Google Sandbox in Search Engine Optimization

One of the biggest topics of conversation in the SEO world at the minute is the Google ‘Sandbox’.  

Definition: The Google sandbox or “sandbox effect” refers to a commonly held belief that Google has a filter that places all new websites under restrictions for a certain amount of time to prevent them from ranking in searches. The idea behind the Google sandbox is that newer websites are not as relevant as older sites, and they are also more likely to be spam. For this reason, they are restricted and allowed to mature before being allowed to rank well, much as a young child is placed to play in a sandbox by his or her caregiver. Although Google will neither confirm nor deny the existence of the sandbox, it is widely accepted as fact.

Websites can be in the Google sandbox for varying amounts of time, generally six months to a year. It is extremely difficult to avoid having a brand new domain being placed in the sandbox.

The filter exists to prevent SEOs and spammers from easily manipulating search results by satisfying all of Google’s major offsite and onsite factors.

Signs of the sandbox include: 

• The website is outranked for clearly navigational queries (the name of the website with exclusion of www. and .com, for example “yourwebsite”).
• Pages do not rank for exact title matches.
• The website ranks well for competitive queries and then drops into no man’s land to page 100+ of the SERPs, or does not show for targeted keywords at all.
• Site ranks well in Yahoo/Live, but not Google. 

There is an important difference between the sandbox and deletion from Google’s search results. While the sandbox and a Google ban can seem to be very similar, they are not. The sandbox is a filter (or so SEOs say) used by Google to prevent new websites from taking top spots on search results, while a Google ban is a complete exclusion of the website from the search results. To find out whether your website was banned or was placed in the sandbox, simply search using the following command: 

Site: www.yourwebsite.com 

If Google shows pages from your website, it means you were sandboxed. 

If you get the following message: “Your search – site:www.yourwebsite.com – did not match any documents.” – then you’re banned. If you’ve been banned, contact Google with an inclusion request, but make sure to clear out all the elements that might have caused you to get banned first. 

Prepare for Leaving the Sandbox

If the sandboxing is affecting your website, don't just sit back and complain. The effect of the Sandbox filter will reduce in time and in the meantime, you should be working on your website to ensure that when you are out of the sandbox, your website is optimized and ready to feature high in the SERPs.