Originally, the ’sandbox’ factor was used to describe an odd phenomenon noticed by SEO professionals in conjunction with the algorithm. What is the signs of “sandboxing” before ruling out other possibilities? - from DP
The Google Sandbox effect has been around since 2004. It was started to get rid of spammy sites that would be thrown up using automated tools, acquire thousands and thousands of links and rank for keywords within weeks. Google implements the “Sandbox” as well as a few other filters, to combat against these types of spammy ranking tactics.
I find that a majority of webmasters aren’t entirely sure what the sandbox is and how to get out of it. The sandbox is applied to new sites only. Now, when I say new sites, I mean brand new domains that have just launched a web presence. I run across clients that think just because they’ve owned the domain for 10 years, that they might not get into the sandbox, when in fact, the site was actually launched 5 months ago. Sandbox sites occur when the site is brand new to the web.
What happens? 2 things happen usually. Either a site will have 0 rankings in Google for all keywords or the site will have some rankings for a few weeks, then the rankings will disappear.
Another effect you might find yourself is that you think your site is not in the sandbox. This usually happens when you are ranking for keywords that are very long-tail or are not competitive at all. Recently, I ranked a site for “Bulletproof Fiberglass”. The site is still on the first page and has been since I launched the site. The keyword is very relative to the client’s industry, but the competitiveness for that keyword in Google is very, very small. Since competition is so small, the website ranked extremely high right out of the gate. Do I still consider this site in the sandbox? Yes. If I were to get rankings for more competitive keyword phrases, I’d have to sit a little while before rankings proceeded.
When you start to see rankings for 1st and 2nd tier keywords, you’re out of the sandbox and can enjoy great rankings and really start to nurture your search engine optimization efforts.
How do you get out of the sandbox? We’ll have to save that for another “Ask SEM Inc.” 
Till next time!
- Adam
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