Sandbox FAQ for the soul

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Ozzi, Jul 21, 2009.

  1. #1
    A lot of people with new sites are facing this effect also called as "sandbox". The term Sandbox however is very outdated and a lot of webmasters speculate of its existence. I will try and share my thought on it which might help someone understand the very basic of this term. For the past 2 years I have lunched over 8 websites and all of them have experienced some google offline time described as the "Sandbox".

    What happens during the sandbox? Well your main page disappears from the SERPs. Its still indexed but all the keywords associated with it are gone temporary.

    Do the following couple steps to check if you are under this effect :

    Search in Google for your domain name only without the TLD( .com .us etc) , for example , yourdomain.com search only for "yourdomain". If you get result for yourdomain.com then you are good just your backlinks are probably weak or you have canonical issues.
    If you don't get result for yourdomain.com or you get result for some of your inner pages instead, for example yourdomain.com/blabla.html then type in search site:yourdomain.com and if you see as result your main page then you are in the so called "sandbox".

    How I see the sandbox from my experience? Well its very simple , as your website is new google uses 2 different sets of indexes for its queries if not more. One is for the "Hot/New" topics and one for the established ones. When a new websites is lunched it goes first in the "hot/new" topic index, and after certain time it drops of. The stay period is from what I have observed about 1-4 months max.
    Over time however googles algorithm recognizes the site as it ages and moves it to the established index. the time between this is the so called "sandbox" effect. Its NOT a penalty as most of the people here keep screaming . Its just a index readjustment. depending on how lucky you get and the search volume of the keywords you use it might take from 1-4 months till this effect is over. Used to be longer back in the days .


    This is based on my personal observation over 2 years and all the websites I have lunched have been through it. I really think the "sandbox" is actually a filter which separates the hot new topics and news from the rest of the established websites.

    Couple advices I would like to give :
    1. So while waiting on your main page to get re-indexed again DO NOT CHANGE anything on your landing page !!!
    2. Keep building your back links while waiting for your landing page to come back.
    3. Do not fill reconsideration request or spam google's(useless webmasters forums). You will only get dirt in your face and embaresment from the elitism going on there.
    4. Try and lunch couple websites instead so you have your hands full and don't get crazy over the wait period of the "sandbox", instead be productive.
    5. Keep us updated on how long was your stay there, and when was your site re-included back.

    Keep in mind after your main page re-inclusion , your ranking might be up or down. It all depends on the volume and quality of back links you have. I have noticed old back links are not being discarded .

    Best Regards
    Oz
     
    Ozzi, Jul 21, 2009 IP
  2. freshware

    freshware Peon

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    #2
    you are used to much spam thing, if you do that activity i think your SERP rank is very down, So my advice view your website 10 to 15 days when after reconsider request by give google webmaster tool,google caused to create this tool to make good analysis website or SERP keyword ranking.
     
    freshware, Jul 27, 2009 IP
  3. Hemal Shah

    Hemal Shah Peon

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    #3
    I dont know how to check my website is in sandbox?
     
    Hemal Shah, Jul 27, 2009 IP
  4. Ozzi

    Ozzi Peon

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    #4
    I think you got the wrong thread buddy, lol.
     
    Ozzi, Jul 27, 2009 IP