Collaborating on SEO with your team, agency, or freelancers? You'll likely need to share or add them as a user in Google Search Console.
This guide explains the various permission levels and shows you the steps to give access to someone. Need to change a user’s access level or remove them? We’ve got that covered, too.
👉 Jump straight to the steps to add someone to your Google Search Console.
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Types of users and roles
When we talk about giving access to Google Search Console, it mainly refers to adding a user to a Property, which is either a domain (leadsie.com) and all its subdomains, or a URL prefix (leadsie.com/blog).
Each Property has at least one verified owner. You can add up to 100 users (non-owners) and even more owners. These are the user/admin roles and their differences:
- Owners: This is usually the person who set up the Google Search Console Property, but additional owners can be assigned anytime. Both types have the same permissions.
- Verified owner: To add or remove a verified owner, you’d need to make minor tweaks to the website code to prove your affiliation with/control over the website.
- Delegated owner: Can be assigned to someone without the need for token verification through the website.
- Users: Can view data and take some action (but cannot add another user or admin).
- Full user: Can view all property data and has access to certain features, such as disavowing links and submitting a sitemap.
- Restricted user: Has simple viewing rights to most data, including the Performance tab and reports.
- Associated users: These are users or accounts that you authorize to take certain actions on your behalf without being able to open or view your Search Console account or data directly. An example is linking your Google Ads account with Search Console.
What permissions should I assign to somebody?
🏠 Keep Owner roles for people you trust, such as your business partner, cofounder, content manager, or in-house SEO lead. Owners have full control, including adding and removing people, deindexing URLs, and deleting the entire property.
👥 Add everyone else as a User. Teammates, agencies, and freelancers who work on your SEO and marketing can be assigned Full users. Other freelancers or content writers can be added as Restricted users if they mainly need view-only access.
🔑 Important tip: Owner roles should be reserved for key decision-makers. To keep your Search Console property safe, consider having just one or two Owners.
Related article: Google Search Console vs Google Analytics: 10 differences
How to add a user to your Google Search Console
If you’re an Owner of a property, simply follow the screenshots and steps outlined below. If you are not an Owner, jump to the last section for instructions on requesting access to Google Search Console.
Step 1. Go to Google Search Console. If you’re not signed in yet, click on Start Now and log in. You’ll be redirected to the dashboard.
Step 2. If you manage multiple properties, check that you’re in the correct one. Need to change properties? On the left-hand menu, click on the name of the current property you’re in. This will expand the dropdown list. Select the property you want to add a user to.
Step 3. Now, scroll down in the left-hand panel. Click Settings.
Step 4. Under General Settings, click Users and Permissions, or get there using this link.
Step 5. The Users and Permissions screen shows all current users and their access levels. Click the blue Add User button.
Step 6. A popup will appear. Type in the email address of the person you want to add. Then, choose their permission level (Owner, Full, or Restricted) based on their role within your website.
💡 Unsure what these permissions mean? Jump to What permissions should I assign to somebody?
Step 7. Click Add, and you're done ✅.
Removing users or changing permissions
💡 Only Owners of a Property can remove a user or another owner!
To remove a user or owner:
- Go to the property in Google Search Console.
- Go to Users and Permissions.
- Click the three-dot icon next to the user, then select Remove access.
- Then, click Remove User in the pop-up to confirm.
🔐 Security tip: When removing a delegated owner, you might see a popup list showing all the verification tokens associated with their access. They can use these tokens to regain ownership.
To prevent that scenario from happening, you’d have to take additional steps to remove all of these tokens. See how to find and remove ownership verification tokens.
You can also check on tokens by clicking on Unused ownership tokens in the Users and Permissions tab.
Can I Share Data from Google Search Console With Google Analytics?
Yes! Both tools can be easily integrated so you can view the combined data from a single Google Analytics account.
Here’s how: How to Integrate Google Search Console With Google Analytics
Before you link the two accounts you need to make sure that:
- You have a Google Analytics and GSC account
- Your site has gone through a property verification process in Google Search Console
- You have verified your site in Google Analytics
- You are the owner or have admin access to both accounts
How to request access to someone’s Google Search Console
Not an Owner and need access to your clients’ property for SEO, keyword research, or reporting? There is currently no way to request access within Google Search Console, so you’d have to ask your client to add you using the steps above.
P.S. Send them the link to this article!
However, there is a better way ✨ (and you get to try it out for free—keep reading!)
Create a custom Leadsie link that gets you access to Google Search Console, multiple social media accounts, and marketing platforms in one go (For Google Analytics, too)!
All your client has to do is check their inbox and click Confirm access. And that’s it—no need for them to trudge around all the screens or wait for them to make time for it! 🙌
Completely avoid the back-and-forth that comes with manual access requests- especially if the business owners aren’t so tech-savvy!
Ready to make client onboarding smoother? Start your 14-day free trial—no credit card needed—with just an email address. 👇
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