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 ˝ - 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.
MORE RESOURCES:
Video SEO “Posers” Piss Me Off!ReelSEO Online Video News, CA - 2 hours agoOnline video has become incredibility opportunistic for many new businesses to enter the space, with more people claiming to be “experts” in Video SEO. ... |
USA SEO Pros beats recession lowsBigNews.biz (press release), MA - 23 hours agoAs the number of jobless claims increases across the country, it would seem that many people are turning to home businesses and USA SEO Pros has the numbers ... |
Linking Related Theme Pages To Improve SEOPractical Ecommerce (subscription), Grand Junction - 11 hours agoConsider using a technique called link siloing to improve search engine optimization for your site. The idea is to link related theme pages supporting pages ... |
The Redesign SEO "Honeymoon Period"Search Engine Roundtable - 12 hours agoAn interesting WebmasterWorld thread discusses the phenomenon of redesigning a site, with brand new URL structure, 301 redirecting the old URLs to the new, ... |
SEO - Google News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
PPC v Natural Search - A Cost Comparison Case Study
The attraction of Pay Per Click (PPC) online advertising
is undeniable. Each click costs virtually nothing, you
only pay for the clicks you get, and you set your own
daily budget so you know exactly how much you're
going to spend.
Optimize your Search Engine Placement Five Easy Ways
If you are like me, you created web site metatags with the help of your Web master. Maybe like me, you didn't spend time or money submitting to search engines because you weren't techie enough.
Goofy Mistakes that Hurt Your Search Engine Rankings
One thing is for sure, you don't want to spend hours, perhaps days, months, or years on a website to have some stupid little mistake get your site dropped or never even listed in the search engines. There are a lot of rules that search engines have created to block out what they call spammers, so don't kid yourself by telling yourself you are not an evil spammer.
Why SEO Will Make or Break You, Part 1
Today's article is about the wonders of SEO. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization.
Search Engine Optimization and Submission Tips
Bringing visitors to your site from the main Search engines is more of a process than one event. The first step is to make sure your webpages are'Search Engine friendly'.
Arrogant Overture Placing Greed Ahead Of Their Customers Needs
According to the dictionary, the definition of the word "overture" is as follows:"An opening or initiating move toward negotiations, a new relationship, an agreement, etc.; a formal or informal proposal or offer.
What Is Search Engine Marketing?
It's in our genes, we're driven to seek. We 'hunt' for food, homes, partners, jobs and lately - with the advent of the Internet - information.
Yahoo Dopey, MSN Goofy, Google is Mickey Mouse Lost in a Sandbox
Seventy-two days ago Googlebot first showed up and crawled over 250 pages of a brand new domain in an experiment that has had an odd cartoonish character to it, where unexplained things happen with sometimes dark foreboding, a kind of Fantasia online.If you're unfamiliar with the Disney animation classic, Fantasia, Mickey Mouse plays a sorcerers' apprentice who wreaks havoc oneevening as he dons the bosses magic wand and merrily destroys the castle.
Google Rankings - Achieving a Top 10 Position in Google - Part 2
Achieving a top ranking position in Google is every webmasters dream. Unfortunately very few ever make it high enough for it to make a big difference on their traffic volume.
One Way Link Building Secures Long Term Ranking Results
One-way link building is a great way to improve your link popularity and ranking in the search engines. One-way links are more difficult to obtain than traditional reciprocal links, but pay off in securing solid long-term search engine ranking results.
Is Reciprocal Linking Dead?
I just read an article at SitePro News that really rings my bell.It was written by Mike Banks Valentine.
Breaking the Myth About Page Rank (PR)
The most difficult challenge most web designers face is getting traffic to your site. There are plenty of companies who promise to send traffic your way.
"Web Content Management System fr Window": Search Engine Typos
Oops! I meant "web content management system for windows." Do search engines understand consumer search engine typos? Typing something so close to what you are looking for, like typing "web content management system fr window" instead of "web content management system for windows" may not seem like a big deal, but search engine bloopers alter consumer searches more than we know.
How Ive Maintained 7 Top Ten Google Rankings For Nine Months
Back in November 2004 I discovered a way to get a top 10 ranking in Google. I tested the technique for 3 months before I shared my findings with the world.
Release from Google Sandbox Only to Search the Playground
The Google Sandbox Effect has been discussed at length in ourcase study of a new website first crawled in May by Googlebot.We can now further the case study with indexing comparisonsand discuss interesting Googlebot crawler behavior afterrelease, at the 75 day mark, of the study website from thatvery confining Sandbox.
SEOs Relationship With Website Architecture
SEO's Relationship With Website ArchitectureSearch engine optimization for today's search engine robots requires that sites be well-designed and easy-to-navigate. To a great degree, organic search engine optimization is simply an extension of best practices in web page design.
Press Releases Can Increase Search Engine Positioning
When you write a press release, what is your ultimate goal? No doubt, getting the information to as many publications and on as many Web sites as possible. The focus lies in moving outward? taking the press release to as many *other* sources as possible.
7 Steps to Highly Relevant, Search Engine Friendly, and People Useful Web Site Content
The task is to build a Content Rich Search Friendly and People Friendly Web Site Quickly. These 7 Steps will show you how with about 10 Hours work you can build over 50 pages of rich, Search Engine relevant content for your web SiteStep 1 - What is Your Web Site's Main ThemeThis is a Fairly easy step.
The Role of the Robots.txt File to Improve Site Ranking!
Not many web master take the time to use a robots.txt file for their website.
How to Prevent Duplicate Content with Effective Use of the Robots.txt and Robots Meta Tag
Duplicate content is one of the problems that we regularly come across as part of the search engine optimization services we offer. If the search engines determine your site contains similar content, this may result in penalties and even exclusion from the search engines.
|
