Using Time To Gain Google Trust (newbies read this).

I've been rereading this book I read about a year ago when I didn't know a thing about SEO (I still don't for the most part :p). And its weird to go back and reread it, to realize how little I understood the first time around.

This guy has a really interesting concept that he talks about where he breaks google trust down into various time intervals. So rather than try to explain it, I'm going to cite exactly what he says. Not only for newbies, but for myself. Typing this out will be healthy for me.

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0-2 months: The period of Nothingness - Untill your website is about two months old, even the most awesome, link-juiced-up site will be snubbed by Google like a smelly kid at the school dance. But this does not mean should be inactive. This is exactly the time when you need to get busy building links. Google is watching every link built in this period, seeing whether your site deserves to jump out of the sandbox, into power, within the next few months. If you do not build links in the first two months, your site will continue to be sandboxed untill you do build links.

2-4 months: Behold, a Brave New World - After your site has been around for a couple of months, it might peek into the top 100 results, but only if it has a couple of high TrustRank links. Typically, you are not going to see first page rankings for difficult keywords in this phase. Google basically has your site on probation.

4-6 months: The Winds of Trust - If you were building links in a casual, nonaggressive way for the past few months, your site will now be able to rank for moderately competitive keywords. It could even rank for a competitive keyword. However, if your site has the same number and quality of links as another website that is two years older, it will rank below that other website.

6-12 months: Dropping Anchor - Your site will now be able to rank for any keyword except the top 2% most coveted keywords out there. So, no mesothelioma, structured settlement, or airline tickets for you... but yes to jewelry store Hollywood, customized silverware, and the like.

1-2 years: Welcome to the Land of Trust - The door is now 90% open to you, and your site can rank for any keyword, providing you have spent the last year building high TrustRank links. Google will now view you the way society views a young, roguishly handsome doctor or lawyer - as impressive and capable of great feats but not as well respsected as you will be later on in your career.

2-4 years: A Seasoned Citizen - By now your site should have a number of old, trusted links and be a shining member of the community. Not only are you ranking well for long tail keywords and competitive keywords alike, but your site is a highly sought-after influencer, a site from which any other site would feel privileged to gain a link.

4 years +: The Golden Years of Trust - These are the good times. Google now considers you a fully indoctrinated member of its kingdom. With a history of building links in a natural way and continuing to attract links on a regular basis, your site may rise in the search results as you please. Your site joins the ranks of those "unbeatable" websites that are always on the first page for the most competitive keywords.

this is what he says about the sandbox effect..

The sandbox has been the subject of much pontification and misinformation. Simply put, if you focus on building links in a slow, natural way- say, getting three to fiver links per month- your site will come out of the sandbox and rank normally in sync with the preceeding timeline. On the other hand, if you spend too much time reading articles about the sandbox and getting yourself worked up about why Google isn't giving your site a fair shake, you will make less progress.

In my opinion, the sandbox is a great time to work hard on your web design, create interesting pages for your site, attract links to those pages, and get your site ready to be seen by lots of people once it emerges. Think of it like a beauty pageant. Do your primping and preening and choosing your best outfits before you are called to walk out on the stage. If you've prepared well enough, you will be a winner come time for the looks and talent competitions.

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credit to: Outsmarting Google: SEO Secrets to Winning New Business by Evan Bailyn.

Now let me tie this book into what I see on WF.

I see many people everyday with new websites asking why their sites are nowhere to be found on google. Then I see other members saying things like:

"maybe its penalized" or

"maybe you have a problem with your code" or

"maybe its overoptimized!!" ...

rather than asking something simple like: "what ever led you to believe that your site should be found in the first place?"

Something I also find interesting is that he recommends building
>>3-5<< links a month. I mean... is this guy for real? Have I been doing it wrong all this time?

Cause I've been building about 15-20 links a day. I'm starting to think that when it comes to getting credible answers to your questions... maybe a forum isn't the best place. Or maybe you should study who the trusted members are on WF. And listen to nobody other than those people.

Now this book is likely out of date, its copyright is 2011. But I like this guys concept of ranking a lot more than what I'm usually told on here. It seems like a major part of SEO is understanding what the phrase "long term commitment" means. It doesn't mean you should panic if you're site can't be found after 2-3 months. It also doesn't mean you should waste the next 24 hours straight trying to find out whats "wrong".

This is advice that *I* need to take more than any newbie on this forum.

SEO seems to be one sick, twisted game of patience. So maybe if I can teach myself to like that aspect of SEO, I'll be ahead of most people out there.

Whats the saying I see thrown around here all the time but noone really seems to pay attention to it?

Is it... "slow and steady wins the race"?




-Red