How long does it take for a link to "age"

Waiting for my SERPs to rise

[mbush27]

Hello all,

I first began my website a bit over a year ago, but unfortunately did not know what I was doing. I got some links (36) but then I stopped and waited for people to come to me. Didn't happen!

I educated myself more, and about 4 months ago, completely redesigned my site, and began a considerable link campaign. Currently, I have 898 backlinks showing up in Yahoo. For my main search term which is two words, I am currently ranked 75th in Google. It is not super competitive.

The top 5 sites show this number of backlinks in yahoo:
1 4,890
2 272
3 530
4 357
5 130

My goal is to be 2nd. I am guessing the reason I am 75th is because the newness of my links. How long can I expect to wait?
Thanks!
Matt

[rj87uk]

It isnt only links that will put you to second!

I think by getting 800 or so link in a small amount of time may have just put they links in the 'sandbox' and from Fourm 3 it sounds like 6 months ++

does that help?

Ps. For got about Anchor Text! That is very important use the keyword you want to rank high with as your anchor text... ie: 'Blue widgets'

[mbush27]

Yes,

I feared I was in the sandbox. I got the links gradually over the last three months. I was hoping that would keep me out of the "sandbox". Every week it would go up slightly. It wasn't like I went from 36 to 900 in one week.

Yes, I have diligently followed all of the suggestions I have been able to find here to the best of my ability. Using anchor text in the links I have received, a good bit of them are just inbound, I feel the page is decently optimized but not to the point of spammy, my site is decently sized, lots of good original content, etc.

I guess I was looking for an explanation as to why I wasn't ranking higher. I have been moving up gradually. Initially I was not in the top 1000 for my search term, then was 500- 300 - 200, but now have been moving very slowly (maybe 2 to 3 positions a week).

I suppose I was hoping the reasoning for this was that my links need to age, but it looks as though it may be that stupid sandbox?

Thanks,
Matt

[rj87uk]

I guess its just time :(

[shahid]

You have not mentioned your allinanchor ranking for your keywords. That decides how many links you need. If you are not there in allinanchor then you need more links.

[mbush27]

Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it. I checked my allinanchor ranking, and I come up 4th. So with my regular SERP being 75, can I conclude that 1) I am sandboxed, or 2) my links need to age a certain amount of time

Matt

[Hardwood Guy]

Guess I should look at Forum #3 more often. Frankly I seem to learn more here than anywhere else. So there's a theory of sandboxing links if many are acquired in a short amount of time...hmmmmn

edit---How about that, I never looked at that allinanchor thingie. It shows very good positions for me..I suppose I have to wait it out just like mbush.

[rj87uk]

Hardwood Guy:

You should also take a look at,

allintitle:
allinanchor:
allinurl:

anyone have any more?

[funandgames]

Up two or three positions a week? That is not bad at all. At that rate you will be #2 in seven months.