In a recent Reddit post, Google’s John Mueller announced that he no longer recommends verifying all variations of a domain with Google Search Console. Instead, he advises website owners to keep it simple and utilize domain verification. This marks a significant departure from his previous stance, which was to verify all property types, including www, non-www, HTTP, and HTTPS variations.
The Shift in Recommendation
Mueller’s change of heart comes as a result of the realization that most users rarely look at the various verified properties. In his Reddit post, he wrote, “in practice you’ll probably never look” at those other verified properties. He went on to explain that he used to recommend verifying all property types in case users needed to access them, but the reality is that most users do not ever consult these additional properties.
The Google Webmaster Trends Analyst further explained that if website owners use domain verification, which he recommends, they can simply add other property types whenever necessary. “Tldr keep it simple,” Mueller concluded.
Implications for SEO Experts and Website Owners
While detailed SEO experts might still prefer to have all possible domain options verified individually with Search Console, Mueller’s new recommendation acknowledges that the average user does not typically look at all of them. This simplification of the verification process can save time and effort for website owners.
