Google sandbox effect

[James]

Hi,

I am working on an SEO campaign for a new Tunbridge Wells beauty (http://www.med-spa.co.uk) salon.

This is a brand new business and therefore so is the domain name. I have had almost instant success with MSN (http://search.msn.co.uk/results.aspx?q=med+spa&go.x=0&go.y=0&form=QBRE) and to a lesser extent Yahoo!, but Google is proving challenging.

Google seems to "quarantine" new URLs. See http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/promotion/7_7/google-sandbox-new-sites.shtml

My advice to students with new domains for thesis projects is get them registered and some content online asap. Avoid "under construction" pages but just get something up there now, even if your content changes in the future. This will "start the clock" with Google and will make your SEO a little easier when you start work in earnest later in the year.

[rob]

Thanks for the heads up James.

I plan to get a good start on my ideas for my final project over Easter so that I can begin work on it as soon as possible.

Right I am off now to think of a domain name! :lol:

[James]

Re domain names, try and include your target keywords in the name. This is difficult as almost all proper words and phrases have already been registered. But in my experience all search engines give a big boost to domain names containing keywords. You might have to go for .info top level names to get the keywords you want but it will probably prove worth it for SEO purposes.

[David]

It's also worth pointing out that Google is highly influenced by how long your domain is registered for. Domains registered for the minimum period only are given low priority. I'd recommend registering for at least 5 years.