Google Sandbox - A Boon or Bane for your website?

People having new websites are going through a problem, that is refraining their site to appear on the first page of google search. This has left people wondering the reason behind this and later it was found out to be the Google Sandbox.

The reason behind the emergence of Google Sandbox is in the days back of SEO, where it was much easier to spam Google and one could build websites quickly if the keywords were properly optimized. It was also an easy task to create links and even make it rank in no time.

This ultimately led to the creation of spam websites making it difficult for Google to handle it and resulting into the emergence of Google Sandbox for preventing Google from such spam websites and having only the authentic and updated ones in the list.

What is Google Sandbox?

Google Sandbox is one of the reasons behind websites having poor rankings even after several efforts in Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Its existence can be dated back in 2004. 

It is said to be an alleged filter applied by Google to refrain new websites appearing on the top search of its page. One can think of it as a probation period, just like one we have in the real world where you are doing everything right but still won’t get a decent ranking until you become consistently good at it.

Basically, Google Sandbox can also be termed as a filter for the most important keywords of one’s website that may still get you the organic traffic, but not for the main keywords and not something that you might be expecting out of it.

Google has never officially given a confirmation regarding Google Sandbox, but if many SEO is to be believed then there has been seen effects like sandbox while one is trying to rank a new website. 

Ways to identify Google Sandbox 

Someone with the new website getting lower rankings can definitely find out about the site being in the sandbox but has to identify various things to do so. One can do this with the help of Google Search Console following the simple steps as follows:

• Go to Google Search Console, move to search traffic then click on Search Analytics and check the pages.
• Check on low traffic for the main keywords, If one has selected a focused keyword with properly optimized keywords but still ranked lower, than there is a sure shot possibility of site been sand-boxed.
• Last but not the least, Check all the pages where one can spend some time on checking the pages performing well and their queries, as this will help in the future for saving a lot of traffic. Basically, this filter is put on sites with thin, over-optimized content with a lot of back links.

One can also identify the website being on the probationary period through several tools like Search Engine Genie, which will identify when the site is on probation for specific keywords and Fruition, it will check the penalty in general, doesn’t matter if it's manual or automatic.

Some ways to lessen the period of Sandbox effect

Sandbox can be tough to handle for someone with a new website, but to one’s joy, there are certain ways one can opt for coming out of it earlier.

Getting Indexed 

If you are someone having a functional website, it is of great importance to get your website indexed by just google searching for: “site:yourdomain.com”. If your website is not indexed, it is advised to do so because until then you’ll not be aging in Google's view. You can get it done earlier by registering your domain with Google Search Console and requesting Google for fetching and rendering your pages.

Social Signals 

It is one of the key aspects for someone with a new website who is trying to gain Google’s trust as it let Google see the kind of traction your website is gaining on various platforms. One of the apt ways to get social signals and traffic on your website is with the use of Facebook advertisements. It is an amazing idea to publish an article on your following blog and using it as a Facebook ad within appropriate audiences.

Getting Traffic

It is one of the most important methods used for getting the website ranking higher in the initial days. This can be done in various ways such as: 

Use of YouTube - One can post videos relating to the relevant topics on YouTube, as there is no sandbox in here which will ultimately lead to direct traffic on your website and also higher rankings.

Posting on Facebook groups - It is advisable to provide a link of one’s blog posts rather than linking it to the page of your website.

Posting as a guest on popular websites - It is said to be a great manner in which one can get a strong back-link. It’s just advised to not overdoing it, as Google will take its time for trusting your website before getting into any major buildings of link.

Use of Foundation links

The term Foundation links refer to the social profiles and citations that can be used in letting Google know that your website is listed on various platforms, which will ultimately lead the website to look trustworthy to Google.

Getting GMB verification

The term GMB refers to (Google My Business Verification) that helps any local or national website in getting boosted. Before getting this done, it is important to find out that getting verification is not against the policies of Google for your website. 

For getting verified, all you have to do is ask Google to send a postcard to any of your address and after getting it, you will have to type the code mentioned in postcard and it will be verified.

How to avoid being placed in Sandbox?

If you are someone who has a new website with good content but still not getting ranked well then it's probably the Google Sandbox. In simple words, Google Sandbox is known as a penalty for new websites. There are some ways with which one can avoid being placed in the sandbox as follows:

• Firstly, it is really important to create content that is high in quality and is related to the topic of your business.
• It is not advisable to acquire a large number of back link in a lesser time period.
• It is always better to never over-optimizing the content and also not using the focus keyword more than 0.5% to 2% to the number of total words in a blog or an article.

Ways of getting out of Google Sandbox

It will be one of the joyous news for someone with a new website as they might be looking for an opportunity to get out of this and getting higher rankings for the website. For your information, it at least takes 2-6 months for getting out of this Sandbox. Here, we have listed down some points that may help you in getting on top of the business.

• Always believe in making good quality content with long-form material and long-tail keywords as it will help you in getting ranked for the content, once you are out of the Sandbox.
• It is very important to keep creating new content but also working on improving the rank of previous posts. There might be chances of new post and links taking longer in the ranking process.
• It is of great importance to keep building the links and also using social media for driving traffic and making Google believe that all you do is authentic and trustworthy.
• It is advisable to never use any black hat techniques like purchasing of links, it will just not result in getting higher rankings at all.
• Last but not least, focus on ensuring that your website host is credible enough.

How to know that your website is out of the Sandbox?

One can find this is out with the help of Google Search Console. All you have to do is look at the number of Total Clicks in Search Analytics that will start increasing and its graph will slowly and steadily move up from the zero lines.

While at the lower end of the graph, you will find the search queries where eventually the search inquiries will increase and will also be able to see clicks on the keyword phrases. It is of utmost importance to submit any new content or update the existing content on the Search Console.

Wrapping Up

We hope that our insight on Google Sandbox helps you to grow in your business while it’s on you to decide, Google Sandbox being a boon or bane because if you have good content then it will not take much time for you to succeed, one day you will get what you deserve but all you need is patience and determination.