

Now, you need to add this Google site verification meta tag in WordPress, so Google can verify that you are the owner of the website.

Most WordPress tutorials will guide you to just edit the header.php file in your WordPress theme and add the code just above the <body> tag.

However, we don’t recommend this method because if you update or change your theme, then the HTML tag will disappear.

Google periodically checks for the HTML tag and will disable your access to the site data in the search console if it cannot find the verification tag.

Here is how to make sure that Google can always verify your ownership of the website.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to All in One SEO » General Settings » Webmaster Tools page and click on “Google Search Console”.

The Webmaster Tools page in All in One SEO, to select Google Search Console

Then paste the code you copied from Google Search Console into the “Google Verification Code” box.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your changes.

You can now go back to Google Search Console settings and click on the ‘Verify’ button.

Verify ownership

Google Search Console will now look for the HTML tag in your website code and will show you a success message.

Your website successfully added to Search Console

Note: If you don’t see a success message, then you need to clear your WordPress cache. This will ensure that Google can fetch the latest version of your website.

That’s all. You have successfully added your site to the Google Search Console (Webmaster tools). You can now click on the ‘Go to Property’ link to visit your Google Search Console dashboard.

Google Search Console dashboard

From here you can see your website’s performance reports and index coverage.

Before you do that, let’s tell Google a little bit more about your website. This will help Google crawl your website a bit more efficiently.

Add XML Sitemap to Google Search Console

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all your website content in XML format, so search engines like Google can easily discover and index your content.

The good news is, if you installed the All in One SEO plugin in the steps above, you’ve already added an XML sitemap to your site automatically.

To see your sitemap, go to All in One SEO » Sitemaps. From here, you can see the sitemap is automatically enabled for you.

Enable sitemap in All in One SEO

Next, you need to get the XML sitemap link. Simply click on the ‘Open Sitemap’ button, and you will see a link to your XML sitemap.

All in One SEO XML sitemap preview

From here, you can just copy the URL from your browser’s address bar.

Alternatively, you can directly access your XML sitemap by adding sitemap.xml at the end of your website address. For example:

https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Now that you have XML sitemap ready, let’s help Google find it quickly.

Simply switch to the Google Search Console dashboard and click on the Sitemaps menu from the left column.

Add your sitemap URL to Google Search Console

After that, you need to add the last part of your sitemap URL under the ‘Add new sitemap’ section and click the Submit button.

Google will now add your sitemap URL to your Google Search Console.

AIOSEO also comes with several other sitemaps like Video Sitemap, News Sitemap, and RSS sitemap that all help you get a competitive advantage and rank higher in SEO.

The process of submitting those sitemaps is the same as above.

That’s all, you have successfully added your website to Google Search Console.

The next step is to learn how to use the treasure trove of information in Google search console to grow your business. We have a complete Google Search Console guide for beginners which shows you how to make the most out of Google Search Console data.

Google Search Console and WordPress FAQs

Having helped thousands of readers add and verify their website in Google search console, we have seen just about every question you can think of. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

1. How can I upload a Google HTML verification file to my WordPress blog?

Google Search Console allows few different ways to verify website ownership. In this article, we covered the easiest method which is to use the Google site verification meta tag. However some website owners prefer to upload the HTML file to verify site ownership.

To upload the Google search console HTML verification file to WordPress, you will need to login to your WordPress hosting cPanel or connect to your hosting account using FTP.

Next, you need to upload the HTML verification file inside the /public_html/ folder of your website. This is the root directory where you’ll see other WordPress folders like /wp-admin/, /wp-content/, etc.

2. Should I use a Google Site verification plugin for WordPress?

There are many WordPress plugins that are designed specifically to help you with Google site verification. However you don’t need to use them because you’ll likely need to verify ownership on other webmaster tools and platforms like Bing, Yandex, Pinterest, etc.

It’s much better to use the All in One SEO plugin because it lets you add site verification for all platforms (in a single plugin). Not to mention, it also has a ton of other WordPress SEO features to help you rank better and get more traffic.

3. How can I become a power user of Google Search Console?

Google search console has a lot of useful information that you can use to grow your business. We have created the ultimate Google Search Console guide that you can use to become a power user.

4. I’m running into problems, is there a Google Search console phone number that I can contact?

No, there’s no Google search console phone number that you can contact. If you’re running into problems with Google search console, then you can use their online support center. For specific questions about WordPress, you can always join our free WordPress help group to ask your questions.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily add your WordPress site to Google Search Console. You may also want to see our guide on how to get more traffic to your website, and our comparison of the best email marketing services for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Add Your Website to Bing Webmaster Tools

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Do you want to submit your WordPress site to Bing Webmaster Tools?

Bing is among the top search engines in the world. Submitting your site to its webmaster tool helps you monitor your site’s performance and keyword rankings and fix indexing issues.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add your websites to Bing Webmaster Tools.

How to add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools

What is Bing Webmaster Tools?

Bing Webmaster Tools is a free service by Microsoft that allows you to add your website to Bing search engine results.

This free tool helps your WordPress SEO by optimizing your site for Bing, so you can get more traffic.

The webmaster tools help you monitor and track your site’s performance in Bing. You can find out which keywords people use to find your site, so you can optimize those search terms in the content and get more traffic.

You can also see how Bing crawls and indexes your content. This helps to uncover and resolve indexing issues that might be preventing a blog post from appearing in Bing search results.

Aside from that, Bing Webmaster Tools shows your site’s backlinks and which websites you are linking to. It also helps remove content that you don’t want to display on Bing search results and scan for potential malware or spam issues that can threaten your WordPress website security.

That said, let’s see how you can add a website to Bing Webmaster Tools using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and WPCode plugin. We’ll also show how you can use the webmaster tool and import your site from Google Search Console.

You can use the links below to jump to the method you want to use.

Method 1: Add Website to Bing Webmaster Tools Using AIOSEO

The best way to add a website to Bing Webmaster Tools is using All in One SEO (AIOSEO).

It is the best SEO plugin for WordPress and helps you optimize your site search engines without technical knowledge or the need to hire an expert.

Note that we’ll use the AIOSEO Lite version for this tutorial because it is free and includes the ‘Webmaster Tools Verification’ feature. There is also an AIOSEO Pro version which includes more advanced features like link assistant, redirections, video sitemaps, and more.

Next, you’ll need to install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to All in One SEO » General Settings from your WordPress dashboard. Next, head to the ‘Webmaster Tools’ tab and select the ‘Bing Webmaster Tools’ option.

Go to webmaster tools

Next, you’ll need to enter the Bing Verification Code. Let’s see how you can access the code in the webmaster tool.

How to Get Verification Code in Bing Webmaster Tools

First, you’ll need to visit the Bing Webmaster Tools website and click the ‘Get started’ button.

We suggest opening the Bing Webmaster Tools website in a new browser window or tab because you’ll need to switch back to your WordPress admin dashboard to complete the verification process.

Sign in to your Bing account

After that, you’ll need to sign in to your account.

You can use Microsoft, Google, or Facebook accounts to log in. Simply click on any options and choose your email address to sign in to the webmaster tool.

Choose an account to sign in

Next, Bing Webmaster Tools will show you 2 options to add your website.

You can import your sites from Google Search Console or manually add your website.

We’ll use the manual method to get the verification code.

Go ahead and enter your website address under the ‘Add your site manually’ section and then click the ‘Add’ button.

Manually add your website

When adding your WordPress website, make sure to enter the URL used by WordPress. That’s because Bing will see HTTP and HTTPS as different sites. It will also consider your domain’s WWW and non-WWW versions as two separate websites.

To check which URL is used by WordPress, simply login to your WordPress admin area and head to Settings » General. Then look for the link in the ‘Site Address (URL)’ field.

View your site address URL

Once you add this website URL in Bing Webmaster Tools, a window will slide in from the right.

Here you will see different methods for verifying your website, including an XML file, HTML meta tag, and adding CNAME records to DNS.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the HTML Meta Tag method. When you click the ‘HTML Meta Tag’ option, Bing gives you a validation code you need to install on your website.

Go ahead and click the ‘Copy’ button to copy this line of code.

Different methods for verifying your site

Next, you’ll need to add the code to your WordPress website.

Add Verification Code & Verify Your Site in Bing Webmaster Tools

You can now head back to the WordPress admin browser window or tab.

After that, simply go to All in One SEO » General Settings from your WordPress dashboard.

Now, head to the ‘Webmaster Tools’ tab and enter the HTML Meta Tag you copied earlier in the ‘Bing Verification Code’ field.

Enter Bing verification code in AIOSEO

When you do that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Change’ button at the top.

After adding the HTML meta tag to your website, go back to the Bing Webmaster Tools tab or window and click the ‘Verify’ button.

Verify your site after entering meta tag

Next, you’ll see a message in Bing Webmaster Tools that your verification was successful.

You can then close the message and view your Bing Webmaster Tools dashboard.

View success message on verification

Method 2. Add Website to Bing Webmaster Tools Using WPCode

Another method of adding your website to Bing Webmaster Tools is using WPCode. It is the best WordPress code snippet plugin and helps you manage your website’s scripts. You can easily use WPCode to add the Bing Webmaster Tools HTML code to your website.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the free WPCode plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to Code Snippets » Header & Footer from your WordPress admin panel. Here, you’ll need to add the HMTL code provided by Bing Webmaster Tools.

Paste code into the header box in WPCode

Access HTML Meta Tag & Verify Your Website

You can find the HTML code by going to the Bing Webmaster Tools website and logging into your account.

Once signed in, simply add your website URL under the ‘Add your site manually’ field and click the ‘Add’ button.

Manually add your website

On the next screen, Bing will show you multiple methods for verifying your website in the webmaster tool.

Go ahead and select the ‘HTML Meta Tag’ option and copy the code.

Different methods for verifying your site

After copying the code, you can head to your WordPress admin panel and go to the Code Snippets » Header & Footer page.

Next, you’ll need to paste the HTML meta tag into the ‘Header’ section.

Enter meta tag in header section

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Now that you’ve added the HTML meta tag to your site, simply go back to the Bing Webmaster Tools tab or window and click the ‘Verify’ button.

Verify your site after entering meta tag

Bing Webmaster Tools will now show a message that your verification was successful.

Simply close the message to view the webmaster tool dashboard.

View success message on verification

Import Your Website from Google Search Console

You can also add your WordPress site to Bing Webmaster Tools by importing it from Google Search Console.

If you use this method, then you don’t have to worry about verifying your website by adding an HTML code. However, Bing will need access to your Google account, which could be a security risk if either your Webmaster Tools or Google account gets compromised.

To start, you can log in to Bing using your Microsoft, Bing, or Facebook account.

Next, go ahead and click the ‘Import’ button under the Import your site from the GSC section.

Manually add your website

After that, you’ll see a message showing you what data will be imported from the Google Search Console account and how Bing will use it.

Simply click the ‘Continue’ button to move ahead.

Import site from search console

Next, you’ll need to select your Google account to sign in.

Go ahead and select the account that you use for logging into Google Search Console.

Sign in to your account

On the next screen, Bing will request access to your Google account.

Simply click the ‘Allow’ button to continue.

Allow access to your account

Next, you will see websites that are connected to Google Search Console.

Go ahead and select any websites you’d like to import into Bing Webmaster Tools and click the ‘Import’ button.

Select your site and import it

You’ll now see a message that your website has been successfully imported.

You can click the ‘Done’ button to close the window and view the Bing Webmaster Tools dashboard.

Successful import message

Bonus: How to Use Bing Webmaster Tools

In the Webmaster Tools dashboard, you have access to many different tools and options. Do note that Bing will take up to 48 hours to reflect data in its webmaster tools reports after setting it up on your WordPress site.

For example, you can view your site’s search performance by going to the Search Performance tab. You can then use this data to see which search terms people use to find your website and perform keyword research to develop new content ideas.

Similarly, the tool also lets you inspect a specific URL to see if there are any crawling issues. You can simply enter the post or page link in the URL Inspection tab and view the errors.

URL inspection tool in webmaster

With Bing Webmaster Tools, you can submit your website sitemap in the Bing Webmaster Tools to help the search engine to discover new content quickly.

For more details, please see our guide on how to submit your site to search engines.

Submit sitemap in Bing

Plus, you can scan for any errors that could be preventing your content from appearing in Bing search results.

If a blog post or landing page isn’t appearing in the search results, then you can go to the ‘URL Submission’ tab and manually submit your content for indexing.

Submit URLs for indexing

We hope this article helped you learn how to add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools. You can also see our guide on WooCommerce SEO made easy, and our expert pick of the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools to grow your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Add Topics in WordPress Navigation Menus

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Do you want to learn how to add topics in your WordPress navigation menu?

Often beginners users try to add topics in WordPress menu by creating a separate page for each topic. But that’s not the best way because adding these pages to a menu won’t display the relevant posts.

In this article, we will show you how to properly add topics in WordPress by using categories and tags in WordPress navigation menus.

How to Add Categories and Tags in WordPress Navigation Menus

Why Add Topics in WordPress Navigation Menus?

Let’s say you have a WordPress website that offers travel guides for different cities. You may want to add city names in your navigation menu, so that your visitors see relevant articles when they click the menu item.

Alternatively, if you have a news website like The New York Times or ESPN, you would want to highlight the various topics in the navigation menu.

Example of Topics in Website Menu - ESPN

WordPress makes it quite easy to add topics if you organize your content using categories and tags.

Categories cover your website’s main topics like a table of contents, while tags cover more specific topics like an index. You can learn more by reading our guide on the difference between categories and tags.

Let’s take a look at how you can use categories and tags to organize your content, and then add those topics to your WordPress navigation menu for easy access.

Adding Categories and Tags to WordPress Posts

You can add or select categories while writing your blog posts. The categories box will appear on the right column of the WordPress content editor.

If you need to add a new category, then just click the ‘Add New Category’ link below the list of your existing categories.

For example, on a travel blog, you might create categories for each city you’ve written about, such as ‘Paris’, ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Berlin’, ‘Instanbul’, and ‘London’.

Adding Categories and Tags to a Post

You can also add tags from inside the content editor by simply typing into ‘Tags’ field on the right. When adding more than one tag, you need to separate them with commas.

If you want to choose a tag that you have previously created, then you need to type the first few characters and your matching tags will pop up. Then simply click the tag you want to use.

On a travel blog, you could add tags for the more specific topics covered in a certain post, for example, ‘Food’, ‘Night Life’, ‘Walking Tours’, and ‘Rail Travel’.

Once you have created a few posts and filed them under different categories and tags, you can now add them to your site’s navigation menu.

Adding Categories in WordPress Navigation Menus

To add categories to your navigation menu, simply visit Appearance » Menus and click on the ‘Categories’ tab to expand it.

Visit Appearance » Menus and Expand the Categories Tab

Next, select the categories you want to add to the menu and then click the ‘Add to Menu’ button. Your selected categories will now appear in the right hand column as menu items. You can move them up and down using drag and drop.

Select Categories and Click 'Add to Menu’

Once you are satisfied with the menu, click on the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your changes.

You can now visit your website to see your changes in action.

Preview of Categories Added to Navigation Menu

Adding Tags in WordPress Navigation Menus

To add tags to your navigation menu, you need to visit the Appearance » Menus page. Unlike categories, there isn’t an option to add tags by default.

However, you can add a Tags tab by clicking on ‘Screen Options’ at the top of the screen, and then checking the ‘Tags’ box.

Screen Options on the Menus Page

A Tags tab will now be added to the left hand column. You can click the tab to expand it.

Now you can select the tags you wish to add to the menu. When you click the ‘Add to Menu’ button, your selected tags will appear in the right hand column as menu items and you can rearrange them using drag and drop.

Select Tags and Click 'Add to Menu'

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your settings.

You can now visit your website to see that the tags have been added to your menu.

Preview of Tags Added to Navigation Menu

If you want to create an advanced topics drops menu with multiple columns like ESPN and WPBeginner, then that’s often referred to as mega menu.

You can follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to create a mega menu in WordPress for more details.

WPBeginner blog categories menu

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to add categories and tags in WordPress navigation menus. You may also want to learn how to create a landing page with WordPress, or check out our list of must have plugins to grow your site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Add Titles in WordPress Menu Without Linking to a Page

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Do you want to know if there is a way to add titles in the WordPress menu without adding a link?

By default, the WordPress menu requires each menu item to be linked to a page or custom link. However, when creating a dropdown menu, you may want to add a title for sub-menus without linking it to a specific page.

In this article, we will show you how to add titles in WordPress menu without linking to a page.

Add WordPress Menu items without links

Why Add Menu Titles without Linking to a Page?

WordPress offers multiple options to customize your website so you can reach your target audience and offers an exceptional user experience.

To provide a smooth user experience, it’s important that your WordPress site has a well-structured navigational menu. It makes it easy for users to find content and different pages on your site.

When you add menu titles, WordPress requires each menu to have a link to a page or a custom link by default. However, you may want to show a menu title but don’t want to link to a page under certain situations.

For example, you can have a categories dropdown where you want the title text to be ‘categories’ for the menu but don’t need to add a link. When users click on categories, it simply opens a sub-menu in the dropdown.

That being said, let’s look at how you can add a title to the WordPress menu without linking to a page.

Adding WordPress Menu Title without Linking to a Page

The first thing you need to do is add a new menu item to your menu. You can do that by going to Appearance » Menus from your WordPress admin panel.

Next, you want to add a custom link. You can see the ‘Custom Links’ options under the ‘Add menu items’ section.

If you don’t see Custom Links, then simply click the ‘Screen Options’ button on the top right corner of the screen. Next, check the box for ‘Custom Links’ from the given options.

Screen options in WordPress

After that, you’ll need to give it the label or menu title. In the URL field, go ahead and enter the hashtag (#) symbol and click the ‘Add to Menu’ button.

Add a custom link menu item

Your menu item will now be added to the WordPress menu.

Next, you’ll need to click on the dropdown arrow next to this custom link to edit this menu item. Go ahead and remove the hashtag sign from the URL field and click the ‘Save Menu’ button.

Remove the hashtag sign and save menu

You can add sub menus to this menu item and link them to any page or enter a custom link that you want. Now, if you go to your WordPress blog, then you will see a menu item without a link in action.

Menu title preview without link

We hope this article helped you learn how to add titles in the WordPress menu without linking to a page. You may also want to check out our guide on how to register a domain name and the best AI chatbots software for your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Add or Change Your Full Name in WordPress

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Is your WordPress site showing the wrong name on your blog posts?

By default, WordPress will display the site owner’s username on their posts. This is usually something other than their full name.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add or change your full name in WordPress.

How to Add or Change Your Full Name in WordPress

Why Use Your Full Name in WordPress?

When you first set up your WordPress blog, it’s required to set up a username that you can use to log in. Often people choose usernames that are easy to remember and a mix of different words or letters.

When You Install WordPress, You Are Asked for a Username, Not Your Full Name

This username is then displayed on the posts that you author. This can look a little strange and is not very professional.

By Default, the Username Is Displayed on the Posts You Author

Luckily, WordPress has an easy way to change the display name to your full name without changing your username.

Using a full name instead of a username helps search engines recognize that the content is written by you. It also helps to establish your personal brand because your readers will become familiar with your name.

With that being said, let’s have a look at how to add or change your full name in WordPress.

How to Change or Add Your Full Name in WordPress

To change your display name, simply go to the Users » Profile page in your admin area.

If you are unable to see ‘Users’ in your WordPress admin menu, then this means you are not an administrator on this site. You can still make changes to your profile by clicking on the Profile menu.

You will need to scroll down to the ‘Name’ section where you can see the options to add your first name, last name, and nickname.

There Are Options to Add Your First Name, Last Name, and Nickname

After filling in these fields, click on the dropdown menu next to the option ‘Display name publicly as’. You can now select from your first or last name, full name, nickname, or username to be displayed with your posts.

After selecting the name you want to use, you need to click on the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

You will notice that the name you chose to display publicly will now appear in the top right corner of the WordPress toolbar next to ‘Howdy‘.

Your Name Will Now Appear in the Top Right Corner of the WordPress Toolbar

When you visit your website, you will see the posts that you authored now show your full name instead of your username.

You Will Now See Posts Showing Your Full Name Instead of Your Username

If you wish to change your display name in the future, then simply revisit your profile and repeat these steps with your new name.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to add or change your full name in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to increase your blog traffic, or check out our list of 24 tips to improve your WordPress performance.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.