SEO and the Google Sandbox
Google sandbox
I believe that the sandbox is a bit random. It targets sites that are less than 1 year old OR that are overly on-page optimized. YES YOU CAN OVER OPTIMIZE ON-PAGE. Like if your keyword is casino and you put your header only “Casino”. I would put something like Casino, Online Casino Games, Free Casino Bonus. This way Casino is first, and repeated 3 times but its not 100% keyword density.
I also believe that if you try to rank for a keyword that is worth like $50 a day or more chances are you will get sandboxed (for that keyword) if you have a new site. So what you should so is rank for several small keywords that also help you rank for your big keyword and 6 months later you’ll be ranked for your big keyword.
If you build a lot of backlinks fast you will probably get sandboxed. But the sandbox is way less likely if you try to rank for low competition keywords. You will almost never get sandboxed and will start to get traffic instantly. Then a couple of months later your site will start to rank for the real money keywords.
Also, if your site gets sandboxed and its a good site, just keep building links for lower competition keywords and try to change your on page optimizing and after a couple of weeks / months you will start ranking again. You should also have several websites if you’re doing SEO only because otherwise it can be risky to lose your only site. If your site is more viral or more like an actual company / e commerce than focusing only on this one is not a bad idea.