Support

Social Tools, Traffic

Webmaster Tools

Some search engines and social sites provide additional tools or features when you verify that you are indeed the owner of a specified URL. In order to do this, you normally need to add a hidden “meta tag” to your page. Since you can’t edit the theme files of your site on WordPress.com, we provide additional tools to make this easier.

If you have multiple domain names pointing to the same site, we recommend verifying the primary domain.

All of the Website Verification Services can be accessed via your Tools –> Available Tools page.

Here’s how you do it with each of the external verification sites:

Website Verification Services

Google Webmaster Tools

  1. Log in to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ with your Google account.
  2. Enter your blog address (without http:// or https:// in front)
  3. Click the Add a Site button
  4. You will be presented with several verification methods. Choose the Alternate Methods tab.
  5. Select the option: Add a meta tag to your site's home page
  6. Copy the content value of the meta tag. The content value is the bold text in this example:
    <meta name='google-site-verification' content='dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwH>
  7. Leave the verification page open and go to your blog dashboard (in a new tab/window).
  8. Open the Tools –> Available Tools Page and paste the content value in the Google Webmaster Tools field under the Website Verification Services header.
  9. Click on Save Changes.
  10. Go back to the verification page and click Verify.

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Google Warnings

If you receive an email from Google or an alert in your Webmaster Tools dashboard that your site’s security certificate could not be found, this means your site was inadvertently added as a “secure” site. Here’s an example of the message you may have received:

Dear Webmaster,

The host name of your site, https://exampleblog.net, does not match any of the “Subject Names” in your SSL certificate, which were:

  • *.wordpress.com
  • wordpress.com

This will cause many web browsers to block users from accessing your site, or to display a security warning message when your site is accessed.

To correct this problem, please get a new SSL certificate by a Certificate Authority (CA) with a “Subject Name” or “Subject Alternative DNS Names” that matches your host name.

If you’re receiving this message, you’ll need to remove the site from your Webmaster Tools account, and then add it back as a standard site. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Log in to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ with your Google account.
  2. Under the button for Manage Site, click Delete Site
  3. Click the button to Add a Site
  4. Enter your WordPress.com address as only the domain name without http:// or https:// in front
  5. Click the button to Continue
  6. You will be presented with several verification methods. Choose the Alternate Methods tab.
  7. Select the option: Add a meta tag to your site's home page
  8. Copy the content value of the meta tag. The content value is the bold text in this example:
    <meta name=’google-site-verification’ content=’dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwH>
  9. Leave the verification page open and go to your blog dashboard (in a new tab/window).
  10. Open the Tools –> Available Tools Page and paste the content value in the Google Webmaster Tools field under the Website Verification Services header.
  11. Click on Save Changes.
  12. Go back to the verification page and click Verify.

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Bing Webmaster Center

  1. Log in to http://www.bing.com/webmaster with your Live! account.
  2. Click Add a Site.
  3. Enter your blog URL and click Submit.
  4. Copy the content value of the meta tag. The content value is the bold text in this example:
    <meta name='msvalidate.01' content='12C1203B5086AECE94EB3A3D9830B2E'>
  5. Leave the verification page open and go to your blog dashboard (in a new tab/window).
  6. Open the Tools –> Available Tools Page and paste the content value in the Bing Webmaster Center field under the Website Verification Services header.
  7. Click on Save Changes.
  8. Go back to the verification page and click Return to the Site list.

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Pinterest Site Verification

  1. Log in at http://pinterest.com/ with your Pinterest account.
  2. Hover over your name in the top-right and click Settings
  3. Scroll down and enter your Website address if you haven’t already.
  4. Click the Verify Website button
  5. On the next page, click the link at the bottom to Verify with a meta tag
  6. You will be shown an example meta tag. You need to copy the value from your sample tag and enter it on WordPress.com. Copy the content part of the tag, shown below in bold:
    <meta name="p:domain_verify" content="c695382f781c1c45b0f3363765fce3bf" />
  7. Leave the verification page open and go to your blog dashboard (in a new tab/window).
  8. Open the Tools –> Available Tools Page and paste the content value in the Pinterest Site Verification field under the Website Verification Services header.
  9. Click on Save Changes.
  10. Go back to the verification page and click the link next to step 2 “Click here to complete the process”.
Still confused?

Contact support.