Saturday, July 18, 2009

Get out of Google Sandbox

On this Page

1 Meaning of Google SandBox
2 How It Works?
3 Are You in the SandBox?
4 How Long Does This SandBox Effect Continue?
5 What to Do When You Are Struck in the SandBox?
6 How to Get Out of the SandBox?
7 Conclusion


Meaning of Google SandBox:
The Google SandBox is a metaphorical term coined by SEOs & Webmasters not associated with Google, to explain why most new web-sites have poor rankingsin Google search engine Results Pages (SERPS). The existence of Google SandBoxhasn't yet been clearly proved but there seem to have some changes to Google's Algorithm sometime around March 2004 that denies top ranking for newly launched web sites. Of work, there's exceptions & plenty of Web pages have made it to the top of the SERP in spite of the sandbox, but the sandbox seems to be an inevitable page rank dampening concept.

In November 2003, Google implemented what was popularly known as the "Florida Filter", a filter added to the Google Algorithm to reduce spam.The "Florida Filter" proved to be a disaster as it wiped out many small online shops but didn't fight spam producers as much as it was expected to. Spammers and link farms generate zillions of web-sites and millions of links every day adversely affecting the SERP rankings of certain legitimate sites. Thus Google might have decided to keep away new sites from getting nice ranks till they proved themselves.

After the newly launched web-sites prove their worthiness by creating lovely back links and spend some time on the net they're given a weight and finally the sandbox effect goes away.
How It Function?
It seems of late Google has been withholding high ranking ability of newly launched web-sites for 2-4 months. The penalty is applicable to new sites only and doesn't affect domains that are 4 or more months elderly and have lovely backlinks. The sandbox effect also doesn't affect new pages on long standing web-sites.

Did you find your site in the SandBox?
Google's spiders may pickup your site through an inbound link or you may have submitted your site to Google but all newly launched websites successfully get in to the sandbox. Although there's some exceptions mostly all new sites are relegated to the sandbox for sometime.
But How do you know if your site is in the SandBox?
  • If the page is in the SandBox, Google doesn't give the page a pagerank
  • A "link:www.yourwebsite.com" or "site:www.yourwebsite.com" search on Google doesn't return any results. i.e Google doesn't show signs of any other websites linking to yours nor displays pages related to yours
  • .No pages other than your HomePage are listed. sometimes even the homepage isn't listed.
How Long Does This SandBox Effect Continue?
Although no accurate information is available in this regard, it is generally believed to last for 3-4 months.
What to Do When You Are Struck in the SandBox?
SandBox can really be a boon instead of a bane if you know how to utilize the period of dormancy to optimize your site for better ranking when it comes out of the slumber. Use this time to :
  • Write nice content: Content is the king. A better content will attract more visitors to your site.
  • Optimize your web pages: This could be tricky as there would be no way you can measure the effect of your optimizations. But it is worth it, for when you are listed, all this optimization will pay off.
  • Build Links: Inbound links go a long way in improving your page rank on SERP & your Google Pagerank. Therefore, start building links.
  • Optimize for MSN & Yahoo: These one search engines are growing quick & can definitely bring quality traffic to your site if you concentrate on optimizing for them. MSN & Yahoo don't have a sandbox, so it's worth a try.
How to Get Out of the SandBox?
Method three: Join Google Adwords or Adsense Programs. Google seems to have different spiders for adsense / adwords & general site crawling but it is widely believed that subscribing to the adsense/adwords programs gets your pages spidered in minutes even by its search related spiders. All though the effectiveness of these methods is not guaranteed, some people claim they work. But beware Google is known to adapt their algorithm often & the rules for sandbox may adapt . process one:The most widely used, this method involves purchasing an elderly domain for its longevity & back links.
Conclusion

From the various discussions that have been going around the SEO world, it is evident that your newly launched Web page might not show up well on the SERP rankings in Google because of Google's dampening filter, the Google SandBox. Sandbox is inevitable & has to be lived with. Thus, it is the duty of the Webmaster or the site owner to plan the site launch date in such a way that there is maximum damage. During the sandbox period of a site, there is a great opportunity to improve incoming links, apply for directory listings, improve content, & so on. plz note that if all these are properly done, when you come out of the Google SandBox, you can get listed in the SERP with a lovely rank.

With some planning & by properly utilizing the tips mentioned in this article, you can utilize the dormancy of your Web page during the sandbox period to burst in to the top rankings of the SERP pages when you come out of the dormancy.

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