What is Google’s Sandbox

 

The Google Sandbox Effect is a theory used to explain why newly-registered domains or domains with frequent ownership changes rank poorly in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). In other words new websites are put into a “sandbox” or a holding area and have their search ratings on hold until they can prove worthy of ranking.

Once Google deems a website to be of quality and importance the website will be removed from the Sandbox and can potentially show up high in Google Search Engine Results Pages. Webmasters can do numerous things to improve their website with Google, but time really is the key in getting out of the Sandbox. Sandbox believers say it can take anywhere from 6 months to a year and sometimes longer before Google will promote a website out of the Sandbox. 

Because Google does not acknowledge the Sandbox and it has not been clearly proven the Sandbox Effect is just a theory. Even though it is just a theory, the Sandbox is believed by the majority of webmasters. The Sandbox is believed to have come about in 2004 when changes to Google’s Algorithm made it so new websites were banned from the top of Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). 

It may seem that the Sandbox is unfair to newly launched websites, but Google created the Sandbox with good reasons. Google was trying to discourage spam sites from quickly reaching the top of Search Results, getting dropped off Google, creating a new site and repeatedly showing up high in Search Results. In the past, companies would put up a promotional website for a short period of time and once the promotion was over the website was gone. These promotional websites would still show up high in Google Search Engine Results even after they were removed, causing many broken links and unhappy Google searchers. 

Even with the Sandbox Effect it is still possible for newly launched websites to make it to the top of Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). If Google deems a new website of being worthy it can be seen in Search Engine Results immediately, but it can still take up to 6 months for the website to rank to its fullest potential. There are many ways in which web designers use to avoid the Sandbox, some of which are discussed below. But because of its uncertainty, even if all algorithm variables are followed there is still no way to guarantee new websites from being put in the Sandbox.

How can you tell if you are in Google’s Sandbox?

Now that you know what the Sandbox is it is important to learn how to tell if a site is in the Sandbox. Before determining if a website has been put in the Sandbox you need to find out if the entire site was dropped from Google or if it has just been ranked down for certain keyword phrases. 

Start by doing a search in Google for your site. To do this type: “site: www.yourdomain.com” in the Google Search bar (replace “yourdomain.com” with your site URL). If Google does not return any results than most likely your entire website has been dropped by Google. If Google shows your website in the results and your website recently dropped down in keyword rankings, than you are still indexed by Google and it is likely that you were placed in the Sandbox.

New websites start out on the bottom with a zero page rank but with time the site can start ranking up. Does your website have a pagerank but it is still not showing up in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS)? If that is the case, your website is more than likely in the Sandbox. Often times a new website can have a pagerank after a short period of time, rank high in Google Search Results and then all of a sudden disappear from Google Search Results. When this happens it is likely that the site was put into Google’s Sandbox. Many people are left asking themselves why? There is no one answers as to why websites get put into the Sandbox, but below is a list of things thought to affect website’s placement with Google.

Minimizing Sandbox Damages

While Google sandbox is not something you can control, there are certain steps you can take in order to make the sandbox effect less destructive for your new site. As with many aspects of SEO, there are ethical and unethical tips and tricks and unethical tricks can get you additional penalties or a complete ban from Google, so think twice before resorting to them. 

Before we delve into more detail about particular techniques to minimize sandbox damage, it is necessary to clarify the general rule: you cannot fight the sandbox. The only thing you can do is to adapt to it and patiently wait for time to pass. Any attempts to fool Google – starting from writing melodramatic letters to Google, to using “sandbox tools” to bypass the filter – can only make your situation worse. There are many initiatives you can take, while in the sandbox, for as example: 

 Actively gather content and good links – as time passes by, relevant and fresh content and good links will take you to the top. When getting links, have in mind that they need to be from trusted sources – like DMOZ, CNN, Jasmine directory (a directory with a high editorial discretion), Fortune 500 sites, or other reputable places. Also, links from .edu, .gov, and .mil domains might help because these domains are usually exempt from the sandbox filter. Don't get 500 links a month – this will kill your site! Instead, build links slowly and steadily.

·         Plan ahead– contrary to the general practice of launching a site when it is absolutely complete, launch a couple of pages, when you have them. This will start the clock and time will be running parallel to your site development efforts.

·         Buy old or expired domains – the sandbox effect is more serious for new sites on new domains, so if you buy old or expired domains and launch your new site there, you'll experience less problems.

·         Host on a well- established host – another solution is to host your new site on a subdomain of a well-established host (however, free hosts are generally not a good idea in terms of SEO ranking). The sandbox effect is not so severe for new subdomains (unless the domain itself is blacklisted). You can also host the main site on a subdomain and on a separate domain host just some contents, linked with the main site. You can also use redirects from the subdomained site to the new one, although the effect of this practice is also questionable because it can also be viewed as an attempt to fool Google.

·         Concentrate on less popular keywords – the fact that your site is sandboxed does not mean that it is not indexed by Google at all. On the contrary, you could be able to top the search results from the very beginning! Looking like a contradiction with the rest of the article? Not at all! You could top the results for less popular keywords – sure, it is better than nothing. And while you wait to get to the top for the most lucrative keywords, you can discover that even less popular keywords are enough to keep the ball rolling, so you may want to make some optimization for them.

·         Rely more on non-Google ways to increase traffic – it is often reminded that Google is not the only search engine or marketing tool out there. So if you plan your SEO efforts to include other search engines, which either have no sandbox at all or the period of stay there is relatively short, this will also minimize the damages of the sandbox effect.