Allright you guys Im sure many of you have heard of the fabled "Google Sandbox." Many say it doesnt exist, many say it does. In theory, Google places new sites in the "sandbox" until you can prove to google that your site is here to stay (usually this is just a few weeks or a month or so). Google can also place your site in the Sandbox if you build links too fast or appear to be spamming.
One of my sites was placed in the sandbox for its main term. Site was ranking #11 for this term and now its 8th, 9th, 10th page or whatever. However, I know this site is not "banned" because it still ranks on the first page for my 2 other target keywords (not domain name) and all pages are still indexed. To throw this out there, site has no bad neighborhood links and doesnt display anything that violates TOS.
So, for those who don't believe in the sandbox I can now say I have first hand experience of it. Its been roughly 6 weeks since the drop happened so hopefully in another month or 2 the site will be back where it was. From what Ive been reading, sites usually bounce back even stronger once they exit the sandbox so hopefully this is true!
Any of you guys have any experience with the sandbox? How long did it take for your site to get out? Was there any kind of special linking tactics you did?
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