One of the hottest topics in the world of SEO remains the Google Sandbox. The Google Sandbox has taken on a very mysterious and dreaded form in the eyes of many webmasters. It’s therefore extremely important to understand everything you can about the it, why your site could end up there and how you can then work on digging yourself out.

What Triggers the Google Sandbox?

In most cases, the Google Sandbox is used for brand new blogs or websites. A new site that is launched and then very quickly puts out a lot of content and many different pages or posts, for example, could then end up in the Sandbox. This is because it’s actually a SPAM prevention mechanism or filter. A new site with an immediate load of information could be viewed as SPAM.

Therefore you are placed to the side of the index in a way until it’s proven that your site is worthwhile and is not SPAM. Not all new sites get placed into this category however. Much is still unknown about the specific triggers, and much of it may have to do with what else is going on around the web at the time your site was released.

For example, if you have a sports betting site and recently lots of SPAM sports betting sites have popped up, you will likely have a steeper climb than sites in other categories or a site like your own that was released at a different time.

It’s also important to realize that while it’s usually reserved for new sites, even some older sites can get placed in there from time to time. Usually the trigger is once again the same thing, an overdose of new content after a period of no updates, or even an overdose of new links all at one time.

What Happens if I Get “Sandboxed”?

So if your website gets placed into the Google Sandbox, what exactly is going to happen? Essentially your website gets placed off to the side of the main index. Your website is recognized and it is technically indexed. In other words you can tell that your page has been crawled, that your site has pages in the index and so on. However, even with this you won’t get found for any searches.

How Can I Get Out of Google’s Sandbox?

The good news is that the effects of the google sandbox are certainly not permanent. If getting de-indexed by Google is “hell”, then the Sandbox itself is “purgatory”. It’s certainly not where you want to be, but if you make the appropriate changes you can improve your position and eventually make your way back to the regular index.

The Sandbox is essentially a proving ground for your website. You have to show the search engines that you aren’t SPAM. One way of doing this is by gaining high quality incoming links to your site. These links will serve to add to your credibility and show Google that your site has worthwhile content.

Another way to work your way out of the Google Sandbox is by actually producing that worthwhile content. First of all, never copy content from another source and never reuse anything that has been posted elsewhere. Ensure that all of your content is completely original.

Then, create content for your website that is fresh, informative and useful. Don’t overstuff your content with keywords for example. Instead, use them naturally and work hard so that actual site visitors will gain something of value when they visit your webpage. This will also help you to increase your incoming links, because the more valuable your content is, the more times that people will link to it.

Therefore the best strategy for getting out of the Google Sandbox is regularly updating your website or blog with unique and valuable content that will show that you’re not SPAM and lead to more incoming links. If you follow this strategy, your stay in the purgatory of Google can be very short lived. However, if you don’t take any action your site can end up floundering there for months at a time, or even a year or longer.

Now that you know what the Google Sandbox is, why it happens and how you can combat it, you’re that much closer to steering clear of it altogether and fixing it as soon as it does.

Did you experienced the Sandbox? What do you recall from this episode? Anything to keep in mind?