Google Sandbox Theory Debunked V 2.0
February 24, 2010
This post first appeared back in May of 2008.
I had been reading every since I got into Internet Marketing about this mythical thing called a Google sandbox. I never believed it and by the time this blog arrived I had three sites that ranked right out the gate and stayed there. This would seem to put holes in this theory, at least for me.
I have since launched six other SEO related websites that very quickly began to rank well in the Google search results. Now, I came to the internet game in late 2006 so it is possible that this sandbox did exist at one time. However, over the last three and a half years I have seen no evidence of its existence.
Surprisingly this topic still comes up for discussion on forums all the time. This is why SEO can be so confusing for so many. Certain practices that once worked will become obsolete over time. However, those who make money on these services have a vested interest in keep the practices going. They want to continue to make money and they could care less if there methods still work. Search engine submission services come to mind. They were a valid service in a previous century but they are mostly useless today.
We re-launched this website back in April of 2008. To market the site we created some linkbait that we call our ‘Do Follow List.” It is a of lists of blogs that still pass link juice from comments on their blog.
Two months later the websites “Do Follow Page” sat at #4 in Google for the keyword phrase “Do Follow List.” Now, up until we began this linkbait effort we were not targeting this phrase. These three words never appeared together on the same page of our website previously to this project.
Now, the original post: Google Sandbox Theory Debunked
This is where the sandbox theory comes into the story. So if you follow the sandbox theory it should take six months before this keyword phrase would start to appear in the SERP’s for our site. Almost every SEO will tell you that any work done on a site will take that long to be effective.
Yet, this phrase, Do Follow List, was regularly appearing on the first page after one month. We did not want to write about this until it had reached the top 5 and stayed there for a week. Well, this just occurred.
You might think that we did so well because our linkbait produced thousands upon thousands of links. However, we were not flooded with tens of thousands of links. We did pick up about 2,000 or so links because of this project.
What I believe had the greatest impact was the comment activity on the blog where the list resides. The comments have dribbled in every other day or so and we responded to every question and almost every comment. We put social into our social media effort.
At the time of the original post there had been 90 comments. Currently (as of) Nov. 28 2008 there are now 345 comments. The search engines reward this kind of activity. The visitors and commenter’s enjoy being part of the conversation and seeing a lively discussion. Also their kind comments were very encouraging when the process was becoming tedious and boring (maintaining the lists.)
In less than 2 months we were able to rise to the 4th position in Google for a competitive keyword search “Do Follow List”. We are talking 156 million competitive results. The whole process required time commitments that have exceeded 400 hours and we are still counting.
So this is our evidence that the fabled sandbox doesn’t exist. I am so thrilled to have such documented evidence to debunk this theory. We have never believed in the sandbox after our first website went onto the first page of Google results quickly. Skeptics chided me on blogs and forums that it could not be done for a competitive keyword search. I think 156 million results make my point.
This accomplishment is partly due to that fact that few websites are actually making an effort to maintain their interest in the “Do Follow Movement.” We seized the opportunity and began planning our assault on this keyword phrase two months in advance of ever publishing the list. (this has since changed but we still rank at the top for this search)
So my friends there are no secrets in this business, except those held within the algorithms. If you really want to obtain the first page of results, it is obtainable; you don’t have to except sandbox theories. You really only need a burning desire to be a winner, a good plan that is well executed, time, and resources.
Success is within reach, you just have to want it bad enough and ignore those who say it can’t be done. Believe in the sandbox theory if you must for me is has never existed.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg or Stumble it.
Here’s some valuable resources:
Would you like to find 192 Do Follow Social Bookmarking sites with a Page Rank of 3 or Higher? Then go here.
Would you like 66 Do Follow Backlinks from high PR sites? Then go here.
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Holistic SEO Local SEO Services Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Affordable Quality BackLinks Building Services Local Internet - Website Marketing Services
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024, 520-777-6479 or 843-882-7661 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
TSBNG An Association Of Local Businesses
January 1, 2010
I am way stoked, thrilled and jumping for joy over the launching of our Ning based social network. I had been very active on another similar business networking association here in Tucson. However, that sites owner banned me from his site. That was Thursday afternoon and by Sunday evening this site was a reality. It was only a matter of time before I launched my own site.
Heck, I was putting in two hours a day on local social networking on a site that I did not own. So now, I am putting in the effort building a network of my own. I get to call the shots here and I like that. One of the advantages for me is that I don’t have a profit motive here. While I do hope to acquire business through referrals, the site is not meant to be a profit center.
I really love what I do and I love sharing what I know. There are so many tremendous opportunities available that I want to share that with other local small business owners. In many way I see myself as a small business advocate. Buying web related services can be a daunting task and fraught with anxiety. It is very easy to make mistakes. I should know I have made my share so that my members don’t have too.
I have purchased the domain Tucson Small Business Networking Group it should hopefully be redirecting traffic to the site soon. I have very high expectations that we will be ranking high for the search Tucson networking groups very soon.
Update: The redirect is in place and working. The normal 301 however would not work Ning required what is know as a Cname to work properly. This was news to me! I must admit that I still learn something new almost everyday in this business.
You can Optimize your pages but it is based on the Page Title matching the post title which is OK. However, with WordPress I can make the Post title and Page different which I do almost every time. Ning also does allow you to choose your page description. While page description does not affect search rankings it does affect click thoughts to your website. Since about 45% of searchers will decide to visit your site based on the description this is very important. Given this is a not for profit site I can live with this.
Are you ready to assist in growing this business networking association?
Here’s some valuable resources:
Would you like to find 192 Do Follow Social Bookmarking sites with a Page Rank of 3 or Higher? Then go here.
Would you like 66 Do Follow Backlinks from high PR sites? Then go here.
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Holistic SEO Local SEO Services Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Affordable Quality BackLinks Building Services Local Internet - Website Marketing Services
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Geo-targeting SEO Is Catching On Slowly
December 6, 2009
Update 12/10/2009: This post is near and dear to my heart and apparently Google likes it as well. This was one of the earliest blogging posts that I have written. It really, I believe, talked about a trend that is growing and one that Google has its sights on. It will be rolling out and ad system soon that is associated with its local maps or Local Business Center. It currently is testing in limited local markets. Google knows the numbers and local searches are increasing steadily and Google wants those local internet marketing dollars.
Google is attempting to take market share from local online directories such as City Search and Superpages. Geo-targeting your website to where you all actually doing business is no longer catching on. It has arrived. I had been predicting to would take 2 -3 years to be a major factor in search. The economic, however, has forced the pace of this transition.
On a side note here: Google really has seemed to like this post a lot. The post only has a few links yet it has managed to rise in the search rankings along with the site Geo-targeting page. They have been in tandem almost from the beginning. For the longest time it was stuck at #5 and #6. They now rank #1 and #2. That has always amazed me. The search Gods at Google seem to have blessed this post, which is OK by me.
A previous update:
I originally wrote this post around May of 2008 and the post still continues to rank well for the searches Geo-targeted SEO and Geo-Targeting SEO in Google. Today while checking my search rankings I noticed that this post had a Page Rank of 1. That really surprised me as it has never had many comments or backlinks. When I see things like this it leaves me scratching my head. So here it is again.
Geo-targeting is slowly getting the attention that it deserves. We have offered this service since this business opened in 2007. Sometimes it is referred to as Local SEO as well. Our business model is based on the location of the clients local markets. Like many small business owners their market is local. So they have much less competition than those that play on a national or international stage on the Internet. It’s very easy to do well in local markets, as they are by definition niche markets.
Since search engine optimization is a numbers game and the website that uses Geo-targeting vastly improves their odds of success. Having less competition offers you the opportunity to obtain high search rankings, if you optimize your web site correctly. There is a very good chance that your competition has not optimized their websites. Almost any web site can be optimized, but usually this is the arena of the larger more serious players. When the small business owner optimizes his web site he usually goes to the front the line (think first page of Google.)
Many web designers only think of GIS software when they hear the words Geo-targeting. GIS is the acronym for geographic information software. This software is used on information and on e-commerce sites to assist you in finding information by city and it is also used to target you with local ads.
When we apply Geo-targeting in the optimization process, we are asking the search engines to index your website by a geographic area and by your products or services. So if your website provides carpet cleaning services and you live in Tucson, then we would optimize your website for carpet cleaning in Tucson. It is really that simple. Most local website forgot to say that they want indexed by there location thus they can’t be found in local market searches.
Geo-targeting is the simplest form of optimization available today. It is also the most overlooked aspect of the SEO industry. When you optimize your website by the location that you actually serve you place your business in a winning situation. You can finally use the leverage of the Internet to grow your business.
Geo-targeting has changed dramatically in the 18 months from when this was first written. The economy has forced SEO providers to look locally for work. Until recently there were only a small group of SEO who focused on Geo-targeted work. I had thought that it would take 2 or 3 years to catch on and it likely would have taken that long of not longer had the economy stayed strong.
I have never failed to get a local client high onto the first page of Google using Geo-targeting. It’s all a numbers game and when you play locally the odds are in your favor.
That’s my story… For now!
While your here I have to ask this: Is your business local? Could you use some Geo-targeting? Or maybe some new Local Internet Business?
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin)? Then go here.
Would you like 66 Do Follow Backlinks from high PR sites? Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Services Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO -Search Engine Optimization Niche SEO Solutions
Holistic SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Arizona SEO Solutions Affordable Tucson Website Designs
Ethical BackLinks Building Services Local Internet Website Marketing Services Phoenix Niche SEO
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Stop Spam With One Simple Line Of Text
November 6, 2009
The reality of blogs and blog marketing is that most visitors don’t really care what you have to say. They are here for a backlink and the quicker they can get thought the process the better for them. It is a sad situation for the writer who is trying to share useful information and it gets ignored.
Since the beginning of the year we required a relevant 20 word requirement to acquire a Do Follow backlink. This requirement was posted at the end of each post. This was ignored because most people where not bothering to read the post. That forced me to create the Scratch My Back Marketing plugin which made this requirement mandatory.
This ended the short spammy drive by comments. People just switched to telling me how wonderful and inspiring the blog was. They where really heaping on the sugar, but there comments had nothing to do with the post thus they didn’t get a link. Then a few days ago I added one amazing line just above the blogs comment box. It reads “This is a no spam zone comments moderated.”
Almost all comments came to a halt. Comments have dropped from about 15 a day to 1 or 2 now. I wanted to add this line for sometime now but I didn’t know how. Now, I do. It’s truly amazing what one small line of text can do if it is properly placed.
Are you ready to leave a useful comment? We invite you to do so and earn a valuable Do Follow backlink.
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin)? Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Services Affordable Tucson Website Designs Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO -Search Engine Optimization
Holistic SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Arizona SEO Solutions
Ethical BackLinks Building Services Local Internet Website Marketing Services Phoenix Niche SEO
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Could You Use 66 DIY Do Follow Backlinks From High PR Sites?
October 6, 2009
Beta Testing Closed – Paid Members Only Available
Memberships available at Do Follow Websites.
First, let me start off by explaining what the acronym DIY stands for. DIY stands for Do It Yourself. It’s the kind of backlink building that we all do when we can’t afford to pay someone. You end up doing it yourself. Well, there is a website that is In Beta testing (Beta testing closed) that is offering a great opportunity for you to build backlinks. That site is called the Do Follow Websites. The site offers to show you who to build backlinks on high Page Rank Social Media membership sites. Not only that, it shows you how to build these links ethically so that your account doesn’t get deleted or banned for spamming.
You will need to visit the website and apply for membership. If your application is accepted you will receive another invitation to join the Alpha Group where the backlink program resides. The program will provide directions and screen shoots to assist you to acquire a total of 66 backlinks from high PR sites (4 – 8).
This program doesn’t just show you how to just set up a profile it shows you how to optimize these sites to your best advantage. It shows you what you must do to add value to each website. You must be prepared to make several none spammy or self promoting blog posts. The program only uses social media sites that allow user generated content that that provide Do Follow backlinks. This is a tremendous opportunity to learn how to use Social Media to your advantage while helping the sites out as well by provide quality comments and content.
The program works on an honor system it asks that to maintain the integrity of the program that you only use it on one website. Similar programs have blown up and collapsed because members have used and abused these programs over and over again. Some have even re-posted this information on forums. The end result is that the sites presented in these programs see this as spam and delete all of those using these programs. A program that was designed to realistic accommodate 1,000 websites ends up with 10 – 20 thousand people using the same websites and all of them are doing the same things. The end results is everyone gets deleted and the only one who benefits is the person who started the program.
The Do Follow Websites hope to avoid this situation by carefully monitoring who gets into the program and requiring members to honor a strict code of conduct. This project appears to be as much a social experiment as it is a link building program. It should be very interesting to see I this all plays out. I will keep our readers posted. Even if you miss the free Beta testing portion of this program you still will want to check out the program. The cost is a mere $9.90 and that works out to .15 a link. That’s a bargain in anyone’s book.
Beta Testing Closed – Paid Members Only Available
Memberships available at Do Follow Websites.
We at Tucson SEO Solutions are officially requesting that you join the conversation here. That is, if you found that this post was at all interesting, useful, or perhaps you are just looking for a useful link. Then, I would like to entice you to comment by providing you with useful backlinks as part of what I call “Scratch My Back Marketing.”
We are now using the Scratch My Back Marketing plugin. This anti spam plugin simply requires that your comment be at least 150 characters in length or it is automatically rejected. It’s that simple. We are now forcing commenter’s to do what we were requesting for months on this blog! The blog also uses Keyword and Comment Luv. Please note that if you only include keyword your comment may be used put you will not obtain a link!
The Scratch My Back Marketing requires you to scratch this blog by leaving a useful comment. We then will provide you with an anchor text Do Follow Link. It’s all about win/win marketing. I am willing to exchange page rank for the bump that a fresh comment provides.
Are you ready to exchange comments for links?
This is the part where I move link juice around the site and hope that someone might actually want to learn more about our local small business solutions and venture further.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Services Tucson Website Designs Tucson Search Engine Optimization Phoenix SEO
Holistic SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Arizona SEO Solutions
Ethical Link Building Training Affordable Website Designing Tucson
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Get On The First Page Of Google Today… Really
December 16, 2008
Get on Google’s First Search Engine Results Page today. It sounds like some kind of SEO gimmick I know, but it’s true. Using websites like Craigslist and MSN , is where this begins and both are free. Free classified ads placed on these websites rule the SERP’s when used correctly. They allow you to post just about anything. However, they all have different rules so make sure you are aware of them.
Craigslist allows you to use HTML and place links in your ads to your website. These are great for driving some traffic to your website, but they no longer pass link juice. However, the same does not hold true for MSN. You can use Anchor text links on MSN but it has to be copied from somewhere else. You can not directly place HTML in MSN ads as you can on Craigslist.
The key to how all this works is in using your keyword phrases in your titles and in your content. A little basic SEO goes a long way here. that means using basic SEO techniques on another website to drive traffic to your website.
This works extremely well for long tail keyword phrases and for local websites. We have used this technique for the term “affordable Nike drivers.” Recently, within 2 days we were able to acquire the first 5 results on Google’s first page for this search term. This was an experiment and a learning lesson for a “would be rookie SEO” in the 206 zip code! (This is a story for another day) We did this several months ago.
This method can also be used for branding purposes. This is accomplished by placing your business name in the forefront of your ads or in your ads contents. This assures your company name will appear in the snippet field of each search result, if done properly. Since around 47% or so of searchers use the snippet when deciding whether to visit your site, you business name needs to be there. My business is XYZ and we provide XYZ.
While these methods will drive traffic to your website, the real secret here is not about the traffic that is produced. No, it was about denying my competition access to Google’s first page of results! Think about it, for every place you have taken up with your free classified ad or social media comment, you have removed your competition from the first page of search results.
Also remember this, 89% or so of web searchers never go beyond the first page of results, those sites that are bumped from the first page are now less competitive. Some have suggested to me that this is not fair. While they are entitled to there opinion I would strongly disagree.
Tucson SEO Solutions has used this technique almost daily for over a year for the search term “Tucson SEO.” There are days when we have able to acquire 9 out of 10 positions for this search. Usually, we hold down 3 or 4 positions. It just depends how busy we have become. When we placed 9 out of 10 we were not a very busy SEO company and we spent a lot of time branding ourselves.
Give it a try if you like, just please do follow the rules on each site and be ready for immediate search results. Do a search for “affordable Nike drivers” and you see what we mean.
Did we mention that we have never spent a penny on marketing on line. We have spent hundreds on printed materials for expos but never a penny on line.
What we have written about here we offer as training that is included with our website design and redesign services but in greater detail and it covers many more options.
Do you need assistance marketing your website?
We are officially requesting that you join the conversation here. That is, if you found that this post was at all interesting, useful, or perhaps you are just looking for a useful link. Then, I would like to entice you to comment by providing you with useful links as part of what I call “Scratch My Back Marketing.”
The Scratch My Back Marketing requires you to scratch this blog by leaving a useful comment of at least 20 words or more. Your comment should be relevant to the post. My scratch is that you will receive a Do Follow anchor text link (Keyword Luv) and if you have a blog with an RSS feed enabled you will receive an extra permalink back to your blog via Comment Luv. We also use the Top Commenter plugin as well!
It’s all about win/win marketing. I am willing to exchange page rank for the bump that a fresh comment provides.
Here’s some valuable resources:
Would you like to find 192 Do Follow Social Bookmarking sites with a Page Rank of 3 or Higher? Then go here.
Would you like 66 Do Follow Backlinks from high PR sites? Then go here.
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Holistic SEO Local SEO Services Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Affordable Quality BackLinks Building Services Local Internet - Website Marketing Services
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024, 520-777-6479 or 843-882-7661 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Google Alerts Us To New Competition – Thanks Google
May 7, 2008
This post is a response to a new competitor in the Tucson SEO market. That company is Search Engine Internet Marketing, SEO. I discovered them because of a Google alert. I have an alert sent to my email every time Tucson SEO is indexed by Google.
It is simply a wise business practice to be monitoring the Internet for the appearance of your business name, or variations of your businesses name. You never know when someone may be using your businesses name without permission. You also want to protect yourself from jilted lovers, former employees, or even dissatisfied customers who may want to bash you and ruin your reputation. Yes, Google alerts is the first line of defense.
When you use Google alerts it serves as an early warning defense system. It will alert me to any page that appears in its index that has those targeted words in the content. Most of my alerts are generated by us through the use of sites like Craigslist or Digg.
However, if a competitor, like the new kids on the block I mentioned earlier suddenly appears in my market and uses our targeted words we are notified. I visited the blog that we were alerted about and made a comment and asked to meet the owner for coffee. It is our policy to meet all of our competitors. If I like them I will be glad to send them business. We are very selective when choosing clients and what markets that we target. A good example is Pay Per Click, since we offer only organic SEO it is nice to have a trusted company to refer PPC businesses to.
What really caught my eye was that this company went “Niche SEO’ on me and targeted “Tucson SEO packages.” So this post is targeting that phrase. It is our shot over the bow, a warning shot, to let them know we meet all newcomers head on in our market. I am committed to take this post to the #1 position for this keyword phrase.
We don’t believe in packages because we favor a Holistic SEO approach. We had not targeted this phrase, but we are now. We never offer stand alone SEO services. Our observations have shown that every website that needs SEO also has other problems related to usability or lack a sales presentation. We believe it is a waste of time to bring traffic to a broken website.
We will follow up and inform you and how this all plays out.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or through out Arizona and beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.