Connections

Reporting

One Google sign-in connects the services that hold your numbers, and those numbers then show on the MetaWrench dashboard instead of in five separate logins. Each service is a row with a badge: live, needs setup, or off. Bing and Microsoft Advertising are separate sign-ins because they are separate companies.

What each row gives you on the dashboard: Search Console shows what people searched and where you appeared. Analytics shows visitors, visits, time on site and how many left straight away. Business Profile shows Maps views, direction requests, calls, reviews and questions waiting. Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising show impressions, clicks, cost per click, spend and budget left.

Settings

Connect Google

Opens Google’s consent screen. Sign in with the account that owns your Search Console and Analytics. MetaWrench stores a token, never your password, and you can disconnect any time. One sign-in covers Search Console, Analytics, Tag Manager, Ads and Business Profile.

Google Search Console

Required. After connecting, choose which property is this site if the account has several.

Google Analytics

Required. Choose the GA4 property. The GA4 property ID field is for the numeric ID from Analytics → Admin → Property settings, if it is not picked up automatically.

Google Tag Manager

Optional. Only if someone set it up for you; most businesses never use it.

Google Ads

Optional. Only if you pay for Google ads and want spend and conversions on the dashboard.

Google Business Profile

Optional but, for a local business, the one that matters most. Your Maps listing, reviews and direction requests.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Separate sign-in. Covers Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. Smaller than Google, free, quick to add, and the sitemap Submit to Bing button needs it.

Microsoft Advertising

Separate sign-in, only if you run ads there.

When something looks wrong

Connected, but the dashboard cards are empty

The wrong property is selected, or the Google account you signed in with does not have access to the site’s Search Console or Analytics. Check the property picker; if the right one is not listed, sign out and connect with the account that owns it. New connections also take up to a day to fill.

The consent screen says the app is unverified

Google shows this for apps that have not been through its review. Click Advanced and continue. Nothing is sent anywhere except between your server and Google.

Business Profile shows needs setup

The account has no Business Profile, or the profile is not verified with Google. Verify it at business.google.com first.

Rank and backlinks on the SEO tab stay as dashes

They come from Search Console. Make sure it shows live here, then press Refresh rankings on the SEO tab.

Disconnect did not clear the data

Cached numbers clear on the next dashboard load. If an old property keeps appearing, disconnect, then connect again and pick the right one.

Tracking pixels

A tracking pixel lets a platform record what visitors do on your site, so the ads you run there can be measured. Paste the ID and MetaWrench puts the pixel on every page. No editing header.php, and nothing to reinstall the next time you change theme. Nine platforms, one field each, and each field says where to find the ID.

Pixels only send information out. To see the numbers they produce, you also need to sign in to that platform on the Reporting tab.

Settings

Google Tag Manager

GTM-XXXXXXX. Only if someone set this up for you. Most businesses do not use it, and if you paste Analytics and Ads IDs directly you do not need it.

Google Ads

AW-123456789. From Google Ads under Tools, then Conversions.

Facebook and Instagram

One pixel covers both. Meta Events Manager, then Data Sources.

TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Nextdoor

Each platform’s ads manager has a pixel or tag section; the ID format is shown as a placeholder in the field.

Save changes

Nothing is output until saved. Clear a field and save to remove that pixel.

When something looks wrong

The platform says the pixel is not firing

Clear the page cache and the host cache; the cached copy predates the pixel. Then check with the platform’s browser extension (Meta Pixel Helper, Tag Assistant). If JavaScript delay is on under Performance, the pixel may be in the delayed list — set Run anyway after to 5 seconds.

The pixel fires twice

It is also in the theme, in Tag Manager, or in another plugin. Remove the other copy. Double-counted conversions inflate every report.

I do not know my ID

Each field’s note says where in that platform to find it. Tag Manager users: the pixels are probably already inside GTM; paste only the GTM ID and leave the others blank.

Social profiles

Your pages on other websites: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Yelp, Google Business, LinkedIn and so on. These go into your business schema so Google can tell they belong to you, which helps your listing show the right links and builds the knowledge panel. Leave blank anything you do not have.

Settings

One field per platform

Paste the full address of your page, with https. Not the platform homepage, your page on it.

When something looks wrong

Google’s knowledge panel does not show the links

Google decides what to show and when. Having them in schema is the prerequisite; verified profiles with the same business name and address help. It can take weeks.

I put the wrong link in

Fix it and save. The schema updates on the next page load; Google updates on its next crawl.