When changing a site domain name with Google Webmaster Tools, how can I verify both sites?

Question

When changing a site domain name with Google Webmaster Tools, how can I verify both sites?

Google seems to require that both sites are simultaneously validated (by the same method) but with different meta tag codes. This is obviously impossible to achieve. I can't seem to to use the "change of name" function as even if I put both meta tags in the header at the same time (which allows me to validate both sites) the transfer fails as Google then seems to re-check the meta tags and finds the wrong one for one of the sites.

Am I doing something wrong?

All that's happened is that the domain name has changed, so it's not possible for me to use different meta tags on different sites. Is there a way I can tell Google about the domain name change?

Answer 1

The easiest way to verify for domains where you don't have a live site is via DNS. Go into Alternate Methods and Google Webmaster Tools will provide you with a TXT record that you just need to add to your domain, regardless of whether you have any content on it.

See this from Google Webmaster Tools for more info: Verification: Domain name provider

Answer 2

If the above does not work then you have to use the header validation. You can put that along with an HTML redirect on a page and try that.