Google Sandbox: What It Is and How to Get Out of It

Everyone who uses a website for business is often eager to see the results of the marketing strategy that was prepared long ago. Hence, it is no surprise that new website managers often use black-hat SEO tactics to get significant amounts of traffic and visitors.

However, a haphazardly arranged SEO strategy for a new website can lead to a Google Sandbox. The following is an explanation of what Sandbox is, its causes, and how to get out of it. Check out the full explanation below.

What is Google Sandbox?

Google Sandbox is the ability of search engines to perform filtering, which is useful for preventing new websites from getting top rankings by way of spam. If your website has been hit by this algorithm, then don't be surprised if some of its pages sink in search results. This is because Google doesn't want its first page to be filled with sites that win SERPs in an instant way.

However, you need to know that websites that experience Sandbox issues are different from websites that experience deindexing. If the website is deindexed, then the entire contents of the website will not be found on Google. Meanwhile, the Sandbox will only remove a few URLs, not the entire pages of the website.

Why is Your Website Affected by Google Sandbox?

After knowing what Sandbox is, now is the time for you to find out what causes it. Check out the explanation below.

1. Over-Optimization

In carrying out an SEO strategy, optimizing as much as possible is a good strategy. However, don't overdo or over-optimize, especially from the on-page side.

Why is that? When you over-optimize keywords, Google will detect it as keyword stuffing, or keyword spam.

You should avoid this, because keyword stuffing can make your content not appear in search engines due to being 'removed' by Google. 

2. Duplicate Content

Google has the ability to detect which website publishes content for the first time. So, duplicating content from other sites is not recommended. In fact, in the worst case scenario, your website can be taken down due to producing unoriginal content.

Google can penalize you not only for duplicating content from other websites but also for creating some of the same content with different URLs on your website. Google will identify it as "twin content," and the penalty in the form of a Sandbox will be given to your website.

3. Poor Link Building

Link building is one of the recommended SEO strategies for you. However, that doesn't mean you can do it carelessly. If you just put a link in without paying attention to its relevance to your content, Google can detect it as an act of link spam.

To overcome this issue, you can build internal links, external links, and backlinks that are good and relevant to your website's niche. This way,  you can avoid Sandbox penalties.

How to Check Google Sandbox

What if some of the URLs on your website suddenly disappear from SERP? It could be that your website is being affected by the Sandbox. Here are some ways to check the Sandbox that you need to learn to prevent it from attacking your site. 

1. Check External and Internal Links within Content

One of the reasons why a website gets sandboxed is because of poor link building. If you suspect your website is being affected by the Sandbox, you can immediately check the external and internal links attached to the content.

Make sure every link posted is a relevant and valid link to avoid indications of spam links from Google.

2. Check Backlinks

Backlinks are able to prove that your website has an independent promoter. However, you also have to make sure that the sites that place backlinks on your website are also relevant to their niche. Google can detect this as an act of link spam because of the mismatch between your website niche and the niche website that is installing the backlinks.

Make sure you have a 'partner' whose niche is relevant to your website to avoid potential Sandbox issues.

3. Monitor Content Traffic Regularly

As a website owner, you must monitor traffic regularly. If you find pages with stagnant traffic or even significantly decreased rankings, you should suspect it is a result of the Sandbox.

Content that hasn't improved in performance could be an indication that Google doesn't recommend it to users for a number of reasons. You can monitor website traffic with several tools, such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

How to Get Out of Google Sandbox

If your website is really affected by the Sandbox, you can still fix it in the following ways:

1. Make Sure the Site is Indexed

Since Google Sandbox and deindexing are two different things, you need to understand whether your website is experiencing Sandbox or not being indexed by Google. Try typing 'site:yourwebsitename.com' in the Google search field. If Google doesn't show any results, it means your website hasn't been indexed yet.

However, if Google manages to display some of the website pages in question, you should immediately monitor traffic through Google Analytics. Do this to find out which URLs are missing as a result of being impacted by the Sandbox. 

2. Do Link Building Properly

Having a backlink 'partner' is profitable for you. However, if you work with a site whose niche is irrelevant to your website, this has the potential to be assessed as a violation by Google. To avoid being hit by a Sandbox penalty, build the right linking strategy.

Make sure all links, both internal and external, as well as backlinks, are relevant to the context of the content.

3. Adequate Website Optimization

Over-optimizing content may cause your website to be flagged by the Sandbox. Even if you have done keyword research correctly, make sure you don't include too many of these keywords in your content.

Use more keyword variants to avoid this, and limit the use of main keywords by setting a keyword density of 1%–3% for each of your pieces of content.

4. Create Quality Content

Even though it's simple, creating quality content is one of effective ways on how to get out of Google Sandbox. Do keyword research to get lots of keyword variants for your content. Content that contains many variant keywords generally tends to be more informative for users.

Also, create original content so that Google doesn't detect it as plagiarism. Creating original content can add value, so your website has the potential to be superior to competitors.

Thus, a guide about what Google Sandbox is, its causes, and how to get out of it. For a more thorough check, you can use SEO services to prevent your website from being impacted by the Sandbox. With SEO, you are able to develop a good and detailed marketing strategy for your website.