Google has always been the search industrys innovator and thats just what Googles aging delay symbolizes, the evolution of search innovation yet another significant step forward for Google. Googles success as a search engine can undeniably be attributed to its ability to consistently return the most relevant search engine results. Thats what kept the search giant on top of the pack and leading the multi-billion dollar search industry & thats whats going to keep them there! Now that said, is it any wonder why Google incorporated the infamous aging delay into their ranking criterion? The simple truth is, Googles aging delay is a full frontal assault on artificial link inflation. With the induction of multiple clever off-page reciprocal-linking strategies engineered to artificially inflate link popularity and PageRank, Googles aging delay wasnt only necessary and long overdue; it was the next logical step in the evolution of search. The confusion and misunderstanding of the aging delay among site owners is nothing short of amazing. Many of my clients are confounded because their new sites are well positioned in Yahoo, MSN & the other large search engines while theyre site is no where to be found in Googles search engine results pages (SERPs) except for perhaps on the most obscure search terms. Current and unconfirmed speculation has been misplacing the blame on Googles sandbox effect. While this is a possibility I believe its also highly improbable. The sandbox holding period is typically anywhere between 90 to 120 days, the aging delay appears to be much longer. Ive seen new sites delayed for up to 6-8 months. The premise of the sandbox delay theory suggests that new sites are being penalized for gaining too many links too fast. To date I havent seen a scrap of evidence to support that claim. The sandbox theory is further disproved by the fact that newer sites engaged in procuring relevant links experience the same delay in climbing Google's SERPs as other new sites utilizing scores of purchased text links. This lends credibility to my thought that new sites are not being penalized on the premise of acquisition or quantity of inbound links and; supports my theory that its the reciprocated links that are being delayed by an aging filter. It just doesnt seem reasonable for Google to penalize sites for acquiring legitimate directory listings & building an optimized reciprocal link based network. In my opinion, mainstream SEOs are confusing the existing sandbox effect, with Googles new aging filter that arrived on the search scene earlier this year. It seems more likely that Googles aging filter is weighing the maturity of inbound links and not the new site itself. Meaning that in addition to the traditional ranking criterion, the age of a sites inbound links are also now considered. My own theory is that newly acquired inbound links are placed on a probationary status until theyve matured before theyre considered. For example, a new and relevant inbound PR 6 link would not be given the same weight or consideration as a grandfathered PR 6 link until the aging delay expired. By placing newly acquired links on a probationary period and delaying the ranking of newer sites Google has effectively offset the instant free ride to the top of their SERPs. Purchasing volumes of brokered links to that end is now a moot point. After all, your site will still be delayed regardless of the amount of links you purchase and you wont see any return on investment (ROI) for at least 6 - 8 months. Existing Site owners interested in immediate (ROI) are now strongly motivated to build new pages or expand existing sites in order to avoid Googles lengthy aging delay. With the all-the-rage mini-network strategy shifting to more of a long-term commitment it seems likely thats exactly what will happen! Whether by clever design or not, the only alternative to riding out the aging delay that produces immediate results in Googles SERPs is to advertise through Googles AdWords Program. So it seems that Googles solution vis--vis the aging delay has turned out to be an excellent vehicle to promote Googles own AdWords Program as well. Hmm How do you survive Googles aging delay? By taking pro-active action! I haven't seen any new sites with new domains appear at the top of Googles (SERPs) since early to mid 2004. I've consulted with and tracked many of my clients new sites and despite the fact they have hundreds of #1 positions in Yahoo, Alta Vista, AllTheWeb & MSN for their keywords Ive yet to see any remarkable results in Google until the 6 - 8 month period. The trend Ive noticed suggests that new sites are initially indexed; ranked accordingly in Googles SERPs for a week or so and then literally vanish from the SERPs for several months. In most cases they cant even be found with the most obscure search terms including their own name and address. If youre launching a new site dont panic. Once youve registered your domain name and configured the hosting, you should set up a few temporary pages. Obtain links to them from other sites in Google's index to start the aging delay count down. I recommend launching a site immediately with enough content to set up and facilitate the requirements for directory listings to start. The sooner Google is aware of your domain the better. Just dont hold your breath waiting to see results It could be as long as 6 - 8 months! Gauge your optimization efforts by where your site ranks in the other search engines. Provided youre not engaged in unethical practices and followed Googles Webmasters guidelines this should give you a ballpark indication of where Google will rank your site after the aging delay, just be patient. To that end, dont keep tweaking and changing your pages source code and trying to manipulate your rankings until your site has been in Googles index for at least 6 - 8 months. In other words, theres no need to reinvent the wheel here because it doesn't seem to matter what you do, your site will still be delayed regardless. Dont keep submitting your pages to Google either! It wont make any difference. Check your server logs to confirm Googlebots crawl and then forget about it. Googlebot will find your site again if youre actively reciprocating links so your time would be better served building an optimized reciprocal link network to get your site out there and linked to as early as possible. If traffic from Google is crucial to your marketing and promotion plan, and I dont know anyone who would argue otherwise budget to run an AdWords campaign for a few months until the site is indexed and positioned. You might even consider running an Overture campaign as well! If you purchase non-directory links, reallocate that budget to Adwords advertising. Its pointless to purchase links when you can invest in an AdWords or Overture campaign. Purchasing links is an investment you wont see a red cent ROI for at least 6 - 8 months while an Adwords campaign will drive targeted traffic to your site that can convert immediately. Keep in mind that Lycos, HotBot, AOL, Ask Jeeves, Iwon, Netscape & Teoma also receive paid results from Google! MSN, AllTheWeb, AltaVista & Yahoo receives paid results from Overture. Do other search engines have an aging delay? Google provides primary search results to other search engines. It only seems reasonable to expect that your site may be delayed in Googles partner sites as well. One-way you may be able to work around this, and I cant emphasize this enough; is to make sure you submit your site to DMOZ, the open source directory. Google, in addition to the other major engines, receives directory results directly from DMOZ. Yahoo and its partner sites dont seem to be utilizing an aging delay, nor does MSN, so focusing your early efforts on these search engines might give you a competitive edge in the Yahoo network. At the end of the day when its all said and done surviving Googles aging delay is just a matter of time. The days of purchasing instant link popularity and PageRank are over and in due course you will see Google give your site the recognition it deserves. Copyright 2005 Lawrence Deon |
