Sandbox Or No Sandbox??
The simple premise of the Google sandbox is this: Google doesn’t want to list spammy sites. Some spammers, however, have been able to get sites listed quickly, get good ranks using questionable techniques, and make a buck before Google can react. Because of this, Google seems to have increased the importance of the age of a website among its ranking factors. So now, to be designated “Not Spam,” one of the things a site has to do is, apparently, get older.
It’s age before beauty: A brand-new site, even one with no spam qualities, may disappear into ranking oblivion for several months until it’s had a chance to age its way into Google’s heart. The gossip and guessing surrounding the Google sandbox rivals that of any celebrity breakup, federal interest rate hike, or Supreme Court nomination. Questions—many, many questions—have been asked, and anecdotal answers are all we have: Does it exist? Does it affect a whole site or just individual pages? And we are totally serious here: When Google’s Matt Cutts smiled and nodded, did he mean anything significant about the sandbox?
I’ve done some poking around under the shroud of mystery, and still, the best I can do is provide you with unconfirmed but oft-stated rumors about the sandbox:
- Commercial sites are more likely to be affected by the sandbox than .edu or .gov sites.
- Regardless of how a site finally breaks out of the sandbox, many sites are commonly released at the same time.
- Age is not the only factor involved; a sudden increase in inbound links and page over optimization may also be penalized.
So here’s what this means to you: First and foremost, don’t think of Google as the only way to get traffic to your website. Nobody loves Google like I do, believe me. But the sandbox proves that Google can pretty much play whack-a-mole with sites’ rankings in any way it likes. And second, wait it out. It might take months (yes, months) to get out of the sandbox. If you think your site is sandboxed, make sure it’s optimized and well-linked from quality, relevant sites. Then you’ll know it’s ready for its debut.
Whats your views on the Google sandbox? Does it exist? I know from experience that my site spent 7 months in the sandbox before it eventually appeared at Google. How long did your site spend in the sandbox, if it spent time in there at all.
Aaron | March 16th, 2008 at 6:16 pm #
My site not only was sandboxed by Google, but went completely dead in technorati for 160 days if memory serves. I only got a couple hits from google over that entire period.
It wasn’t until I completely redesigned the website, updated the meta info, and created a SEO plugin that it can back. Now Google loves me.
Alex | March 16th, 2008 at 9:32 pm #
I have to say I’ve been really lucky with Google. I don’t know what I did right, but my site was listed in Google THE SAME DAY I launched it (3 months ago), and it’s had great ranking ever since. The only thing I think was a major factor was the high ranking I got in StumbleUpon… so I guess if people really like it on social media site that might factor in? Who knows…
Jirel | March 16th, 2008 at 11:43 pm #
My blog also get listed in Google and appeared in search results after seven days I submitted using url submission form.Yes, I am also lucky with this.
I am still getting considerable traffic from Google and other search engine especially Yahoo.
Robert Worstell | March 17th, 2008 at 4:57 am #
Social media apparently doesn’t have these restraints, though I have no studies or proof of individual posts’ longevity in Google rankings.
Mini-webs (ala’ Micheal Campbell) may or may not be penalized - just a few pages that show up over night isn’t the same as a few thousand. Idea is to keep it small and then to continue building it by adding more pages, articles, or link to your mini-web by floating additional mini-webs (a mini-net).
Strategy would then be to promote your mini-web through social media and get your friends to stumble/digg/etc. your new site. Then continue to add content.
Another point is that Google loves social media, so one of the better things to do would be to blog about your site, having your blog be the intro and your site be the substantive backup.
On the other hand, make your blog part of your site - best of both worlds.
As you can’t launch (and maintain) a blog for every new product you offer, it’s probably better to have a regular blog you operate, which then links and tells about your new products - which are all on mini-webs.
Craig Dewe | March 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm #
From my research, the google sandbox does exist, but how it’s applied can vary from case to case.
For example, as mentioned above, getting a website with links from credible sources like social media can mean it leaves the sandbox earlier. My impression is it’s applied site-wide rather than on particular new pages.
The most common figures I’ve heard are 9 to 12 months in the sandbox for normal sites. Mine took about 6 months to get out but it was right around the time I starting using more social networking sites and received some attention to a particular blog post. I would definitely recommend using them to help your site grow up faster.
Although my PR still seems to be suffering despite indications of a recent update. I’m still shaking my head at that one…
Andy MacDonald (Post Author) | March 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm #
Thanks for the comments guys. From what most of you have said, its pretty much certain in our own opinions that the sandbox does exist. as i said in my article, my site spent 7 months in the sandbox, then all of a sudden out of nowhere not only did my site show up in the SERPS, but i had page one and two rankings which was amazing.
Anybody else have any further opinions on the matter?
Blog for Beginners | June 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm #
The term ’sandbox’ is so foreign to me at this time. I’ll like to know if being sandboxed is the same as being de-indexed or Google still indexes your site but it doesn’t appear anywhere in the search results.
My site happens to be in the latter situation - so unfortunately. I guess the best option would be to continue building relevant backlinks and WAIT. Am I right?