Verification not working? Here's how to fix it

Does Google Search Console say verification failed? It's usually one of these causes. Go through them in this order.

1. The record is with the wrong provider

A record only works with the provider your nameservers point to. For example, if your nameservers are with Cloudflare, a record in My WebOké has no effect. Check this as described in Where is your DNS? Check that first and add the record where your DNS is actually hosted.

2. The name is wrong

• The record must be on the domain itself. In My WebOké you type @, in DirectAdmin you leave yourdomain.com. as it is.
• A record on www.yourdomain.com doesn't count for the domain property yourdomain.com.
• Do you see a name like yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com in the list? Then you added the domain name yourself a second time. Delete that record and create a new one with the name @.

3. The code is incomplete

• Copy the whole line, including google-site-verification=.
• Watch out for a space at the end or a cut-off part when you paste.
• Don't type quotation marks around it. My WebOké and DirectAdmin add them for you.

4. It isn't visible everywhere yet

Wait fifteen minutes and click Verify again. Google says that a manually added record can take two to three days. If it still doesn't work, try again the next day. To find out why one server sees a change sooner than another, read TTL and cache.

Check for yourself whether the record is there

An online DNS tool shows which TXT records your domain has. Enter your domain name and choose the type TXT. You should see the line with google-site-verification=. To find out which tools you can use, read Online DNS tools.

What is not a problem

• Several TXT records on your domain. Your SPF record, verifications from other services and the Google code can sit side by side. Never put the Google code inside your SPF record, though.
• Several Google codes. Has your web designer added a code too? That's fine. Google searches all records for your code.

Still stuck? Contact support and include your domain name and the error message from Google Search Console.