How To Connect Substack To GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE: To Be Found On Google Searches
The Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Get ALL Your Substack Newsletters To Show Up On Google
How to Get Your Substack Newsletters to Show Up on Google when Someone Searches
Starting a Substack is incredibly exciting, but writing amazing newsletters is only half the battle… you also want people to actually find them when they search on Google - and that is why I created this article “How To Connect Substack To GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE”
To do that, you need to connect your Substack to a free tool called Google Search Console. Think of it as knocking on Google’s front door and handing them a map of your website so they know exactly where to look.
If tech stuff makes your eyes glaze over, don’t worry. This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step. No coding required!
Step 1: Get Your Substack Ready To Connect to Google Search Console
First, we need to grab your Substack’s web address (URL).
Open a new browser tab and go to your Substack homepage.
Look at the address bar at the very top of your screen (it will look something like https://yourname.substack.com).
Copy that entire web address. You’ll need it in the next step.
Step 2: Set Up Google Search Console To Connect To Substack
Now, we are going to introduce your Substack to Google.
Go to Google Search Console then click the blue Start Now button and log in with your preferred Gmail account (if you don’t use Gmail you have to create an account first - don’t worry it’s free).
You will see a box pop up asking you to select a “Property type.” You will see two choices: Domain and URL prefix.
Look at the box on the right labeled URL prefix.
Paste your Substack web address into that box. Make sure it includes the https:// at the beginning.
Click Continue.
Step 3: Get Your Verification Code
Google now needs you to prove that you actually own this Substack. It will give you a few options to do this, but because Substack handles the technical heavy lifting for you, we have to use a specific method.
In the “Verify ownership” pop-up window, scroll down past the first recommendation and look for the section called Other verification methods.
Click on Google Tag Manager.
A small drop-down text area will appear. Look for a short code that looks something like this: GTM-XXXXXXX (it will be a mix of letters and numbers starting with “GTM-”).
Copy ONLY that specific GTM-XXXXXXX code. If Google tries to give you a long block of scary-looking code, ignore it! Substack doesn’t let you paste whole chunks of code into its system. We only need that short “GTM-XXXXXXX” ID number.
Step 4: Paste the Code into Substack
Leave your Google Search Console tab open, and open your Substack dashboard in a new tab.
Click the Substack Dashboard button on the left (to make sure you’re in the Dashboard), and underneath that on the left also you will see Settings, click that.
On the Settings page, scroll all the way down near the bottom until you find the Analytics section.
Look for the field labeled Google Tag Manager ID.
Paste your GTM-XXXXXXX code right into that box.
Click the “Save” button pop up.
You’re all done on the Substack side, but wait about 3-5 min before continuing on to the next step, as it takes a little time to propagate over the internet.
Step 5: Finish Verification
Now, let’s head back over to Google to prove everything is connected.
Go back to your open Google Search Console browser tab.
Click the blue Verify button inside that Google Tag Manager section you were just looking at.
Google will take a few seconds to check your Substack. Once it finds the code, you’ll see a green success box that says “Ownership verified”!
Click Go to property.
Step 6: Submit Your Substack Sitemap to Google (The Most Important Step!)
A “sitemap” is a literal list of all your newsletter posts that Google reads to find your content. Normally, websites use a file called sitemap.xml, but for Substack we’re going to do it a little different. We’re going to use a file just called feed.
Look at the left-hand menu in Google Search Console. Under the “Indexing” section, click on Sitemaps.
You will see a section that says “Add a new sitemap.” It will already show your Substack URL, followed by a blank text box.
In that blank text box, just type the word: feed
Click Submit. It should look something like this (https://yourname.substack.com/feed)
That’s it, you’re done.
In my new article, here’s a Substack Middle Class Framework: Growth strategies specifically engineered for mid-tier writers who need to break through plateau points and establish consistent, predictable growth.
What Happens Next?
Don’t panic if Google says “Could not fetch” or shows an error immediately. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days for Google’s webcrawler bots to visit your Substack, read your feed.xml sitemap, and start listing your newsletters in search results.
You’re all set! From now on, whenever you publish a new Substack post, Google will automatically use that feed to find it, read it, and help new readers discover your work.
I hope you found this easier to read & follow, than some of the others out there on the internet?
Paul Arino
Substack Growth Tips | How To Grow
If you’d like to learn more about how to use Google & Substack together to grow, feel free to read my previous article: Google SEO with Substack SEO for Growth
Thank you for this Paul. I’ve read your article yesterday and immediately connected Google Search Console.
Learn how to get all your Substack newsletters to show up on Google searches with this comprehensive, beginner-friendly guide to connecting Google Search Console to your publication.
By registering your URL with Google's free index tool, you can ensure your articles, posts, and newsletters are properly crawled, indexed, and visible to organic traffic without needing any coding skills.
This step-by-step tutorial removes the guesswork from newsletter discoverability by helping independent writers and creators maximize their search engine visibility and grow their subscriber base.
I hope you find it useful and please let me know if you have any questions about it I could answer?