Google Search Console
Google Search Console
Role
Lets the family see how Google indexes every site:
- Submits the sitemap (
https://<site>/sitemap-index.xml) to Google's crawler - Reports index coverage, errors, redirects, soft 404s
- Surfaces top search queries, CTR, average position
- Validates JSON-LD via the Rich Results tab
- Notifies of manual actions / spam flags
Each *.oriz.in subdomain is a separate property; the apex
oriz.in is verified at the Domain-property level (one DNS TXT
record covers every subdomain too).
Free tier
- Unlimited properties
- Domain-property verification via Cloudflare DNS TXT record (one
record covers every subdomain — fits well with the family's
Cloudflare DNS setup per
infrastructure/spaceship-registrar-cloudflare-dns.md) - 16-month query history
- Core Web Vitals report driven by Chrome UX Report data
Card / subscription required?
NO. Standard Google account, no Cloud Billing link, no card.
Setup
- Add Domain property
oriz.in(covers every subdomain). - Verify via Cloudflare DNS TXT record (
_google-site-verification). - Submit
https://oriz.in/sitemap-index.xmlandhttps://<each-subdomain>/sitemap-index.xml. - Check Index Coverage weekly, Rich Results monthly.
Alternatives
- None for Google's index — GSC is the only first-party surface.
- Third-party SEO tools (Ahrefs / Semrush) infer Google data but cost money and don't replace GSC's manual-action notices.
Swap cost
Zero — GSC is a read-only console; abandoning it doesn't change anything on the sites. Re-adding a property later is a few minutes.
Why this is our pick
It's the only first-party Google index surface. Free, domain-verifies once for every subdomain, no card.
Cross-refs
- SEO three pillars decision
- @astrojs/sitemap — what GSC ingests
- JSON-LD — what GSC's Rich Results report reads
- Bing Webmaster — same role, different engine
- Cloudflare DNS — TXT verification lives here
- No card-on-file rule