Marketing Defined

Google Page Rank delayed by 6 months for New Domains

Updated: September 2008 [ideas for finding topics to write to get critical backlinks are updated below]

The buzz around the search community is that … Google is thought to be applying an aging filter or probationary period for new domains prior to ranking them .. in an effort to stop SPAMMERS dead in their tracks!

When the Marketing Defined blog started we experienced some good rankings on posts in Yahoo and in the newer MSN, but Google’s steely silence had me questioning our SEO techniques .. yes, we had an initial page rank of PR4 granted quickly and then just as suddenly a few days later it disappeared.

I asked myself is it the absence of quality, related back-links to my site?  Or was it the faux pax of creating a  blog with similar content.  Well that blog has been taken down since, and the Marketing Blog had risen to a  Feed readership of 15,400 and an Alexa ranking of just under 100,000 when two long enforced breaks due in part  to my son’s health caused a huge dent in the traffic.  However, this will be fixed.

But on analysis it appears that even other well known webmasters’ newly domains [which usually quickly generate a number of related back- links due to excellent content] are taking up to 6 months to appear in the Google search engine’s ranking pages .

To stop driving myself crazy with constant tweaking and re-editing posts, I simply decided to concentrate on the good results received from Yahoo and lately MSN, and pay my dues with the application of legitimate seo techniques .. and the Googlebot would dance positively in time.

The suggested time-frame by the experts is 6 - 7 months.

An article in the Site Pro News at the time suggested that:  earlier this year, Google commenced applying an “aging filter” to new domains… in other words, until a new site has provided solid content for about 6 months it is unlikely to appear in the Search Engine’s Ranking pages.

While your website is in the “sandbox” or during your time on probation as a new blog you should use this time to build your traffic and get quality related back-links to your website.  Here’s a few pointers to use:

• Research: first do the leg work to research the proper facts for an article.  If stuck for ideas try  putting the main topic or keyword into a Google search tab, and find related articles from authority sites.    Use Google Alerts to get daily email alerts about your niche topic.  Have your Feed Reader open as you work, to keep up to date with what topics are being discussed in top industry websites.
• Break the story: when your work it is cited by other authority bloggers in your niche, is your best shot at getting quality backlinks to your new site
• Ideas from other Blogs: reading realated blogs in your indsutry will often give you an idea of what to write.  For example in my niche, if I were to spot a Blog post on How To Build A New Internet Business, within an hour of that post appearing… I would write a related post on How To Find Ideas For Your First Niche Website.  For WP users, this immediately sends a ping to that first blog with an enticing excerpt of your post appearing under in the comments section - bringing in some quality traffic and subscribers to your feed.

HINT: As a new website… you have a better chance of avoiding the Sandbox or the chance of an earlier exit, if you choose to build a website around a non-competitive topic and keyphrases.  AND… the most solid advice I can pass on… stay away from the over saturated Web and Search Marketing business.  There are thousands of other ideas you can get from the post How To Find Ideas For Your First Niche Website which will be far easier to not only rank well for, but monetize as well.

Apply these tips and when you do leave the sandbox, your website should be positioned well at Google.

NB: For more information on the Google Sandbox read Mark Daoust’s excellent article Google’s Giant Sandbox reprinted in this Blog for your convenience.