Indexing & Traffic Expectations - after 8 weeks

[kencom1]

Hi – I'm fairly new and first published a new site with approx 36 pages, (plus site map, contacts and links page) eight weeks ago.

To date, all my pages are indexed on MSN with some very good search ranks for some of my keyword phrases. For example, five of my keyword phrases are in the top three or four on the first page when searched. However, I realise that MSN doesn’t get anywhere near the number of searches Yahoo and Google get.

On Yahoo all my pages were indexed about 3-4 weeks ago but with the exception of one keyword phrase most of my keyword phrases when searched are nowhere to be seen.

As far as Google is concerned about 20 of my 36 pages were only indexed about one week ago so I can’t expect any traffic out of Google as yet.

According to my Hostgator Cpanel I’ve only had 146 unique visitors to date in August and I’ve earned the grand total of $12.14 (Including July)from Google’s Adsense!

I realise that I have to do a lot more to try and increase traffic like getting more links, writing articles, more content etc.

However, my question is: “Is the above fairly normal (at this stage after eight weeks of publishing) for a new site and will traffic slowly get better? And do you slowly move towards the first few pages for a your keyword phrases in both Yahoo and Google after you've been indexed?”

Thanks
Ken

[MHes]

Sounds very normal. Google used to behave like msn and good rankings were achieved within a few weeks. However, in the last two years new sites need to tick a lot of boxes before they are allowed to displace an older and more established site. Even in uncompetitive seaarches, a new site will be ignored by google. What are those boxes that need to be ticked?....

1) A natural growth of on theme links from other sites. Any hint of you trading links with other sites will keep you being ignored. Any links from unrelated sites will be worth less.
2) Usuage - A catch22. If google detects via alexa or its toolbar that your site is being used, it may like you more. This issue is related to links, if you start getting traffic which appears to stay on your site, it sends a positive signal for the quality of your site. This may not be a big ranking factor, but possibly an important one for the survival of your site.
3) Site development. A site that is frequently updated or fresh will be noticed. Some sites need never to change content, but overall adding new pages is a sign for google that the site is alive and well.
4) A few key links from places which google trusts. For instance, a dmoz link is human reviewed so a sign of quality.... (in theory ;)
5) Outbound links. Helpful links are a sign of quality.
6) Content structure. Good flowing text with original and unique structure may be a plus point.
7) Age. A site that continues to be active shows genuine intent. Links to a site may not pass on their full pr value until they have been there for sometime.

The above are a few factors that Google may be looking for before it will let a new site displace an older higher ranking site based on relevance for a keyword. There are probably more. Older sites may not have these qualities but rank well because they were present before these new rules kicked in. There is a theory that new sites sit in a different index until some or all of these factors are satisfied. This may be what is sometimes refered to as 'sandbox'. However, an older site can be affected if it is flagged for reappraisal and the rules applied. Unless you are very lucky, it takes time to 'tick these boxes', maybe as much as a year.