If you tried to verify your site and received an error, find that error in the list below for possible causes and solutions.
| General verification errors | Learn more... |
| HTML verification file errors | Learn more... |
| Meta tag verification errors | Learn more... |
| General verification errors |
- We encountered an error looking up your site's domain name.
We tried to access your verification file, but were unable to access your domain due to a DNS error. This could be because your server is down, or there is an issue with the DNS routing to your domain. Make sure that your domain is resolving correctly and try again.
- We encountered a DNS timeout looking up your site's domain name.
We tried to access your verification file, but were unable to access your domain due to a DNS error. This could be because your server is down, or there is an issue with the DNS routing to your domain. Make sure that your domain is resolving correctly and try again.
- We were unable to verify your file due to a server timeout.
We were unable to verify your file because we received a server timeout. This could be because your server is down or is busy and responding slowly. Make sure that your server is responding and try again.
| HTML file verification errors |
- We couldn't find your verification file. Make sure it is named correctly and is uploaded to the correct location.
We looked for your verification file, but couldn't locate it. Check the following and then try again:
- Case sensitivity: Did you use the same upper and lowercase letters as shown on the page?
- File extension: Does the file have an .html extension? Sometimes text editors automatically add a .txt extension to files. If this has happened, rename the file so that the extension is .html.
- Location: Did you upload the file to the directory listed beside the Verify button?
Another possible reason for this error is that you've added the site to your account, but typed it in incorrectly. So, you've uploaded your verification file to the right place, but we are looking for it somewhere else. Make sure that the site we show is your site. If it's not, delete the site and add yours.
- We were unable to access the verification file due to a restriction in robots.txt.
We tried to access your verification file, but could not due to a robots.txt restriction. This can happen for a number of reasons. For instance, your robots.txt file might prohibit the Googlebot entirely; it might prohibit access to the directory in which your verification file is located; or it might prohibit access to the verification file specifically. Check your robots.txt file to see if these situations or any others that might prevent Google from accessing your verification file exist. Modify your robots.txt file if necessary and try again. Note that it may take up to a day for the new robots.txt file to be processed.
- Your verification file does not have the right content.
We accessed your verification file, but it didn't contain the expected content. To avoid this issue, download the verification file and upload it to your server without making any changes to it.
- Your verification file redirects to a disallowed location.
Googlebot will not follow redirects for verification files; if your site redirects all traffic to another site, we recommend using meta tag verification. Redirects within a single site—for example, from
http://example.com/&tohttp://www.example.com/—are allowed.
| Meta tag verification errors |
- We couldn't find the verification meta tag. The verification meta tag must be within the <HEAD> section of the page.
If you see this error, check the following:
- Is the meta tag on the correct page? We look for it on your site's home page. This is the page that your server returns when someone requests your site (such as http://www.example.com/). This page is often named index.html or index.htm, but could be named differently, depending on your server's configuration.
- Is the meta tag in the correct place on the page? We look for it in the page's HEAD section. An example of correct placement is shown below.
<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Your Title</TITLE> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="String_we_ask_for"> </HEAD> <BODY> - If you're using a web editor or a WYSIWYG editor to edit your page, make sure you've selected the 'Edit HTML' option or are editing the source code of the page.
- Your verification meta tag should be <META name="google-site-verification" contents="String_we_ask_for">. The meta tag we found was <META name="google-site-verification" contents="Incorrect_string">.
We found the verification meta tag, but the contents were incorrect. Make sure that the contents match what we ask for exactly.