I've reached PR4 so far for my .com and PR3 with my .co.uk yet I don't appear anywhere in the google search results for my optimised search terms.

I know that my optimisation is working because Yahoo and MSN are sending me a good bit of traffic every day and I rank within the 1st page for most of my terms..

Have I been sandboxed by Google? If so, when should I expect to get out?

Website is www.cheap-sim-card.com

That depends on who you listen to. Basically, only the directly responsible staff at Google would know; everyone else just does a guestimate.

I subscribe to the 6-9 month filter period of the theory. Some will say 2-4, or 3-6 months. It depends on the competitiveness of key terms that the site is optimised for and the development pattern of external links to the site.

6-9, 3-6, 2-4; take your pick.

Oof! So basically what you're saying is do the same as one would with DMOZ, get in there then forget about it until one day you get a nice surprise

Thanks for the info

You should also look at what your using for backlink text and if it matches your target keywords. If you target key words are "cheap sim cards" you should be using that in all your backlink text. You might also find some good tips in this article we have at http://www.auxic.com/fa_searchspiders.htm. Good luck!

Originally Posted by shaamone

I've reached PR4 so far for my .com and PR3 with my .co.uk yet I don't appear anywhere in the google search results for my optimised search terms.

I know that my optimisation is working because Yahoo and MSN are sending me a good bit of traffic every day and I rank within the 1st page for most of my terms..

Have I been sandboxed by Google? If so, when should I expect to get out?

Website is www.cheap-sim-card.com

yahoo mainly concentrate on On-Page SEO and so as you mentioned you have optimized it you rank well but the google main criteria is backlinks and so if you would like to get on top in google mainly concentrate on Backlinks than anything and dont worry about the sandbox if you are hit by that then also the moment you start getting links it will slowly pull you out of it.

I would caution against having all of your back links say the exact same thing. I run a number of sites and have done experiments that would indicate that Gxxgle can detect un-natural linking like exact phrases being used for all back links. I would suggest 80% your exact key phrase, and 15% variations and 5% your domain name.
My suggestion is strictly based on antidotal evidence and I have no info from the big G to back it up.

Also sandbox releif seems to happen in concert with toolbar backlink updates. The second back link update after your site is indexed should release you from the box. This could cause you to be in the box for 3-6 months. Depending on timing.

Best of luck,

Bill

Great feedback AnthemIT I would agree with

Originally Posted by AnthemIT

I would caution against having all of your back links say the exact same thing. I run a number of sites and have done experiments that would indicate that Gxxgle can detect un-natural linking like exact phrases being used for all back links. I would suggest 80% your exact key phrase, and 15% variations and 5% your domain name.

This is huge for targeting good results for multiple keywords, obviously. Great Tip!!

There is no "sandbox" in the way you're thinking.

Then what's up with my site? I've read that having two domains with exactly the same content can have adverse effects on Google.

www.cheap-sim-card.com basically serves up the conents of www.cheap-sim-card.co.uk

*bump*

Just like shabbir had said, Yahoo concentrate on on-page SEO while Google in backlink.

Your site had a PR4. But it doesn't mean you have enough backlinks to compete with other web sites who has the same keywords with you. As you can see, there are millions of web site which has PR0-4.

To me, your site might be :
1. Sandboxed - If you have doorway pages or links management system which artificially create links
2. Not optimized - For example: (a)if you build a forum under ezboard subdomain, you can easily archive PR4 but it wont get a good position on Google. (b) When you create an online store using getestore.com, you also easily get PR3-4 in 2-3 months time, but once again you wont rank well for your keywords.

-------------
Case study
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Visit this two different site which has PR 0f 3 and 7, but yet doesn't rank well in Google
http://www.ausman-mall.com - Using getestore.com
http://p090.ezboard.com/brakpakman - Using ezboard


Google knows what you do

having two mirror sites from one host does eventually get merged by the SEs. the operative word being eventually, and there can be disasters along the way. Use a 301 redirect to make sure the one you want appears. Lots of 301 threads at HighRankings

Originally Posted by davidaus

1. Sandboxed - If you have doorway pages or links management system which artificially create links

I have created a forum and would like to clear some doubts about sandbox here is the link
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/showthread.php?t=28092