7 replies to this topic

[kschwitzer]

Hey everyone. As I understand it Google has what is referred to as a "sandbox" and new sites that Google finds are stymied from competing on competitve search phrases and/or keywords for quite some time.

I am not buildinng my business exclusively around Google per se but I plan on "goivg live" with my website in around 6 to 8 months or perhaps a short while longer.

Taking both of these items into consideration...Would it be judicious and suffice for now to register my domain, add some basic content to the page (a few paragraphs), and have links pointing to it so that Google can find my site or do I need to take anything else into consideration?

Thanks!

[Jill]

See this thread on the aging delay and moving forward.

[Leann_Pass]

Taking both of these items into consideration...Would it be judicious and suffice for now to register my domain, add some basic content to the page (a few paragraphs), and have links pointing to it so that Google can find my site or do I need to take anything else into consideration?

IMO, YES. AND if possible, go ahead and make a general layout for your site, in other words the basic plan for the site, and put at least the basic pages in your navigation. Put some basic content on each of these pages. Since your site won't go live for 6-8 months it may just take care of the age factor - AS LONG AS YOU CAN GAIN LINKS TO AN UNDER CONSTRUCTION SITE, which may be difficult. I strongly suggest that you make sure you know what keyword phrases you are targeting before you start adding content though.

Hope that helped,
Leann

[Scottie]

AS LONG AS YOU CAN GAIN LINKS TO AN UNDER CONSTRUCTION SITE, which may be difficult.

I wouldn't announce that the site is under construction. A few simple pages with information about your company or project should easily pass muster with many directories out there.

I strongly suggest that you make sure you know what keyword phrases you are targeting before you start adding content though.

I don't think it matters. The aging delay has to do with time, not keywords. Keyword phrases don't have to "age". You need the domain to age and after that, the content will do fine with whatever keyword phrases you have selected. If you are getting a few directory links, they will simply link to the site name, so it's not like you've got irrelevant anchor text out there!

[Randy]

The theory sounds sound to me kschwitzer. So sound in fact that I have about a half dozen sites that'll be opening for real later this year or early next that are doing the exact same thing you propose!

[Leann_Pass]

I have about a half dozen sites that'll be opening for real later this year or early next that are doing the exact same thing you propose

Whoo Hoo Goooo Randy! Now that's what I'm talkin' about. PRE-Planning.

I don't think it matters. The aging delay has to do with time, not keywords.

I agree to an extent Scottie, get the content out regardless, but in my experience anyway, having those sought after keywords in there from the get go can be a really huge benefit, the more competive the more the benefit.

I wouldn't announce that the site is under construction.

Heavens NO! I absolutely agree. No under construction signs or coming soon signs are allowed at all.

[Randy]

I've been doing that for some time already Leann. I do have a certain advantage, if you can call it that. I have a lot more ideas for sites than I have time to implement them. So it's never been at all unusual for me to have purchased a domain name for some project a good year before I actually get around to building it.

And since I run my own servers, it's not like throwing up a few pages actually costs me anything.

I will add one small warning to this discussion...

I always give people some way to contact me through the site in this interim period, because people always manage to find the In Process sites somehow or the other. Giving them a way to reach me just makes sense, because those queries actually point me in a direction that the site needs to go eventually that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

If you do that, have a plan for how you're going to deal with someone coming by your site and wanting to buy something from you. You'll get those requests from time to time.

Or if you're really (un?)lucky like I was yet again a few weeks ago, you'll have someone actually try to order something as you're building your shopping cart, even if the site says all over it that it's not really open yet. The scary part is the last one figured out some way to pay me and I haven't yet figured out how they managed that since the checkout section was disabled at the time.

Lucky for them that I already had some inventory on hand so that I could fulfill their order.

[Leann_Pass]

I've been doing that for some time already Leann. I do have a certain advantage, if you can call it that. I have a lot more ideas for sites than I have time to implement them. So it's never been at all unusual for me to have purchased a domain name for some project a good year before I actually get around to building it.

Gotcha FeelYa ThereWithYa! It's the only way around for new domains. It works and it Rocks. Glad to know you agree and have experienced the success from it.