I have an idea for a new site, but I will have to target a competitive keyword and I'm sure my site would get sandboxed and I would have to wait a few months before it comes out... Therefore I'm going to buy an old domain that already is indexed in Google for this keyword (of course not on the first page, just ranked for the keyword) and start developing it and building links. However, I'm afraid that the domain transfer and the change of whois registrant information might get the domain into sandbox again. Can this happen? Also, I will put on some new content, but not very different from the existing one.
Sandbox is animal that really may not exist. This is just rumor so dont be afraid that much. Just be sure that domain is not banned, this is the only thing that you need to check before you buy
get your site make sure it has original content and isnt just a clone of a clone of a clone and you neednt worry about any of that stuff just make it a worthwhile site and get some good quality links to it and you will be fine
SandBox is not something like a Mad Dog which caught everyone. Its a simple program which checks for the Black Hat SEO. If you are not doing excessive SEO, which may lead to be considered as spam, like excessive link exchange, excess directory submission etc. your website will remain out of SandBox. Stick to Ethical SEO and enjoy with your new site. Best of luck
I really dont know why everybody talk about SandBox, nobody is sure that this exist. Just his website is if we are talking about http://logodesigneasy.com/ have only few pages and one outer link on main page, this is not sandbox this is contentless website in very competitive niche.
Even "old" domains can be penalized when getting to many links to quickly. I had on 0.5 year old pr1 domain that was (and still is) penalized when I got to many links to quick (social bookmarking links) So even old domains can get penalized or "sandboxed"
You just submitted your site to top social bookmarking sites (how many and in how long time?) and the site got penalized (sandboxed)? How long did it last?
Use one of those 50+ social bookmarking service offered here on DP. So 50 social bookmark links in a short time. Site is still penalized. Was pushed back 350 ranks for main keywords but is SLOWLY gaining ranks again. Still around 100 ranks below what it used to be. Atleast the domain name is shown now when searching for it, was last for the first 3 weeks. Actually used it on 2 sites, both still penalized