SEO Thought for the Day - Avoiding the Sandbox

[accelerator]

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A quote from Mike Grehan at SES Chicago 06 (found on Bruce Clay's blog)

"Sit down, look at your site. Write down 10 reasons why people would want to link to your Web site. If you can’t get past 5, you’ve created your own sandbox."

Wise words.

Rgds

[ash]

What a strange saying and completetly unrelated to the sandbox theory.

Sure you want to get people to link to your site naturally, but equally links can be achieved with other SEO methods.

Infact too many links coming all at once could actually cause the sandbox effect.....

[getvisible]

I agree with both of you.

I totally respect Mike and met him at the NY SES this year. But what he may have missed ...

... how do you get people to your site in the first place to get them to a position where they have the opportunity to link to you?

This is where e-PR, ppc, social networking comes in.

When you've got a moderate amount of traffic then you can leverage getting other people to link to you for the linking element of the algo and the natural traffic that links generally bring.

[Edwin]

On the other hand, if you can honestly come up with 10+ reasons, it probably wouldn't take much of a "kickstart" to really get a site up and running, so long as its audience is even modestly web-savvy (i.e. likely to be some bloggers, webmasters and social network users amongst the visitors).

So I agree that the best case scenario is a nifty synergy of a super-sticky site and a bit of promotion/PR magic to achieve escape velocity.

[Brendon]

>> What a strange saying and completetly unrelated to the sandbox theory.

I'll bite. What DO you think the sandbox theory is then?

[getvisible]

I love how Mike's new SEO company is called "Search Visible", git, do you think I could sue him for playing on my brand? Cough!

[emart]

>> What a strange saying and completetly unrelated to the sandbox theory.

I'll bite. What DO you think the sandbox theory is then?

I found this on Webpronews and it seems to explain this quite well:

"Some programmers have viewed Google as uncomfortable to rank newer websites until they have proven their viability to exist for more than a period of "x" months. Thus the term "Sandbox Effect" applies to the idea that all new websites have their ratings placed in a holding tank until such time is deemed appropriate before a ranking can commence.

However the website is not hindered as much as the links that are reciprocated from other users. Newer links that are created are put on a "probationary" status until again they pickup in rank from other matured sites or placed directly by an ad campaign. The idea behind the hindrance is to prevent a fast ranking to occur on a new website. The usual holding period seems to be between 90 and 120 days before a site would start obtaining rank from reciprocal or back linking.

Some advice has been given to have companies you are going to reciprocate back add your link first to the website. This may help grandfather your site in, thus reducing the waiting time associated with "new" websites. People have noticed a 0 page rank when first signing up and receiving a bolstering 7 page ranking after 4 months. Why the delay? The fact is, that if people realized how easy it would be to get a high ranking, would that take away the credibility of the engine. It depends on whom you ask, but it does seem to be happening frequently to newer subscribers. Do not discontinue back linking, your rank will eventually appear." (Source: Webpronews 26/08/2004)

This is two and half years ago, so whether this has changed since, I'm not sure.

[Brendon]

Thanks eMart. It was actually more of a rhetorical question on my part - I'm fairly sure I know what the "sandbox" is, but it's one of those SEO things which is VERY widely misunderstood

[drivetowin]

I think the important thing with the sandbox theory is that it is precisely that - a 'theory'

I've had new sites that fall into what appears to be the sandbox and others that appear to be completely unaffected - yet they can be in equally competitive fields, same link policy etc etc....

[findlite]

A quote from Mike Grehan at SES Chicago 06 (found on Bruce Clay's blog)

"Sit down, look at your site. Write down 10 reasons why people would want to link to your Web site. If you can’t get past 5, you’ve created your own sandbox."

Wise words.

Rgds

Its kinda true because the more links you have and the more useful your content is the faster you plough through the sandbox thing. Works for me....

[sabian1982]

I'll bite. What DO you think the sandbox theory is then?

Theres no such thing as the sandbox... its all in your heads... mwahahahahahaha!

[fizzbird]

I'll bite. What DO you think the sandbox theory is then?

Snake oil

[Brendon]

On a related note, me and DaveN have been having a similar argument with randfish here, SEOmoz | Google's Sandbox Still Exists: Exemplified by Grader.com

There's some good info and commentary in there

[master]

Some say it does not exist, some say it does exist but either way we are confused.