2nd August, 2012
The Google Sandbox Effect refers to an observational theory offered up to explain why some newly registered domains appear to rank poorly in Google Search Engine Results Pages. Such sites are said to be placed in a ‘sandbox’ with their search ratings on hold pending proof that they are worthy of ranking.
There is speculation that the sandbox was created as a filter, originally designed to help fight spam. Years ago, companies would put promotional websites up for short time spans and then remove them, which led to broken links and unhappy Google search experiences, hence the belief (unproven) of the Sandbox having been created to combat this.
Occasionally websites can experience difficulties in maintaining steady rankings on Google, be a it a Google Panda or Google Penguin release, or if a domain is less than a three to six months old, then you could refer to this sandbox effect.
If other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo are showing the site consistently in top positions, yet Google is not, one theory purported is that Google’s sandbox algorithm is restricting the site to search obscurity.
Being aware of the possibility of the sandbox effect is key to orchestrating a good SEO campaign. If your domain / website is new to the web then you can expect your sites journey to be a tough one, you will need to get that sitemap.xml submitted asap and invest both time and energy into backlinks, linkbait and social media, even PPC (Pay Per Click) if you are desperate for visitors to your new website.
Essentially however the Google Sandbox effect remains just that – a theory. In reality search engine optimization takes time to achieve quality, lasting results. At Tidy Design we believe that if your business is to achieve maximum online visibility, great customer satisfaction and generation of increased sales, then committing to a full SEO campaign is an investment well worth considering.