Pelican Web Design Studio

If you spend any time reading SEO forums or blogs, you've surely heard people talking about the dreaded "Google sandbox." Now personally, I am not a big believer in the idea that Google puts every new web site into some kind of holding pen, but clearly, there's something going on...

As an SEO coach with many students, I've been involved in dozens of site launches over the past year. In this article, I'll lay out the basic strategy that we use to get a site moving in search engine rankings as quickly as possible, and offer my own thoughts on what the "sandbox" really is.

Let's say that you have an idea for a new web site, and you want to launch it. Step one, the very first thing you need to do, is research and register a domain name. I recommend registering the new domain for at least 2 years, and if you plan to be in business for a while, go ahead and do 3-5 years. It's cheap. If you've had the domain for a couple years already, it's OK to keep it on an annual renewal.

We do this because one of the factors Google (or any search engine) may use in trusting a domain is the length of registration. The main purpose of the "sandbox" is to keep folks from throwing up spam sites and drawing traffic off of search results for contextual advertising or affiliate programs. By registering for a longer period, or using an older domain, you can avoid this issue.

Now that we've established the domain, you can get to work on developing content, working on design, etc. I recommend putting some content up onto the domain as early as possible, even if it's just a "coming soon" page with a little information on what's coming. The usual boilerplate pages (contact, etc.) can go online as they're ready.

You need to have a target date in mind for the site to go live, and you do not want that date to slip. As you're preparing for launch by building the site, you should also be preparing for other launch-related activities.

Here are a some important things you want to do, if at all possible, for your site launch:

• Submit to DMOZ and Yahoo directories - yes, spend the $299 for a Yahoo directory listing, and research smaller & vertical directories
• Develop some "link bait" strategies, and implement at least one good link target into your site.
• If we can find a newsworthy spin for the launch (you did work on link bait, right?) then a press release should go out
• If it's applicable, launch an article or content distribution campaign, with a link back from the article(s)
• Research the blogosphere, and contact bloggers who may be interested in the site launch - let them see the press release, give them a sneak peek, get them interested
• Begin recruiting affiliates for your affiliate program as early as possible
• Tap into your business networks, your friend networks, your social networks - get friends to mention your launch and your site on their site or blog
• Advertise in vertical directories, and use Google Adwords and other PPC services to get the word out on your new site
• Make sure that all offline advertising - print, tv, radio, mail, etc. - all of it uses the web site URL
• Get the technical stuff right on your site - don't launch with duplicate content or canonicalization problems
• Get a real web analytics solution in place before you launch - one that can track visitors, leads, your conversion funnel, and revenues.

With a properly aged domain, and a strong site launch, you should not be facing a "sandbox" or "aging delay," but you will still have a hill to climb. Your competitors may have a 12 year lead on you, my friend... it's not something you can overcome overnight.

So, don't act like you're expecting instant results. Keep working the site launch. Your mindset, for the first several months at least, should be "we just launched this site, and we need to get the word out."

Keep submitting to directories, at a reasonable pace (a few a week at least), until you can't find any more good directories. Keep doing content distribution campaigns (once a month at least). Keep looking for bloggers to blog. Keep creating link targets and keep promoting them via press releases and direct contact with website owners, affiliates, bloggers, etc.

Finally, use analytics to guide your strategy. As you start to get referrals from "organic" search results, work on improving your rankings for those terms. Establish a beachhead on Search Engine Island with pay-per-click, and use the data that flows in to expand your content, focus your SEO and linking efforts, and improve the conversion rate of your site.

The sandbox isn't inevitable, but you can't expect a brand new site to dominate the search results. By getting off to a good running start, you can make your web business profitable well before Google decides to bless you with "free" traffic. It's worth the effort to do it right.

Dan Thies, SEO Coach