Do the search engines kind of test you out at a higher ranking for a short period of time?

[jamesjd7]

I ranked very well for my keywords.  They are not competitive.  Nonetheless, I got convertible traffic to my blog.  Suddenly, I run a search for the keywords and there is this other website ranking higher than me.  it seems to be a new website.  No data on opensiteexplorer.  So, the only thing that I can conclude and which I've been thinking that google does is to test new webpages out for a bit higher up on the rankings.  If the bounces are lower than average, then I suspect that they will give you better rankings in the future.  Is this somewhat how it works?

[RyanKent]

Do the search engines kind of test you out at a higher ranking for a short period of time?

Yes. New pages will commonly receive an artificial ranking boost for a short period after they are discovered. Google loves new content and rewards it. It makes sense from a freshness perspective and also it adds a little balance in that new pages don't have any backlinks so they are otherwise at a disadvantage.

[NewGlobalVentures.comSEOTexas]

Based on what we've seen you DO get a quick boost initially for your new URL.

As for opensiteexplorer, that will take some time...

It's really all touch and go...

best of luck!

[seoug_2005]

Very insightful answer Ryan.

Is there any official word from Google regarding this. ( That  they reward new sites for a short period ).

So, you mean to say that after a short period ( what is short period 1 month, 3 months, few weeks ), the sites are pushed down and the initial advantage is lost.

[RyanKent]

The closest I could find as a word from Google was a reply from a lvl 14 on the Google forums. Since John Mu is a Google employee and lvl 15, I am guessing lvl 14 is as high as a non-employee can go.

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=7f20e3124fd3fa41&hl=en

"New sites get a short period (honeymoon) were they are "boosted" to see how they do and to get some traffic etc."

Also you can take a look at a blog article from Rand where he touched on this topic.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/googles-sandbox-still-exists-exemplified-by-gradercom

The topic is touched upon a number of times but I was unable to find any official statement from Google or Matt Cutts.

[seoug_2005]

Thanks Ryan. I  am learning new things not only from SEOmoz, but also from you too

The best part is that your answers are always  explanatory.

[duncan274]

So then wouldnt the idea be that when your site gets its boost if lots of people spend along time on your page

it sends google the signal that your page is worth keeping in that position. Could this be yet another opportunity to game the system by having lots of people(paying lots of people to spend time on your site click trough all the links and pages or even worse automate that  to give the illusion that your site has great user experience. Could it be that this type of thing will be another trick up an SEO's sleeve sorry for putting bad ideas out there but I have been thinking about this for a while and I want to hear an expert opinion..We "know' that bounce rate effects rankings and google is watching to see how people engage with your site I guess they have methods of detecting unnatural behavior but there are ways of  open.mimicking that behavior ie coming from different IPs and randomizing the amount of time spent on a page and the order which a site is browsed in.

Good luck with your page I hope your ranking comes up I am sure it will if you continue to do the right thing!

[jamesjd7]

I'm thinking that is how they can test for quality.  Low bounce rate = high quality.  I used to be able to compare how my site did with others in my area.  Is there still a way to do this through google analytics?

[jamesjd7]

it would be quite expensive.  for that money, shouldn't we just pay for ppc.

[RyanKent]

You can be fairly confident any automated method of moving through a website will be quickly discovered by Google. They are a multi-billion dollar company which employs many of the world's best educated and foremost experts on the topic.

Live people have specific patterns and automated methods attempt to mimic those patterns and normally fail in a detectable way. If you want to try your hand at black hat SEO you are welcome to do such, but it is likely a waste of time, money and effort which could be directed towards providing your customers with real value.