Forum Moderators: open
1. What exactly are "the SERPS"? What does it stand for, and how can you check your ratings?
2. What exactly are "the sandbox", and how can you look up information about it?
3. Many in here talk about their "ratings". What exactly do people mean with that term? The ratings for which SE or? How and where do they look up their ratings?
Thanks in advance - its fascinating to read all your comments!
[webmasterworld.com...]
SERPs = Search Engine Results Pages. Search using the keywords and phrases relevant to your site, and check where you appear in the search results listings.
> 2. What exactly are "the sandbox", and how can you look up information about it?
The "sandbox" is (officially) a set of Google Tools - See their Web site. However, it has been used here to describe the failure of new sites to appear as expected in the SERPs, despite having good incoming links and having been thoroughly spidered.
Its meaning is akin to "quarantine" or "penalty box," in that these sandboxed sites can be found by searching for their URL, but do not rank as expected for searches on their main keywords. So a site might be found in the search results for "WidgetCorp.com", but rank at number 9,905 for "fuzzy blue widgets," behind sites that have nothing at all to do with widgets.
The effect is thought to be temporary, and may have something to do with the speed at which incoming links to a new site appear. However, at this time, there is much speculation about this effect, and not enough evidence to determine exactly what it means.
> 3. Many in here talk about their "ratings". What exactly do people mean with that term? The ratings for which SE or? How and where do they look up their ratings?
Ranking: A general word used to describe the position in the search results listing for a given site. If you search for "webmaster forums" on a given search engine and WebmasterWorld comes in first in the list of results, then WebmasterWorld's ranking for that search phrase on that search engine is #1.
Of course, each site has many rankings -- one for each of its relevant keywords and keyphrases on each search engine, so this term is often used loosely to describe the site's ranking overall. WebmasterWorld's ranking for webmaster, SEO, and SEM -related keywords can be expected to be high, while it undoubtedly ranks low for "quick & easy meal recipes."
Jim
[edit] Typo [/edit]
[edited by: jdMorgan at 6:59 pm (utc) on Oct. 8, 2004]
Just needed to know exactly how these terms are used in here, to understand many of the points in the threads. And your explanation is perfect!
Appreciate your time, Mike.
