I just wanted to ask what is the best way to find out if a newer site is in the google sandbox? Also, if you are in it, do you just keep building links to it as if it wasnt? Thanks for the tips.
There is no sandbox ... A site (especially new ones) don't rank highly cause they lack quality links. Keep building related links from good sources and your website will start climbing serps. To note that Google also checks link age, so you won't take benefit of any link you do in the short run. Goodluck