One Month, and My Site is Tops in Google?

Astonishing

[Heartlander]

I was going through my stats yesterday and noticed that somebody had entered a certain term into Google and arrived at my site, so I went to investigate.
Much to my surprise, a search for "blue widgets" shows my site smack dab at number one of 450,000!
The site is a forum, and it is less than a month old.
How can this be possible?

Talk about avoiding the sandbox...LOL

[blairsp]

If you want to do some seo work I have a few sites which are needing your "magic"

[Timotheos]

Wait for it... you're not out of the woods yet.

[Heartlander]

No magic whatsoever, I'm afraid.
Just a lucky break, I suppose.

Now this is the second time I've heard that the hammer will fall soon enough.
Anyone care to explain this phenomenon?
Thanks!

[whitenight]

number one of 450,000!

Think this is the telling part.

Not that the # of "competing pages" in an exact indication of difficulty - but at this low a level you're probably not tripping any filters.., no matter how much or little you optimize for it.

[edited by: whitenight at 10:08 pm (utc) on July 25, 2006]

[Stefan]

Sometimes there's a "fresh" boost where new pages/sites get put high in the serps initially, because they're brand-new, and then they slip down in the serps in the weeks afterwards. With any luck, that's not what's happening with you :-)

<added>What whitenight said - he posted it while I was writing mine. The 450,000 is a big part of why you're there. Still, don't be surprised if it drops down in the serps over the next while, unless, of course, it attracts some decent unsolicited links quickly.</added>

[edited by: Stefan at 10:13 pm (utc) on July 25, 2006]

[atlrus]

The sandbox would only apply to your "key terms" - you will start showing up on irrelevant searches almost immediatelly after indexing.

[kidder]

In the past new sites have gone into the google serps and ranked well for a short time before being "filtered" - Age filtering, buffering or whatever you want to call it depends on a few factors. What space your in etc.. In today's google it's anyones guess. I setup a new site a few weeks ago and it's ranking pretty high (top 5) for SEO related searches in google so go figure.

[andrewshim]

In the past new sites have gone into the google serps and ranked well for a short time before being "filtered" - Age filtering

Yep... I was immediately listed in the serps for relevant terms but NOT for my main key words. I only appeared in the SERPS for these key words after a year. Yes, age filtering IS a reality!

[sandpetra]

"somebody had entered a certain term into Google and arrived at my site"

Congrats - let us know when:

"hundreds had entered a certain term into Google and arrived at my site"

[steveb]

Yeah, one number one result resulting in one visitor for one term is the definition of "not remotely competitive".

[montefin]

Good show, Heartlander.

[Heartlander]

Right- but that one person is the reason I was able to recognize it ; )
As I said, the site is very new- but it sounds like this is merely a carrot on a stick, so to speak and may not last.
The page has been monetized nonetheless- just in case...LOL

Thanks for all the great responses, BTW.

[edited by: Heartlander at 2:17 am (utc) on July 26, 2006]

[mattg3]

Well they say in Scotland if you don't like the weather hold on for 15 minutes...

In Googles case:

If you like your rankings .. wait two weeks until the new massively improved brand new algo comes .. which lasts for two weeks .. max

[sandpetra]

mattg3

Where's that in Scotland? :)

[oaktown]

Heartlander. It may be that since you're not targeting money terms, you just eased in under the radar and dodged the sandbox (or it may be yet to come, though I hope not). I have seen it ( dodging the sandbox and scoring well) happen. Anything under a million is very non-competitive, as others have said. Good luck to you. I hope it sticks. Well done.

[mattg3]

Where's that in Scotland? :)

Deffo not the one in the moment .. working at night makes the heat survivable.. ;)

[eljefe3]

On terms that aren't competitive, you'll avoid the sandbox and rank well. I bought a site a couple of months ago which was only 2 months old and it hasn't hit the sandbox yet and is ranking for many terms ( non competitive) and is bringing in a few thousand uniques per day. Granted these aren't money terms, but you can still make a couple of bucks off of these visitors.

[sandpetra]

mattg3

Working late then?

I'm in Greenock - where are u?

[mattg3]

Glasgow .. I guess we shouldn't spam the thread with this ..

[nippi]

1 in 450,000.... just to put this into perspective, the search "juggling chickens" returns 693,000 results, so clearly we are not talking anything like a popular term.

Are we talking rankings achieved on google.com, or a regional google?

EIther way, to gain a top ranking on an obscure search with virtually no competition is unlikely to be either difficult or valuable.

Google, does not prevent immediate top rankings on ANY term, it just makes it harder with new sites getting newness penalties. If the competition is of no consequence, the penalties simply don't prevent the rankings being achieved.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I created a site at the end of April for a self employed guy in London who provides a mobile car service. Almost immediately he started getting more traffic and enquiries than he could handle. On one day he had 13 phone calls from people who required his service. His traffic has slowly but steadily increased during the last three months.

My problem is that on this occasion I don't know what I did so well but some sites do appear to beat the sandbox filter.

Mattg, Sandpetra, why were you two guys still up at that time in the morning? I am near Loch Lomond and it's not that hot!

[Heartlander]

So then, if my term is non-competitive, does that mean I should have an easy time with some search marketing perhaps?
Looking at Adwords.

[whitenight]

As said above, every so often you will stumble upon some keyword that no one is optimizing for and converts well. Even it's only a few visitors for that term per day.

Usually there's no need for adwords if you're at the top of the organic listings for these types of searches, but you'll have to experiment and see.

[nippi]

every so often you will stumble upon some keyword that no one is optimizing for and converts well.

And more often than you would think, so do think.

I've recently spotted a couple of huge terms that are not done, and am madly building

[crobb305]

Many folks have talked about rising to the top within the first month, then the "sandbox" effect kicks in and rankings drop. So, don't start polishing your badges just yet. Furthermore, 450,000 results is not overly competitive. Some speculate that the "sandbox" effects very competitive areas (serps more prone to spamming, with millions of "competing" urls) moreso than industries with lesser competition.

C

[Natashka]

450,000 results is not overly competitive. Some speculate that the "sandbox" effects very competitive areas

Exactly. If you are not in the competitve market there aint gonna be any filters or "sandbox". Heh, my keyword returns 459,000,000 results...