Up The Sandbox!

Go to any internet marketing forum you want these days andone of the topics is sure to be whether or not there is a"sandbox" at Google where new sites are forced to come andplay for 3-6 months before joining the ranks of ranked andsearched results. On the surface it would appear that thisis so. New sites are typically taking a long time to getindexed and even longer to show up in the search results.So hence, the sandbox theory. Let's examine some possiblereasons and more importantly, our reaction to it.

The most obvious possibility, (since no one outside ofGoogle really knows) is that because of the proliferationof spam on the engines, Google is checking all the links tothese new sites. Sometimes a new site will appear sportingthousands of backlinks, and this takes some time to check,even given a rolling schedule of indexing by that peskyspider! Google it seems is serious about link farms, andanything that smacks of that may take some time to getindexed. But then, so will most other sites. It is a verylarge index, (some say nearing capacity, though I doubtthat will turn out to be true) and it is a gargantuan taskto keep it current and free of extraneous (read poor)search results. There are other ideas out there, andconspiracy theories abound, one being that it is an evilplot to force newer sites in search of traffic to resort topaying for Google Adwords. Uh-huh. A particularly amusingthread is currently taking place at the High Rankingsforum, a must-read for all conspiracy theorists!

Since we don't know, can't know, will not know for sureuntil the Google Gods unlock the keys to the kingdom andenlighten us; it only makes sense to this webmaster to geton with life. I've got new sites waiting, as do many. Weall languish at PR0 until (or if) there's another update.Some sites get picked up quicker than others, and to someextent that is a measure of SEO. However just get over it!Since there's nothing concrete we can do except build greatcontent sites with lots of relevant links (legitimate) whyworry about any sandbox?!? Don't get your knickers in aknot! Write more content, articles, and get more sites tolink to you because of the worth of your site. There are other sources of traffic, go get them! Do the rightthing for your business. Spend time on it, not worryingabout this.

Many of the leading voices in SEO agree that there mayindeed be a "sandbox", and if there is, that may notnecessarily be a bad thing. You don't want some farmer(link) ranking ahead of your carefully crafted contentsite, do you? Of course not! One thing is sure: if there isa sandbox, it belongs to Google and if you want to play,follow the rules and don't cry! Pay or play!

Keith Thompson is the Webmaster at Internet Marketing Here & Now! a site devoted to bringing you the latest and best in website promotion.