The Newbie Search Ranking Dilemma

[Adam]

If you’re a new webmaster or you have a new website that you are trying to get ranked for some important keywords, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see your website in the rankings right away. Search Engine Optimization takes time. New websites typically don’t rank well for any pages for quite a while. Some people call it the Google Sandbox. It doesn’t really matter what it’s called. Google does have a supplemental index where pages are indexed, but they are designated as supplemental, meaning that Google has not yet approved them for full indexing. If you have a lot of pages that are listed as supplemental pages then you’re on your way. You just have to wait it out.

Yahoo! and MSN also take their time indexing new pages. Because there is a lot of spam online, the search engines take their time evaluating new websites. They want to be sure that you are a valid site and not a spammer. So they take their time evaluating the content on the pages, links pointing toward the site, and how quickly you put up content and build links. If you do it right you’ll build a steady content stream and maintain a steady link building strategy. Too fast and you could be flagged as a spammer; too slow and it might take longer to rank. So you want to be sure that you build inbound links steadily over time and keep the good content pages coming - again, steadily over time.

How long does it take for a new website to begin ranking? Search Engine Optimization and ranking really depends. It could take anywhere from 3 months to over a year. It depends a lot on how many pages you have indexed, what kind of Search Engine Optimization techniques you are using, whether or not you are able to convince them you are a trusted site, and whether you are linked to from important sites within your niche. There are other factors as well, but it all boils down to how well you build trust with the search engines.

Nick Stamoulis