Domain property vs URL-prefix property in Search Console: which to add
A Domain property covers every subdomain and protocol and needs DNS verification. A URL-prefix property covers one exact prefix. Most sites need both.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·8 min read
A Domain property in Search Console covers every subdomain and both protocols of a domain, and the only way to verify it is a DNS record. A URL-prefix property covers one exact protocol, host and path, and you can verify it with an HTML file, a meta tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager or DNS. Most sites should add both: the Domain property for the full picture, and a URL-prefix property for the host you want indexed.
The rest of this page sets the two side by side, shows the verification steps for each, and covers the host mistake that leaves a new property empty.
What is the difference between a Domain property and a URL-prefix property?
A Domain property is defined by a bare domain, such as example.com, and aggregates data for all its subdomains, protocols and paths. A URL-prefix property is defined by a full URL start, such as https://www.example.com/, and includes only URLs that begin with exactly that string. They differ in coverage, in how you verify them and in which reports work.
Domain property
URL-prefix property
What you type
example.com (no protocol, no path, no www)
https://www.example.com/ (full prefix with the final /)
Protocols included
http, https and ftp
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
What is the difference between a Domain property and a URL-prefix property?
A Domain property such as example.com includes every subdomain (www, m, blog) on both http and https. A URL-prefix property such as https://www.example.com/ includes only URLs that start with that exact protocol, host and path.
DNS record only (TXT, or CNAME in some setups), unless hosted on a Google product
HTML file, HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager or DNS
robots.txt report
Yes, for the top 20 hosts
Only at the root, and only for that one origin
Crawl Stats report
Yes
Only at the root, such as https://example.com/
Disavow links tool
Not supported
Supported
Best for
The whole picture, including hosts you forgot about
Reports scoped to your canonical host or a section
Google's own examples make the coverage concrete. The Domain property example.com includes http://example.com/dresses/1234, https://example.com/dresses/1234, http://www.example.com/dresses/1234 and http://support.m.example.com/dresses/1234. The URL-prefix property http://example.com/ includes only the first; the https version fails because the protocol does not match, and the www version fails because the host does not.
What does a Domain property include?
A Domain property includes the domain you enter, every subdomain below it, and every path on those hosts, over http, https and ftp. It never includes a parent domain or a different public suffix. You enter the root domain with no protocol and no path, and www is dropped automatically.
Three rules from Google's help decide what ends up inside:
www is always included. If you type www.example.com, the property is created as example.com and holds both www.example.com and example.com.
A child does not contain its parent. The Domain property fish.example.com covers https://support.fish.example.com, but not example.com.
The public suffix is part of the name. example.com does not include example.org, so each country or brand domain you own needs its own property.
To split Domain property data by host or protocol, add a page filter in the Performance report, or add URL-prefix properties for the segments you care about. You can hold up to 1,000 properties in one Search Console account, so adding a few is never the constraint.
What does a URL-prefix property include?
A URL-prefix property includes every URL that starts with the exact prefix you typed, and nothing else. https://example.com/pets/ includes https://example.com/pets/cats?a=siamese, but not http://example.com/pets/ (different protocol) or https://m.example.com/pets/ (different host). Type the full prefix, including https:// and the final /.
That precision is the point. A site served on several hosts needs one URL-prefix property per host and per protocol, and a site with sections, such as /france/ and /spain/, can give each section its own property with its own reports and its own users. Google suggests exactly that pattern for a travel site with country folders: one property for the whole site, plus one per folder.
The precision also cuts the other way. Some reports only work at the root. The robots.txt report needs a Domain property or a URL-prefix property without a path, and for a URL-prefix property it checks only that one origin: https://example.com checks https://example.com/robots.txt, not the http version or any subdomain. The Crawl Stats report is also root-level only.
How do you verify each property type?
A Domain property is verified by adding a DNS record at your domain name provider, usually a TXT record whose value starts with google-site-verification=. A URL-prefix property accepts any of five methods, including DNS. Whatever you use, leave the token in place: Search Console rechecks it periodically, and your access expires after a grace period if it disappears.
Method
Domain property
URL-prefix property
What it requires
DNS record (TXT or CNAME)
Yes, the only method
Yes, and it also verifies the Domain property
Access to your DNS host. Manually added records can take two or three days to be served.
HTML file upload
No
Yes
Upload Google's file unchanged to the root, reachable without a login. Search Console won't follow a redirect to another domain.
HTML tag
No
Yes
A <meta name="google-site-verification"> tag inside the <head> of the logged-out homepage, within the first 2MB of the file.
Google Analytics
No
Yes
Edit rights on the GA account, the same Google account in both tools, and the gtag.js or analytics.js snippet in the <head>.
Google Tag Manager
No
Yes
Publish or Admin permission on the container, and the <noscript> part placed immediately after the opening <body> tag.
To verify a Domain property with a TXT record:
In Search Console, open the property selector, click Add property, choose Domain and enter example.com.
Copy the TXT value Search Console shows.
At your DNS host, add a TXT record with the host or name field left blank or set to @, and paste the value.
Click Verify. If it fails, wait a day and try again; Google says manually added records can take two or three days to appear.
Keep the record. Removing it later removes your verification.
If Search Console lists your registrar in the dialog, choose it and click Start verification instead; you sign in to the registrar and verification happens immediately.
Should you add both a Domain property and a URL-prefix property?
Yes. Add the Domain property first, because it shows every URL Google knows on every host and protocol, including ones you forgot. Then add a URL-prefix property for your canonical host, which is verified automatically under the Domain property and gives you reports and example URLs scoped to the pages you actually want indexed.
The Domain property is where surprises show up. A staging subdomain that got indexed, an old m. host, or http:// URLs that never redirected will all appear in its Performance and Page indexing data, where a single URL-prefix property would never show them. Its robots.txt report also lists the file Google fetched for each of the top 20 hosts, which is how you catch a stray Disallow: / on one subdomain.
The URL-prefix property is where you work. Its example URLs, Page indexing rows and Performance data belong only to your canonical host, so a row does not mix in a staging host's noise. It is also the only property type the disavow links tool supports.
Adding the second one is quick once the first is verified. Google's help says a child property you add after verifying a parent is auto-verified with the parent's method:
Verify the Domain property example.com with DNS.
Add a URL-prefix property for the host your site actually serves, for example https://example.com/.
Confirm it shows as verified, then submit your sitemap in that property's Sitemaps report.
Optionally add URL-prefix properties for large sections you want to report on separately, such as https://example.com/blog/.
The Search Console setup guide walks through the full first-day setup, including the sitemap and the first reports to read.
Why does a URL-prefix property show almost no data?
The most common error is a single URL-prefix property for https://www.example.com/ on a site that serves https://example.com/ and redirects www to it, or the reverse. The property then holds almost nothing, because Google indexes the host that returns 200, not the one that redirects.
Google's help names this directly: if a property has no data several days after verification, the likely causes are that the site has not been seen in Search yet, or that you specified the wrong URL, such as http instead of https for a URL-prefix property. The same applies to www against the bare domain.
Check which host is canonical before you add the property:
curl -sI https://www.example.com/ | head -n 5
curl -sI https://example.com/ | head -n 5
One should return a 200 status. The other should return a 301 or 308 with a location: header pointing at the first. The host that answers 200 is the one your URL-prefix property must name. If both return 200, you are serving two copies of the site; pick one and redirect the other, as the www vs non-www guide explains. A Domain property sidesteps the whole problem, because it includes both hosts whichever one you chose.
When does data start in a new property?
Google's help says data collection for a property starts as soon as anyone adds it to a Search Console account, even before verification, and continues as long as any user keeps it in their account. Data takes a few days to appear after that.
So add your properties on launch day, even if you verify them later. Reports then start filling while you finish DNS changes, and by the time you open the page indexing report in your first week it has something to show. A URL-prefix property added months later for a new section starts its own collection on the day you add it.
Check the host setup Search Console can't see
Search Console reports what Google already crawled. To check what your live hosts send right now, run the free scan on LaunchScaler with just your address and no account; it runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories. Its search checks follow the redirects from the URL you give it and flag a chain that takes several hops to reach the final page, read your canonical tag and flag one that is missing or points elsewhere, and check that a sitemap exists and lists only canonical URLs that return 200. It also reads your robots.txt for rules that block pages you want ranked. The guide to robots.txt and noindex checkers compares it with Search Console's own robots.txt report.
No. Google requires a DNS record for a Domain property, usually a TXT record, unless the site is hosted on a Google product such as Blogger or Google Sites. The HTML file, HTML tag, Google Analytics and Tag Manager methods only work for URL-prefix properties.
03
Should I add both a Domain property and a URL-prefix property?
Yes, for most sites. The Domain property shows everything Google sees across all hosts and protocols, and a URL-prefix property for your canonical host gives you reports scoped to the host you actually want indexed. Once the Domain property is verified, a URL-prefix property under it is verified automatically.
04
Does www.example.com create a separate Domain property?
No. Domain properties always include both www and non-www. If you type www.example.com as a Domain property, Search Console creates example.com and includes data from both.
05
Why does my new Search Console property show no data?
Data takes a few days to appear. If it is still empty after that, Google says the usual causes are that the site has not been seen in Search yet or that the property names the wrong URL, such as http instead of https or www when the site serves the bare domain.
Google found duplicate URLs with no canonical and picked one itself. Add one absolute self-referencing canonical per page, and 301 http and www duplicates.
Excluded by noindex tag means Google saw noindex in a robots meta tag or an X-Robots-Tag header. Find which one with curl and view-source, then remove it.
