I sometimes feel that Internet marketers are too obsessed with Google and their SEO strategy. Don't get me wrong, Google is the biggest traffic generator on the Internet. However, their quest to dominate the front page may hurt them in the long run when they choose to go about it the wrong way. I am always disappointed when otherwise brilliant entrepreneurs limit themselves when they catch a case of Googletitus (yes, I just made that word up, but bear with me a moment).
The Google Sandbox Theory
The Google Sandbox concept suggests that newer sites are penalized by Google and if they build links too quickly they may be delisted from the search engine. The biggest mistake entrepreneurs can make is shortchanging themselves over something that may not even exist. Unfortunately, too many website owners limit their link building strategies, because they are afraid that they will have to endure Google's wrath.
I have actually heard website owners say that they will not build more than three links in a day because they are afraid that their link building practice will look "unnatural." This is ridiculous. Given the nature of our niche, the diets coupon and discount site I am a member of has a number of keywords and there is no way we could ever optimize them if we were to limit ourselves to three links a day.
Matt Cutts is one of the key developers of the Google algorithm and one of the most important SEO figures in the company. He has gone on record saying that the Google Sandbox does not exist the way we think of it. He says Google cares about trust and would only ban a site for link building if it looked like that site was guilty of spam or another unethical link building strategy. There is no specified limit to the number of links that a site can develop and the algorithm takes a number of factors into account to decide if a link building strategy is normal or not.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that one of the most respected members of the Google community has tried to end the paranoia, Internet entrepreneurs continue to obsess over it. They crawl their way through the SERPs and never get to the front page, simply because they are too timid to challenge this theory. It is okay to believe in the Sandbox, but you can't let it ruin your opportunity to perform well in the search engines or drive quality traffic to your site.
You are Trying to Be Part of a Community
The fear site owners have of the Sandbox has done more than harm their opportunity to rank well in the search engines. Remember, when you are building a site, your goal is not to reach the front page of Google. You are trying to build a quality site that people are going to enjoy and buy your products or services.
In order to pull this off, you are going to have to engage with other people in your niche and share links to your website. Some communities may actually be more beneficial than Google because you can target people in your niche and engage with them on a more personal level. We found that communities related to other diet-to-go products were the best to participate in, because they catered to our target audience. If we were afraid of the Google Sandbox, we would miss out on many great networking and sales opportunities.
Creating a successful brand for your blog and company is far more important than your ranking in Google. People will come to your site because they enjoy engaging with you and buying your products. They really couldn't care less how well optimized your site is (unless of course you were an SEO consultant). Sharing links to your community is a great way to introduce yourself and get people interested in coming back to your site.
Also, people are more likely to click on a link in Google if they've seen your site somewhere else already. On my first blog, I made the mistake of focusing on SEO almost exclusively. I was able to rank on the front page for two of my target keywords (both very competitive), but I got very few visitors because I didn't market myself properly beforehand. Since they never heard of my blog, they had no reason to check it out when it showed up in their search results.
Moral of the Story: Don't Be Afraid of Google
People are too obsessive about finding the perfect SEO strategy. They are so paranoid that if they do something wrong, all their hard work will be undone. The truth is that we have no idea how Google ranks sites in its index. We need to put aside any gossip we hear and simply work hard at coming up with a great site that people are going to want to visit. Don't let the Google Sandbox intimidate you, especially since it probably doesn't exist the way you think it does.
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