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July ABCs of Web Design Newsletter

If you would like to opt-out of this newsletter, please send an email to theresaw@columbus.rr.com.

Introductory comments

The STC Intercom has decided to drop my web column. I thought something was amiss since they have not published my last three submitted columns. So look for those articles and more to come on this web site! On to the question:

New Testimonial

Hi Theresa, I've added some new web pages, based on your style of web design optimization, since you optimized our web site a few years ago. I wanted to let you know that our rankings in Google are now in the top 3, on almost every search we've conducted (most of them are in 1st place)—without using quotes to call out specific phrases. This is in searches that result in over 20,000 pages per search. We're backlogged with orders until late June, possibly July. You ROCK!” Diana Holycross, Tiles with Style.

Question of the month

Question: I have had several clients ask me why their new web sites are not ranking on Google. Here is what I found out:

Answer: New web sites that register with Google are not showing up in the rankings for up to six months (I have had one site that did not show up for almost a year). In the SEO forums, this term is called the Sandbox.

What is the Sandbox?

From the Search Engine Roundtable: “A site is sandboxed when it is new and does not rank for keyword phrases that are not incredibly competitive (such as a unique company name) in Google after making the page "search engine friendly" and after being indexed. Some are mistaken that a sandboxed site is a site that has not been indexed by Google. That is wrong. Sandboxed sites are very much so indexed by Google, but have a hard time ranking for keyword phrases, no matter how competitive they are.”

Sites that include hundreds of links, such as purchased links for a link-farm are also put in the Sandbox.

What is the reasoning?

I have read many theories of why the Sandbox exists, most of the agree that the purpose of the Sandbox filter is to discourage spammers from using practices that are against Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Some of the techniques that Google is attempting to disrupt are the use of throw-away spam sites to build early traffic, and to slow down the purchase of expired domain names to get a jump start from any pre-existing Google PageRank (For more information on PageRank, see "What is Link Popularity?").

There is also an aging filter theory. Scottie Claiborne wrote about this in an article "Google's Aging Delay for New Sites". In a portion of that article, she talks about why such an aging filter might exist. To quote from the article itself:

"My own theory is that the age factor for new sites is Google's answer to mini-networks and other multi-site strategies intended to artificially inflate link popularity. Many people divide what should be a single site into multiple sites in order to capitalize on the links that are exchanged between them. Others build a series of small sites that are only designed to add link popularity to the main site.

By delaying the ranking of brand new sites, the mini-network strategy becomes more of a long-term strategy than a quick jump to the top. Site owners who might have started new sites are going to be more inclined to build new pages on existing sites in order to avoid that delay."

Google is also not commenting on the existence of the Sandbox. But it does exist and you need to be aware of it.

What can you do in the Sandbox?

Treat the Sandbox stay as an opportunity to improve your site. Add as much content to your site as possible. Google rewards content. Also add incoming links. Adding incoming links will ensure that they also avoid any possible new link dampening filter that might be in effect. The links should be well aged, and ready to pass along their full value of PageRank and link popularity.

You can also use the Pay-per-Click and Pay-for-Position options to get in front of your target users. And don’t forget that you will still rank on other search engines while you are in the Sandbox, just not Google.

Resources:

Search Engine Roundtable (http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/001963.html)
Claiborne , Scottie, “Google's Aging Delay for New Sites” Search Engine Guide
Wallace, David, “How To Play In Google's Sandbox” Search Engine Guide
Hurburt, Wayne, The Sandbox Effect: Not a Nice Place to Play” Google Optimization

Recent Clients of W-edge design:

Moonhorse Art Studio
Lash Publications
Old World Kennel
Photo Alchemy
Medifocus
PDT Communications

Wrap up

My theory on the Google Sandbox is that if new sites are not ranking, then they are forced to pay for ad space to get in front of their target audience. This makes more money for Google. In any event, with some patience, your site will emerge from the sandbox and start ranking. Feel free to email me any questions! Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Please send all questions to theresaw@columbus.rr.com.

To see the articles from my print web column, go to http://www.w-edge.com/articles.htm

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