Google sandbox, like a filter, separates new sites from other sites. As you know, Google’s ultimate goal is to provide valuable content for users, and the concept of google sandbox is one of Google’s tools to achieve this goal. But how? To clarify the idea of google sandbox, we ask you a question:

  • Do you trust a newcomer’s advice and suggestions in the real world? 
  • Or do you trust someone who has proven his/her competence and expertise?

As a rule, your answer is the second option. Google’s choice is entirely similar to yours.

Based on this, to provide the best results to its audience, Google does not show newly established websites in high ranks. Google sandbox means the time it takes to prove yourself and your content to Google. In many cases, google sandbox is referred to as the proving period. 

Google has never publicly confirmed or denied the existence of the sandbox algorithm. For this reason, talking about Google Sandbox can be one of the most controversial topics among experts in this field and SEO.  In the article “An Ultimate Guide to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)” we introduce Google Sandbox. Therefore, this article on the smart strategy blog presents essential points about the concept and mechanism of google sandbox.

 

google sandbox
google sandbox infographic

What is Google Sandbox?

Do you have a newborn website? What can we do to make this website reach the target audience faster with the new domain? All online experts agree on one thing: SEO your site!

But after a while of our SEO efforts, the site does not get any position on the Google results page. Your efforts have not been successful because Google has not yet trusted your site, so you should practice in Google sandbox for a while.

Google Sandbox explains well why new websites are developing so slowly. This algorithm puts your website in the sandbox for some time (a few weeks to a few months) after launching a new domain to ensure the quality of the content and the main context of your work. During this time, you can not take a position on any valuable words because you are still in the sandbox.

Expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT) are critical for ranking a site. Considering these three factors, newly established sites cannot attract a favorable opinion from Google and therefore are not trusted by Google at the beginning.

Newly established sites need more financial and human resources to produce valuable and high-quality content and, therefore, cannot get high ranks in Google results.

 

 

What is the reason for choosing the SANDBOX name?

Suppose you are the parent of a five-year-old child and go to the sea for fun. In the meantime, you leave your child on the beach to play with the sand. But is it suitable for a child to play on the beach with the roaring waves of the sea? Certainly not.

What safer solution can you provide for your child’s play?

The best thing to do is to put them in a sandbox to revive the feeling of playing on the beach and, at the same time, keep them safe. Google does not leave you alone in the turbulent sea of the Internet; you have to play in its sandbox for a while.

sandbox algorithm for new sites
sandbox algorithm for new sites

 

Why are we in the sandbox?

Content, links, social signals, and local directories are all factors that newly established websites are weak in.

1. Lack of content. Google needs high-quality content to understand the topic of your website. Something that new websites are weak in. So consistently produce quality content.

2. Lack of signal from users. Users’ significant signals are the bounce rate, CTR, and average time on the page. It will take time for Google to get this information from your site. Therefore, increase the user’s interaction by creating engaging content.

3. Lack of quality backlinks. The number of qualified backlinks, especially natural ones, is essential for ranking and confirming a site’s validity. Unfortunately, a new website does not have enough time to generate numerous quality natural backlinks. So spend a lot of time sharing your content on other websites and social media.

4. Competition in the industry. Remember this factor. Competing with tough competitors will make your job harder. 

Google’s move indirectly allowed websites with better and more engaging content to reach the user faster, and as a result, sites with spam content did not get to the results page or SERP.

 

Will the sandbox be enabled for all sites?

As mentioned earlier, many are unaware that Google sandbox is a theoretical algorithm. This ignorance is because Google sandbox may not be enabled for all sites.

On the other hand, many new sites still have a chance to attract visitors through the results page, but this progress is so slow that it may not be noticeable.

So it can be concluded that sandboxing can happen in the following 3 cases:

  • Do not enable Google Sandbox for your site at all
  • The process of putting you in the sandbox is so slow that you do not notice it
  • Suddenly you realize that your is in the sandbox

 

How do we know we are in the Google Sandbox?

To ensure your site is sandboxed, you should visit your site search console tool and check your site’s keyword traffic. If your site’s entry is keywords other than yours, this could signal that Google has put your location in the sandbox.

Usually, as time passes, your site launches, the position of the target keywords improves, and you will see a steep upward trend. Leaving the Google sandbox can be identified by a significant jump in site traffic and site rankings in keywords. The chart below shows a site that has managed to exit the sandbox after nearly two months.

sandbox scape
sandbox escape

 

How to get out of Google Sandbox?

If your site has a newly registered domain, you should not expect to see your site on the results page soon. In many cases, it takes about six months for Google to find your site valid and free you from the sandbox; Of course, you will also see slow growth in your position during this period.

However, you can do something to make Google recognize you as a valuable site faster.

The following steps will help Google give your site more credibility:

  • First, get valuable backlinks from relevant and reputable sites such as Aparat and YouTube.
  • Generate functional, new, and user-friendly content.
  • Get positive signals from social media.
  • Do the internal linking of your site in the best way.
  • Do not clutter your site with keywords.
  • Use the Long Tail Keyword instead of focusing on short keywords.
  • Forget about using black hat SEO techniques, such as buying backlinks.
  • Constantly publish new and valuable content.

Of course, these optimizations do not necessarily mean that your site is out of the sandbox! Instead, by doing things that Google considers positive, you help Google better understand your site so that you can prove that you are worth appearing on the results pages.

 

Conclusion

In this article on smart strategy, we fully explain google sandbox algorithm. To ensure the correctness of your website performance, you can contact us or send your request from the smart strategy SEO services. 

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