Staging website and Search Console/Analytics

Hello,

We apologize for the issue you are facing with connecting Search Console and Google Analytics on your staging website. Using a staging site is a great way to test updates before going live, and managing your settings correctly is crucial.

Here’s how you can manage your Rank Math settings for both your staging and live sites:

1. Install Rank Math on Your Staging Site: The process is the same as installing it on a live site. Navigate to WordPress Dashboard → Plugins → Add New, search for Rank Math, and click Install Now. After installation, click Activate.
   
   

2. Connect Your Rank Math Account: Once installed, you will need to connect your Rank Math account. Go to Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Analytics and follow the prompts to connect your Google account. Make sure to select the correct property that corresponds to your staging site.
   

3. Re-Verify Your Site on Google: If you have previously verified your staging site on Google Search Console, you will need to re-verify it using the URL of the live site once you push it live. If you haven’t verified it yet, do so using the URL of the live site after migration.

4. Delete Old Analytics Data: After verifying your live site, delete the analytics data of your staging site and begin a new fetch for the live site. You can refer to this guide on deleting old analytics data in Rank Math.

5. Set Your Site to Index: Ensure that your live site is set to be indexed by search engines by navigating to WordPress Dashboard → Settings → Reading and deselecting Search engine visibility before going live.
   

By following these steps, you can ensure that your settings are correctly configured when pushing your staging site live. If you need more detailed assistance or want to ensure everything is set up perfectly, we recommend our professional setup service available at Rank Math Services. This service requires a PRO subscription and is designed to help users like you ensure their plugin setup adheres to the latest SEO standards.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from our support team will assist you further.

Sources:
How to Use Rank Math on a Staging Site » Rank Math

Hello,

We don’t recommend setting up the Analytics property for your staging since you will need to reconnect your Google account to your live site again.

This is necessary because Rank Math tracks analytics based on the URLs of your website, posts, etc. Since your staging website URL is likely different from your live site URL, the analytics would not match.

For example, if your staging site is staging.website.com and Rank Math detects 50 search hits for this URL, when you go live at website.com, those 50 search hits won’t accurately reflect the traffic of website.com.

Looking forward to helping you.