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SEO – Born out of the Sandbox
Posted 09 Mar, 2009 in seoThe Google Sandbox & SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?
Before your website can be found on Google, you need to move out of the “sandbox”. Newly established websites are placed in a sandbox until Google sees fit for it to be places in the index of this search engine. In the majority of cases these new websites therefore are unable to compete with other websites, in terms of positioning on Google, until a specific period has lapsed & they are released from the sandbox.
Minimising the Chance the Sandbox Effect
You can try targeting less competitive keywords (phrases that relate to the core offering of your website) as those websites that usually go for strong, popular keywords end up being caught up in Google Sandbox for prolonged periods of time.
Another way of avoiding the sandbox is by buying old domains as it is the new websites that are victimised old domains will not suffer the effect of this trap. It is also alleged that by paying for other Google services experts suggest that this is another way of avoiding the sandbox. Purchasing services such as pay per click & AdWords might do the trick, giving you an SEO shortcut out of the sandbox. This be safely assumed as accurate as this is how, in part, Google generates its revenue & by drawing sites out of the sandbox earlier Google’s bottom line grows.
The role of SEO in relation to the Google Sandbox
The infamous Google sandbox effect was apparently created to stop websites from abusing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) methods or using black hat tricks (unscrupulous SEO methods of getting your site high on Google search listings). After being banned for this misuse these sites would just repeat this process but under a new domain name. This very tactful abuse led Google to find a way to put an end to it in the form of the sandbox effect. Before a new website could get ranking it first has to be placed on hold.
Can SEO be used to move a website out of this sandbox effect however?
Luckily, the sandbox effect is not a permanent feature & is mainly to eradicate search engine spam. There is not much one can do with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) that helps avoid this & it has been said that websites with significant keywords & proper on site SEO still fall prey to the sandbox. SEO focuses on strong competitive keywords but in a sandbox effect it is advisable to stay away from popular keywords.
Regardless of this, Search Engine Optimisation is still a fundamental aspect of a website & although it cannot do much to save a site from Google’s sandbox effect it is still necessary for afterwards when the site is ranked.
Whether Google’s sandbox effect exists or not, if your website is caught in this delay period best use the time to create more back links, add new content to pages & other features to your website to make it more attractive to search engines & as soon as it leaves the sandbox you can be doing well on the search listings.
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