Add Trusted Users to Search Console for Reporting and Analysis and Help
Sometimes it makes sense to get some help, an audit, or just an outside perspective on your web properties. Here are some simple instructions on how to add a user to a Google Search Console property (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools).
Confused about Search Console? Here’s a brief post on a good way to understand how the Google web tools work together.
Prerequisites for adding users to a Search Console property
- The property must already be set up and verified.
- You must be an owner or be a “full” access user.
So, assuming your property is set up, and you have the permissions to add users, here are the steps to add access for a new user.
Start: Go to Google Search Console
You can get to Search console with this link https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en
If you are not already logged into your Google account you will be prompted here to log in. Remember, Search Console properties are accessed by your Google account, so if you have multiple accounts you want to make sure you are using one that is connected to the property!
On the Search Console homepage, you will see all the properties you have access to.
Click the Manage Property drop down and select “Add or remove users”. The users page will load here. Click the red button “ADD A NEW USER”
You will be prompted to enter an email for the user. This must be a Google email account. (Note: Some companies use Google for their email, so some email accounts may be google emails even if they do not end in “gmail.com”. I would not worry about this, you will usually know ahead of time if this is the case). If you put in a valid gmail account the add button will be available.
- If you are adding me, please use the email tceasylee@gmail.com
You can also select the permissions the user will have. Adding a user is different than adding an owner. Unless there is a very, very good reason, do not assign new owners, just users! Owners have more control over who can add users and other owners. We won’t worry about that here. Briefly here are the differences in the user types
Full – User has full access to actions in the Search Console plus all the reporting. They can load sitemaps and report issues.
Restricted – User can see reporting and access data through tools like Search Console, but they cannot change settings.
Which type of access should you grant a user? Basically, if the user is trusted, and will be doing work for you on sitemaps, or helping you fix other issues, they will need Full access.
If you are granting access to a consultant, or less trusted party that will be doing analysis or reporting for you, you can give them Restricted access. You can always change the access levels at a later date.
Once you have granted permission to the property the new user will see the property in their Seach Console main screen, and they will have access to the main data so they can do reporting through Data Studio.
Tip: If you are using multiple gmail accounts, add your other accounts as users to your Search Console property. This makes it easier to view the data without having to switch users all the time!
Questions? Corrections? Leave comments below!
