Google 'Honeymoon' period - experiences please

[fishfinger]

It is a feature of Google that new sites often pop into the rankings and then disappear again.

I am rolling out a new site within a directory on an existing site with a plan to 301 to the new domain. The sites are for the same business and the content is related - they are consultants who have branded software and now want a dedicated site for it.

The new content has been cached twice by Google so far and their rankings are basically great. However Google has only known about the content since 29 May.

In other people's experience how long should I wait to be sure that the rankings they have are real and not just Google's 'honeymoon period'?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

First guess? Two months at least.

[fishfinger]

Thanks for thre reply. Anyone else care to share please? My own experience is in the region of a few weeks, I was hoping it wouldn't be too long.

[MichaelEng]

When a website pops into the results and then dissappears again, it usually takes about a month for them to return again and then stay.

I've seen this happen with about 3 or 4 websites of mine.

However, I've also had websites (usually new ones), which don't return and seem to be caught in the sandbox

[fishfinger]

Michael - thanks. In your experience how long does the initial period last?

[MichaelEng]

Intial period from first using the 301 redirect took about 2 months.

But, before using the redirect I had started building links to the new domain for 6 months. The new domain was over a year old.

I'm not sure how long it would take if the new domain is brand new. Then the sandbox may come into effect.

[fishfinger]

By getting your new content attributed to an existing site and then 301-ing it to a new domain you may be able to dodge the sandbox I have heard.

I therefore need to be certain that these rankings are going to stick on the existing site (over 3 years old) before I do the 301 to accurately test this hypothesis. If I prematurely redirect Google and the rankings go I'll never know why for certain.