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Playing in the Sandbox

by AFI
11 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I was on the front page of Google for "low cost banner" for my banner site and all I did was add some META tags (I didn't even have any before) and Google completely removed my site for that phrase.

So now what?
#playing #sandbox
  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Sites go up and down, depending on a huge number of factors.

    Just keep on keeping on. That's the best advice.

    Your site is not the only one out there, and there is never any
    guarantee of staying on top.

    The metas are were probably just a coincidence.

    The thing about the "sandbox," is, if it did exist for what people say,
    then that means google is burying your site for a reason. If they
    have a reason to bury it, they would just de-index and be done with
    it. So sandbox does not really make sense, actually. A drop in ranking
    is not google's fault. It's you or your competition.

    Drops in rankings are drops in rankings. You, your sites, other sites,
    the internet, do not exist in a vacuum.

    Paul
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    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author AFI
    They didn't just bury it, they completely removed it for that phrase (according to Rank Checker). Should I just put the site back to what it was? I'm frustrated.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Originally Posted by AFI View Post

      They didn't just bury it, they completely removed it for that phrase (according to Rank Checker). Should I just put the site back to what it was? I'm frustrated.
      They don't remove a site for "just a phrase."

      They either de-index, or don't think it's as good as you would like at the
      moment, and drops in rankings.

      If the site is de-indexed, that's not a sandbox. if the site just dropped off
      the first few pages, or not for those terms, that's not a sandbox.

      Your site does not exist in a vacuum.

      Google is not under any obligation to keep it in the stars.

      On any given day, a site may be #1, or not on the first page.
      It's how internet searches do and should work.

      Incidentally, google does not use meta tags for any rankings.

      Paul
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      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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      • Profile picture of the author AFI
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        They don't remove a site for "just a phrase."

        They either de-index, or don't think it's as good as you would like at the
        moment, and drops in rankings.
        Well I don't know what to tell you but they DID do this. If you use Rank Checker and search my site for that keyword phrase it comes up as not listed on Google for that phrase anymore. And I'm #4 on Yahoo and #7 on Bing. I used to be #6 on Google and I changed some of my title and META tags and now gone for that phrase.

        But my site is still indexed, I checked.
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        • Profile picture of the author all4rex
          Originally Posted by AFI View Post

          Well I don't know what to tell you but they DID do this. If you use Rank Checker and search my site for that keyword phrase it comes up as not listed on Google for that phrase anymore. And I'm #4 on Yahoo and #7 on Bing. I used to be #6 on Google and I changed some of my title and META tags and now gone for that phrase.

          But my site is still indexed, I checked.
          Try to test your website with the Sandbox detector tool.
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  • Profile picture of the author InitialEffort
    Start building backlinks It will probably return. Google just took one of my websites from 140 to 22 for a KW. Then put it in the SB after a day there. So now it's backlinking time.

    They did the same thing with another established website. Took it from 10 to 9 to 8 to the SB to 7 to 6 to 5.
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  • Profile picture of the author chandan_dutta
    It is better to keep building backlinks. There is no need to worry. Ranking up-down is completely natural. Just few days back one of my blog went to #13 from #3 but it came back within 2 weeks. It happens.
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  • Profile picture of the author BobJutsu
    How long was your site up in the rankings for?

    I have seen several newer sites get pretty high initial rankings for a few days, and then move quickly down through the serps. This, however, isn't really a penalty, it is just the algorithm normalizing and the sites are moving from being artificially high to being where they should be much lower.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Munch
    Try reading this thread to better understand what the Sandbox exactly is:
    http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...x-penalty.html

    If the meta tags you added were spammy in nature then it could have effected your rankings in a negative way, if not then it probably has nothing to do with it.

    Generally it is not good to obsess over rankings jump, they will happen regardless - just concentrate on what works.
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  • Profile picture of the author AFI
    The sandbox tool said 61% probably for the sandbox, but it found me at ranking #204
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