Google Sandbox or just bad content?

Hi all... new to the whole blogging thing but it looks like I'm at least doing something right because I'm getting a couple of people going to my website each day now. At least I feel like I am not wasting my time and money on NOTHING

My website published its first post on the 1st of October 2021 and I have been posting a couple of new articles each week but nothing in December.

In total I now only have 42 posts but impressions in the last 28 days on GCS = 10.1K and clicks only 97...


My question is:
How do I know when I am out of this mysterious google sandbox??


Am I already out because some posts are on page 1?? and I am not getting any people because my content is just shit?? or I just don't have enough? Or am I still in this sandbox ??? It is so hard to tell because of my lack of experience.

Any insight would be really helpful. Thanks!

If site is visited daily, it can not be in a sandbox. If your site is humanly designed, there is no shoddy work anywhere, then you are not sandbox. Tips I found on how to stay out of sandbox (come or out of it):

Engage with your audience, give them chance to have their say, even through simple voting, also open comments on articles.

You are on the right path, as long as the impressions are slowly increasing you are golden
the sandbox is not per site, but per article, this sandbox period will be lower once your site is established, eventually you will be able to rank in one day if you have the authority for it

I think you're on the right track. You have articles that are on the front page and a regular visit, which shows that you are doing a good job. I guess if you continue with quality posts that the situation will be even better.

Thank you all for the responses!! It sounds like I'm NOT in the sandbox which is great!

One more stupid question if possible... Sometimes when I publish a post it ranks on the first page within a few hours and then the next day it completely disappears and then the following day it is back on the first page, then drops again and comes back on page 2 etc....

Seems super random..... is this normal?

This is an example of one keyword that is position 1 on Bing but crazy volatile and sometimes page 2 on Google??

If you've targeted keywords with decent MSV (monthly search volume), you should get a nice gradual boost as the months pass

One of the most effective ways to get out of the Sandbox sooner rather than later is to post ENOUGH CONTENT

What is enough?

It depends on your niche.

I've seen sites with only 21 posts get TONS of traffic while sites with around 100 posts get mediocre traffic

One way to increase your chances of getting MORE traffic SOONER is to get to 200 posts

Seems like a tall order, right? Use this TECHNIQUE - it saves a TON of time (and money if you don't have the resources to outsource content creation)

Thank you Blackbeans for the reply. Sorry for the late response. I had open hernia surgery on my stomach and didn't know it would prevent me from working normally!

My website currently has 50 posts but only around 1000 visits a month... it is almost 6.5 months old. Most posts published last few months.

I don't know if the results are good or bad but really struggling to work on this because not sure if I'm doing it right or wrong since it is my first website.

I will read the thread you linked to for some tips. Thanks again for the response, appreciate it!

I think you are on the right way.