Get Your Substack on Google
Because It Deserves to Be Seen
Already publishing on Substack? Great. You Should. It’s the place to be 2025.
But if your Substack not listed on Google, does it even exist?
Getting your newsletter indexed by the search engine(s) means more eyeballs, more subs, and more money.
Why Bother With Google?
Because 92% of the world starts their info hunt there. Show up in search and you’ll get:
More traffic
More subscribers
More clout
Better engagement
Step 1: Connect to Google Search Console
Search Console = Google’s dashboard to tell you what’s working, what’s not, and why your brilliant post about oat milk for dogs isn’t ranking.
✅ Sign in with a Google account
✅ Add your Substack domain (yournewsletter.substack.com)
✅ Choose “URL Prefix,” not “Domain”
✅ Try automatic verification (spoiler: it probably fails)
✅ Verify manually via Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager
Google Analytics Setup
Beware: This setup may return an error. If so, try the other method. Also, the analytics option works better for Substacks with a custom domain. (You should connect a custom domain, by the way.)
Get your Google Analytics ID (starts with G-…)
Paste it into Substack: Settings > Analytics > Google Measurement ID
Return to Search Console, hit Verify. Wait.
Tag Manager Setup
Go to tagmanager.google.com:
Create an account
Name it whatever you like
Enter your Substack URL (yournewsletter.substack.com) as the container
Choose Web, then click through the setup
Ignore the code snippets: Google will hand you HTML snippets to paste into your site. You can laugh politely and ignore them — Substack doesn’t let you do that anyway.
Copy your GTM ID: Top right corner, looks like GTM-XXXXXXX. Copy it.
Paste it in Substack: Go to Settings > Analytics on Substack. Paste the ID into the Google Tag Manager ID field. Save.
Verify in Search Console: Choose the Tag Manager method and click Verify.
Step 2: Submit Your Content
New post? Tell Google.
Use the URL Inspection Tool to submit a new article
Or let Google do the heavy lifting with your sitemap:
👉 Check yournewsletter.substack.com/sitemap.xml
👉 If it exists, paste it into Search Console > Sitemaps > Submit
Google now knows where to look.
Step 3: Wait
Monitor indexing progress inside Search Console.
Be patient — Google works in mysterious (and slow) ways. If things go sideways, Search Console will tell you why (404s, redirects, bad juju, etc.).
Issues
Sometimes, the search console throws an error at you. First, try again. Try both methods. Try both again. Sometimes, you also need to wait a day. Sometimes caching is an issue.
Also, it works better with a custom domain (which you should use anyway in the long run).
Bonus: SEO
Use keywords (not keyword soup)
Write useful, long-form content
Get backlinks (ask your blogger buddy)
Add images/videos
Be consistent
Promote like it’s your side hustle
Check analytics for what’s hitting