Taking Advantage of Googles Sandbox Effect

Most new sites submitted to Google (at least within the last year or so) encounter a peculiar phenomenon known as the "sandbox effect" within about 2 weeks to one month after appearing in the index. Sites may very well rank relatively high in the index at first if the keywords associated with the site are not highly saturated. After about 2 weeks to one month, however, the ranking of most new sites drop significantly. In fact, it is not uncommon for a new site to appear in the number one position for a specific keyword or phrase (typically similar or the same as the website title) up until this drop-off point. For the next 2 ? 3 months, new websites are said to reside in the "sandbox," an abstract realm where new, fledgling websites are kept aside from older, mature websites in the index.

Many believe that Google instituted this sandbox effect to cut down on rampant spamming. Webpages with very little content, specifically created with the intention of trying to sell someone something (or provide links to an affiliated business), were appearing in the Google index at an alarming rate. Although many of these sites were eventually banned, they often obtained top positions for lucrative keywords for perhaps a month ? sometimes longer. The spammers were able to make enough money off the sites to justify having to buy new domain names and building one site right after the other. The sandbox effect drastically cuts down on this practice since almost all new sites are effectively on a probationary period that can last as long as 3 ? 4 months. Most spam sites can be eliminated during this time, while meaningful, high-quality sites simply wait it out ? or continue to improve.

It is important to mention that the sandbox effect is quite different from banning. Google may ban a website for multiple reasons, but the end results is always the complete removal of the site from the index for an unknown amount of time (perhaps indefinitely for some). Sandboxing almost always happens to new websites, and does not result in the sites being entirely removed from the index. If your site has been relegated to the sandbox, this means that, in general, its ranking for any given keyword has gone down significantly. It is not uncommon for a site to come up on the first page of results for the first two or three weeks in the index, and then drop to position 100, 200, or lower after one month or so. Being in the sandbox, however, is not permanent, and it may in fact provide you with the time necessary to improve your website and build connections/ partnerships to make your site successful in the post-sandbox environment.

As mentioned earlier, your website can be in the sandbox for up to 4 months ? although the average length of time appears to be around 2 ½ - 3 months. During this period of time, the most important thing you can do is continue improving and adding additional content to your website. Take a look at what other websites with similar content have done to attract and retain a steady flow of visitors. Original content is a given, but perhaps adding news (via a blog, RSS feeds) or a community forum (using a bbs system or chat program) would be a good idea as well. These extra features aren't right for every website, but for many they can offer your visitors a reason to keep coming back. In addition, most blog and forum programs automatically produce webpages that can be indexed by Google and other search engines. It isn't difficult to double the size of your website (with content that may actually be useful) within a couple of days by using these programs. Once your website comes out of the sandbox you should have a well-designed website with many webpages and plenty of useful content (the more webpages a site has, assuming they are useful, the better the site's PageRank will be, all other things being equal).

In addition to simply building your site, take some time to analyze the webpages and different areas of your website that you have already constructed. Do you have particular keywords that you would like your site to rank well on Google? If so, make sure that you use these keywords in whichever webpages they are needed. This is not to say, however, that you should saturate your webpages with keywords to the point that they look unnatural. You want the keywords to blend in with your content as much as possible (Google doesn't seem to like keyword super-saturation). In addition to keywords, take a look at your Meta tags, title (does the title contain your website name w/ the right keywords?), loading time (no one wants to wait around for 30 seconds while your webpage loads), and overall optimization. The sandbox is a great time to fine-tune your website and employ as many fair SEO (search engine optimization) techniques as you can.

The final thing all new websites should do while in the sandbox is acquire partnerships and establish connections with other websites with similar topics. Go ahead and send out some e-mail, politely asking the webmasters of established websites to exchange links with your site. Also, submit your website to the big directories, including Zeal, Yahoo!, and DMOZ. Getting listed on these three directories alone will improve your PageRank and provide a healthy amount of exposure for your site. But don't stop there. Consider providing content to established websites in exchange for a free link to your website. Anything you can do to persuade high PR websites to link to your site is probably worth some time and effort.

If you follow these simple suggestions, we think you will find your website's time in the sandbox less of an annoyance, and more of a chance to improve and establish your website. Once out of the sandbox, you will be very glad that you did.

Bradley James is the Chief Editor at GoogleAdvisor.org. The website provides free information for webmasters relating to the Google search engine, PageRank issues, AdWords and AdSense strategies, and more.

---

Make The Search Engines Love Your Site

Most webmasters have no idea on how to make a... Read More

How Directories Help Search Engines

At the beginning of the web era, users would go... Read More

Search Engine Traffic: Winning With Content

Targeted traffic is the lifeblood of any online business. The... Read More

The Hottest Tip On Getting A Web Site Listed Quickly by Yahoo, Inktomi, MSN, FAST and AltaVista

Every webmaster knows that the free search engines are a... Read More

Absolute & Relative Links How Do They Rank?

The question for this article is whether or not you... Read More

Feed Those Hungry WIIFM Monsters, Get Them To Multiply

Everyone packs their website with keywords in order to feed... Read More

How to Get Listed in Yahoo Within 48 Hours, Without Paying $299

First of all you need to get a blog. If... Read More

An Ethical Alternative to Doorway Pages

Definition: A doorway page is content created specifically for the... Read More

How To Avoid The 3 Biggest Title Tag Mistakes With Search Engines

Your title tag is the most important 3 to 12... Read More

Affordable Small Business SEO: 5 Common SEO Errors and How to Fix Them

Don't put the cart before the horse.You can't do SEO... Read More

Google Wireless - Search Away From Home

For so many web surfers, it's almost automatic to type... Read More

SEOing A Flash Intro

IntroductionWhy does a FLASH intro need SEO? Flash, the great... Read More

Stay In The Know With Google SMS

The Short Messaging Service (SMS) from Google sends short, quick,... Read More

Getting Noticed by Search Engines

We all, meaning us webmasters want to have the best... Read More

How I Suddenly Stumbled Onto No.1 In Google and Yahoo Without Search Engine Optimization - So What?

Sometimes, the search engines act really strange. And this story... Read More

Search Engine Monopoly

Ever wondered how one search engine is dominating the entire... Read More

High Google Rankings: Frequency vs. Positioning

There's an assumption that the higher a ranking or positioning... Read More

Mindset from Yahoo!- Changing the SEO Game

Yahoo! has a developed a new concept in search engine... Read More

SEO Tips - Google Has Changed - Learn Why And What To Do

Google now checks the year your domain name was first... Read More

Building Link Popularity As Easy As 123

The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity.... Read More

Are You Hung-Up on Page Rank and Back Links?

It's unfortunate that many website owners are so hung-up on... Read More

Agressive Linking Strategies Help To Get Your Site Noticed

A good link building strategy has become an essential part... Read More

Dont Focus Too Much on Your Internet Business Website Ranking

No doubt, having a high search engine ranking is very... Read More

Google Gunning For Directories?

Why is it that webmasters are so quick to blame... Read More

Search Engine Optimization - Free Tips and Help - Part One - The Title Tag

Search Engine Optimization is a widely misunderstood industry. Many webmasters,... Read More

Meta Tags - What Are They and Which Search Engines Use Them?

Defining Meta Tags is much easier than explaining how they... Read More

Tread Towards A Successful ?Internet Research?

Internet is a terrific resource containing billions of web pages... Read More

The Google Sitemap For Idiots

I don't mind admitting that every time some new fangled... Read More

New Free Online Tool for Keyword Research

I came across a new website the other day and... Read More

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (and Other Analogies and Cliché?s for SEO)

We've all heard that familiar expression, "Good things come to... Read More

How To See What Pages Of Your Site Google Has In Its Index

There is a lag time between the indexing or updating... Read More

Paris Hiltons Reputation is SHOT! Hows Yours?

With apologies for the cheap trick of mentioning Paris Hilton... Read More

The Purpose of PageRank?

I am sure the first thought provoking question that popped... Read More