Did you knew, that Google have made their very own official WordPress plugin to help implement Google Analytics, Search Console and AdSense on WordPress blogs?

Site Kit WordPress plugin

For me it is new that Google develop plugins for WordPress. However I just came across this plugin while I was trying to get Google to Approve my new domain name. The fact that a company like Google is starting to develop their own WordPress plugin is something there is mixed feelings about in the blogging communities. Some people thing that Google should not interfere with the WordPress communities and that Google would have an unfair advantage over other developers trying to earn money, developing WordPress plugins. On the other hand, Google have all the knowledge to make this plugin work in a way that is 100% supported by their services. Who should know better than Google themselves?

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed

Why are Google making a WordPress plugin?

Well your, guess can be just as good as mine. WordPress is the biggest CMS on the Internet and Google are indexing millions of WordPress sites every day. Making this plugin they can recommend all users having a WordPress blog or site to use this plugin to be sure that Google Service are implemented correct.

History of Google Site Kit

The Google Site Kit plugin was first made available as Developer Preview back in June 2019. In October 2019 it was made public available for all WordPress users. For the full release history visit Google Sitekit on Github

Why Installing Google Site Kit?

If you are a site owner, blogger or developer, the Google Site Kit plugin can help you to connect and configure all the Google Services we use on our site/blogs. Using simple guides, you can easily configure services like: Analytics, AdSense, Search Console, Tag manager and PageSpeed Insights. You will also be able to see key data directly in your WordPress Dashboard from the Google service you choose to add. With this Plugin you have an All In One plugin for Google Webmaster tools and services.

How to Install Google Site Kit

Installation of Google Site Kit Plugin is just like any other plugins. Go to your WordPress Dashboard:

Select Plugins -> Add New and Search for: Site Kit by Google

Click Install and afterwards click Activate.

When the Plugin is activated you should see a big blue button saying: START SETUP. Click on it and follow the Guide to configure the services you want. You don’t have to configure all services at once. You can choose only the one you want to. It is pretty straight forward to do. You will be asked a bunch of times to grant Goggle access to your data, which you of cause will have to allow for this plugin to work. If you want to, you can always get back later and add more services.

Remember to disable conflicting plugins

You might already have plugins that is taking care of your Google services. Maybe you have a plugin adding your Analytics code. You should deactivate that one. Google Site Kit takes care of that for you now. You don’t want two plugins to insert the same code on your blog.

Site Kit Dashboard

Now that you have configured the services you want. Let us take a look at the Site Kit Dashboard. The Site Kit dashboard gives you a quick overview of your Google Services, like overall traffic, Most popular content, top search queries Page Speed Insight (Mobile and Desktop) and AdSense Earnings. If you want to dig deeper into the numbers you will still need to use the normal tools, but the Dashboard gives you a quick look at how things are turning out for your blog.

Besides the Dashboard you can under Settings check that your services are connected and working correct. Under “Connect More Services” you can connect more services, if you skipped some of them at the initial setup of Site Kit.

Pros and Cons using Google Site Kit

Pros:

• Only one Plugin for your Google Services.
• It is the official plugin from Google. Who should be better to integrate their services?
• The Dashboard gives you a nice overview of your numbers within your WordPress Dashboard.
• 100% free and developed by Google themselves.
• Very easy to setup using the guide.

Cons:

• Like other plugins it might affect load time of your blog a bit.
• If you only want Google Analytics you can add the code in your header manually.
• Reports are limited. You will still need to use the normal tools for more insight.

Support forum for Site Kit

If you have issue with Google Site Kit, you can take a look at the support forum Also remember to keep the plugin updated. Google are updating regular to resolve issues and improve the quality of the plugin. I would not be surprised if Google add more functionality to the plugin in the next couple of months.

What do you think about Google Site Kit?

How about you? Have you tried Google Site Kit already or are you going to after reading this post? Please drop me a comment and let me know what you think.