If your websites suddenly show as **inactive** in Publication Media, the cause is usually site verification. This article explains why sites get deactivated, how the verification meta tag works, and the steps to get your sites active again.

## **❓ Why Do My Sites Show as Inactive?**

Publication Media needs to confirm that you own or control each website before it can publish content there. It does this with a small verification meta tag placed in your site's code. A site can be marked inactive when:

- The verification meta tag was never added to the site.
- The meta tag was removed, for example during a theme change, a site redesign, or a plugin update.
- The tag was added to the wrong place, such as the page body instead of the head section.
- A caching or security plugin is hiding the tag from our system.
- The website was moved, changed domains, or was temporarily offline when we checked.
- The site connection was changed or removed in your account.

If several sites went inactive at the same time, the cause is often something shared across them, such as a theme, a plugin, or a site-wide change.

## **🏷️ What Is the Verification Meta Tag?**

A meta tag is a short line of code that lives in the **head** section of your website's pages. It is invisible to visitors. It acts like a digital signature that tells us the site belongs to you. Without it, we cannot confirm ownership, so the site stays inactive.

Each site has its own tag. A tag from one site will not verify a different site.

## **🛠️ How to Reactivate Your Sites**

1. Open **Publication Media** in your Search Atlas account and find the site marked inactive.
2. Copy the verification meta tag shown for that site.
3. Log in to your website's admin area, such as WordPress, Wix, Shopify, or your hosting panel.
4. Paste the tag inside the **head** section of your homepage. Many platforms have a setting for adding custom head code. SEO plugins often have a field for site verification tags too.
5. Save your changes and clear any caching plugin or CDN cache so the tag is visible.
6. Return to Publication Media and select the option to **verify** or recheck the site.
7. Wait a moment and refresh the page to confirm the status changed to active.

Repeat these steps for each inactive site. Every site needs its own tag.

## **✅ How to Check That the Tag Is Visible**

- Open your homepage in a browser, right-click, and choose **View Page Source**.
- Search for the word **meta** and look for the verification line you copied.
- Make sure it appears near the top, inside the head section.
- If you cannot find it, the tag was not saved correctly or a cache is serving an older version of your page.

## **🧯 Common Problems and Fixes**

- **The site still shows inactive after adding the tag:** Clear all caches, then run verification again. Some hosts take a few minutes to show changes.
- **The tag keeps disappearing:** A theme update or plugin may be overwriting your head code. Add the tag through a persistent setting, such as a child theme or a dedicated head-code plugin.
- **The site is password-protected or in maintenance mode:** Our system cannot see the tag. Turn these off temporarily while verifying.
- **The domain or URL changed:** Update the site details in your account and add the tag to the new address.
- **You do not have access to the site code:** Ask your web developer or hosting provider to add the tag for you.

## **📝 What About Content Published Without a Tag?**

The verification tag is how we confirm that a site is connected to your account. If you see content on a site that you believe was published before verification was complete, or you did not expect it to be posted, please do not ignore it. Note the site address and the article title, then contact our team using the chat widget so we can review what happened and the site's status.

## **💡 Tips to Prevent Future Deactivation**

- Keep a copy of each site's verification tag in a safe place.
- Recheck your tag after changing themes, updating plugins, or redesigning your site.
- Tell your developer not to remove the verification tag when editing head code.
- Review the status of your sites in Publication Media from time to time.
- Avoid changing your domain or site structure without updating the site in your account.

## **💬 Still Need Help?**

If your sites are still inactive after adding the tag and running verification, our team can look at your account and check the status of each site. Please have your website addresses ready, and mention when the sites went inactive and whether any changes were made to them.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be instantly connected with a member of our team.