Sandobox Effect – for the phenomenon of new websites being held back, in the search engine results pages (SERPs) by Google, the Sandbox Effect has many website owners upset.

When a new website is indexed in Google, it often receives what many observers consider to be a new site bonus. The brand new site will rocket to the top of the SERPs charts for a brief, shining moment. From there, it's all downhill.

The Sandbox Effect appears to be a search ranking damping filter, applied by Google, to sites for their first two to four months after the initial launch "fresh site bonus". The bonus for brand new sites is to appear very highly in the SERPs for a short time, based on Google's preference for fresh content.

Many observers believe the purpose of the Sandbox filter is to discourage unscrupulous webmasters from using practices that are against Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

It is entirely possible as well, that a website is not placed in the Sandbox, but rather it's the links that are being monitored. The algorithm could consider the age of the links, their source website, the range of Internet providers hosting the links, and the overall link diversity in general. Either way, the result is the same. The website fails to rank as highly as expected.

Treat the Sandbox stay as an opportunity to improve your site. Add as much fresh content to your site as possible. In the long run, Google always rewards content.

Full article at: The Sandbox Effect: Not a Nice Place to Play