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Why this issue is happening
You may be having trouble with claiming your online store URL for several reasons.
You haven't verified your online store URL
You can only claim an online store URL for your Merchant Center account after you’ve verified the URL. Verification happens through onboarding as part of the online store confirmation step.
Your URL has been claimed at a higher level in the domain path
If you find an error that your URL has been claimed at a higher level, another Merchant Center account has a claim that is taking precedence over yours. For example, you won't be able to claim the URL http://shop.example.com if another Merchant Center account has already claimed the URL http://example.com, because the latter is at a higher level in the domain path.
Try to resolve this issue in Merchant Center:
- Select Business info in the left navigation menu.
- Under “Your online store”, click Edit online store.
- Remove "www" or “https” from the URL.
- Click Save.
Website tags have been incorrectly placed or modified
If you’ve made modifications to the tag or if you’ve incorrectly placed it in your HTML code, you’ll not be able to complete website verification. For example, if you’re using an HTML tag, be sure the meta tag is inserted into the <head>
section of your site's homepage, before the <body>
section.
If your online store has website tags, you can also provide an email address associated with your online store to help verify your URL. For specific tag implementation instructions on each of the 5 verification methods, read about verifying and claiming your store’s website .
There isn’t an owner set in the Search Console
If you already have a Search Console account, the verification will be set if the Search Console owner matches a user in the Merchant Center. If the users are different, you’ll need to make sure the user who'll be verifying the website is added to both.
The person trying to verify doesn't have edit permissions
It’s required that the Google Analytics user has edit rights for the Google Analytics account used by that page, and they must also be a user or admin in Merchant Center. If the users are different, you’ll need to make sure the user who will be verifying the website is added to both.
Your ecommerce platform requires you to use a different verification method
Ecommerce platforms may have preferred options to help you verify your website with Google Merchant Center or Google Search Console. Check with your platform for more information.
The person trying to verify doesn’t have access to an email address that’s associated with the website
Google requires that you can prove access to an email address that’s associated with the website. The email address can be verified if the email is on the website domain, or if it’s listed on the website.
Your confirmation email went to your spam folder
Check all your email folders, including spam, social, marketing, and promotions. If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive after 3 minutes, resend the confirmation code in Merchant Center.
The verification code isn’t entered correctly
You must copy and paste the verification code into the code field in Merchant Center. The code field isn’t autofilled by clicking the link in the verification email.
How to fix your issue
Make sure you verified your website using one of the 5 online store URL verification methods
.
If you aren't the person who set up the account or verified your online store URL, get in touch with the person who did, either to complete the process or to add you as someone who can complete the process.
FAQs
I'm getting a "domain already claimed" error. What should I do?
This error typically occurs when the website URL is already claimed in another Merchant Center account, or within a Multi-Client Account (MCA) structure. Here's how to troubleshoot:
- Check for Other Accounts:Ensure the domain is not claimed in any other Merchant Center accounts you own. Only one standalone Merchant Center account can claim a specific domain.
- Multi-Client Account (MCA):If you manage multiple websites, you might need an MCA. In an MCA setup, the main domain should be verified and claimed in the parent MCA account. Sub-accounts then inherit the claim. Go to 'Business information' in Google Merchant Center to see if you have the option to request an MCA.
- Subdomains:If you are using subdomains (e.g., us.yourdomain.com, de.yourdomain.com), claiming the main domain in the MCA will allow the sub-accounts to automatically inherit the domain claim.
- Shopify Integration:Make sure you are only linking one Shopify store to one Google Merchant Center account. If you have multiple Shopify stores, you'll need an MCA to manage them effectively.
