Google Sandbox - The Basics
Danny Wirken
Introduction
Google’s Sandbox Effect has been a matter of controversy since
an article appeared on Search Engine Round Table about how new
sites ranked low in Google as early as April 2004. This was
before the term “sandbox” was even used to refer to the
phenomenon. The term sandbox effect came into being when a
guest writer on the Search Engine Round Table wrote an article
entitled The Sandbox Effect. In the article, the sandbox effect
meant that a new site can not get high ranking immediately by
depending on PR and back links. This is because the author felt
that “PR and back links (pure link popularity) credit is placed
in a reserve- called the sandbox- for a period of time before
it is applied to ranking and has an effect” with the purpose of
preventing PR and link purchasers from getting a very high rank
in Google right away and dominating the field. Although the
term caught on quite rapidly it became highly debated since
many SEO experts considered the term sandbox as inaccurate or,
at least, lacking when it comes to describing the phenomenon.
Despite the differences in opinion among SEO experts on the
terminology as well as its definition and scope, everyone
agreed that the sandbox effect did exist and was a matter that
caused SEOs and website owners huge problems.
The sandbox phenomenon was difficult to define earlier because
it affected such a wide and varied range of websites and
affected their ranking for a different length of time. And
since Google never officially commented on the sandbox effect
the most that SEOs could do was observe and note the possible
factors that could possibly be one of the reasons for being
sandboxed. It wasn’t until 2005, when the sandbox effect has
been in place for sometime that a good definition of the
phenomenon was written in an article called 2005 Analysis of
Google’s Sandbox. In the article the sandbox effect was
described as:
"The observed phenomenon of a site whose rankings in the Google
SERPs are vastly, negatively disparate from its rank in other
search engines (including Yahoo!, MSN & Teoma) and in Google's
own allin: results for the same queries."
This definition was more general and inclusive taking into
account all the different observed sandbox phenomena that
different websites experienced.
Websites Affected
The sandbox effect, as it was first noticed, affected and still
does affect a large number of new websites starting from the
websites registered after 2003. It has been observed that it
affects entire top-level domains instead of just web pages and
directories and sub-domains. The most common websites also
affected by the sandbox effect were those that used search
engine optimization tactics such as meta data and link building
efforts. However, ordinary websites such as blogs, whose owners
don’t even use such tactics, were still affected by the
phenomenon. It was also noticed that the sandbox effect mostly
affected websites in English with only a few reports of
websites in other languages experiencing the effect. Dutch and
Italian language websites were particularly free from the
sandbox effect. In addition to these low quality sites as well
as spam sites, affiliate sites, and websites carrying AdSense
were affected more frequently than sites that did not have
those features. However, not all such kind of sites was
affected by the phenomenon while other more organic sites were
sandboxed. It was and is pretty clear that whatever kind of
website was put up there was no guarantee of not being
sandboxed since there was no clear cut criterion for being
sandboxed. The only websites that did escape or were exempt
from being sandboxed were the .gov, .mil, and .edu websites.
This meant that the sandbox effect could be experienced by any
commercial and private sites.
The Effects
While the sandbox effect was felt by nearly all newly
registered websites with such varied characteristics, the
effects of the phenomenon itself is easier to enumerate since
they are very evident.
As mentioned in the definition the effect of being sandboxed on
the websites is a temporary lower ranking on Google’s SERPs
(search engine results pages) as compared to their ranking on
other search engine results. Note that the effect ought to be
temporary. Sites report being “waiting to get out” of the
sandbox for anything from one month to a year. The sites which
take longer to get out of the sandbox are generally of low
quality.
The websites’ rankings are also affected, as the definition
states, only on Google’s SERPs. New websites that rank low as
well in other search engines and has been attributing their low
rank on the sandbox effect are mistaken. Website owners of such
sites should concentrate on improving the quality of their site
and make some SEO efforts to improve their rankings since the
low rank might very well be well deserved.
There were also misconceptions that the sandbox effect
discriminates according to the competitiveness of keyword
phrases used with a greater effect on highly competitive
keywords and phrases. This is actually untrue since the effect
could be felt by many sites even for non-competitive terms.
Getting Out of the Sandbox
Undoubtedly, SEO experts have tried their very best to come up
with a way to get their clients of out the sandbox.
Unfortunately everyone agrees that there is no way to get out
of there until Google decides to “free” a website. However here
are some suggestions from the 2005 Analysis of Google’s Sandbox
article aimed help prevent new sites from getting sandbox.
These tips are not fool proof and do not guarantee that the
resulting website won’t get sandboxed.
• Target "Topical Phenomena" & a Non-Commercial Audience
• Build Natural Links & Avoid Getting Blogrolled
• Get Noticed in the News
• Build Exceptional Quality Sites
For those whose sites are already in the sandbox there is no
option but to wait. However, you can make sure that the waiting
time is productive. Tweak the parts of your website that needs
improvement so that when it gets out of the sandbox it’ll be of
even better quality but don’t bang your head trying to get your
rank to go up while still sandboxed. You can also focus on
doing well in other search engines. Google is not the only
search engine out there that will bring traffic to your site.
For more ideas on how to make sure that the time spent by your
website is productive do read David Wallace’s article on How To
Play In Google's Sandbox.
About The Author:
http://www.theinternetone.net
<< -------------- End of Free Reprint Article ----------- >>
Find More Free Articles
See Also:
All
Free Articles About SEO & Search Engines
All Free Articles About Web Pages & Web Design
Index of All Free Reprint Articles
