A Quick Sandbox Experience

I find sandboxes a work of art. It may seem boring and totally uninspiring for some, but its ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. The fact that such a plain box, containing something that is not really a rarity, can hold the attention of a toddler while her mother is watching from a distance is something else.

New website owners are wary of the Google sandbox. Some dislike it. While some go as far as hating the thought of it. Much has been written about Google’s sandbox. But no one from the inside has been able to confirm it yet. Its existence has been implied however. No matter the name it goes by, the idea of it, it’s effects and what it does, has been studied by SEO gurus and has been confirmed. What exactly does the sandbox do? Basically, it does two things: to punish and to reward. Just as a kid who did something naughty, new sites with suspicious backlinks , which incidentally they also own, or sites who bought links by the bulk in an effort to top the search result, are put in the sandbox for awhile. Google then observes these sites to make sure that they won’t stay naughty or won’t continue their malicious practices. Sandboxes also reward. From Wikipedia “new pages with good content, but without inbound links, are temporarily increased in rank—much like the “New Releases” in a book store are displayed more prominently—to encourage organic building of the World Wide Web.”Good kids are brought out of the sandbox. So the sandbox, instead of an idea to be hated, is actually making the web a safer place, for the time being. It’s like a background check for new entrants. Some say you can never circumvent staying in the sandbox. We say that you can shorten your stay there. Here are some tips on how to do just that:

1. Be unique. This is one of the most effective ways to get out of the sandbox fast because of course, you don’t have a lot of competition on the search engine. Be wise about the metatags and keywords you use.
2. Build quality content. We can never emphasize enough the importance of quality content. When Google sees that you’re serious about your job, your stay in the sandbox would seem like a quick visit.
3. Grow steadily. Link to reputable sites, add articles consistently, be overly strict about spammers in your site.
4. Go. Don’t wait for the gunshot to fire. In other words, don’t wait until you have finished the construction of your site before opening it to the public. to give your site a headstart, launch it even with just a few pages.

You should be conscious of the fact that Google might be watching your site, but even if it is the top search engine, remember that there are other search engines too so don’t be too worried if your site isn’t on the Top 10 List in your keyword category, just do your best. And be natural about it.