So, how long does it take to get search engine traffic to a brand new Web site or blog, especially with a brand new domain?
An often asked question, with an answer of "it depends," but here is a short case study where it took about 48 hours!
I started a new Web site called Fly Rod Striped Bass at http://flyrodstripedbass.com, a Domain I recently purchased. I'm now, within 48 hours, the #10 hit (that means first page results) on Yahoo and have already gotten search engine visitors for the term "flyfishing for striped bass".
This is important because search engines drive most of the traffic on the Internet.
The Web site has one page so far and is very very beta, including buttons that don't work, misspellings, etc.
So, what did I do to start the search engine traffic?
1) The main and only page has good keyword density. In other words, I mention Striped Bass and flyfishing a lot (although in a very natural way, it doesn't seem stilted or unnatural). I also use the same keywords in the two pictures "alt image" text.
2) The title tag -- what shows up in the upper left hand corner of the browser window, is critical in EVERY blog and Website. Here it says "Striped Bass Flyfishing" -- note the use of keywords.
Almost every Web designer on the planet gets the title tags 100% wrong -- which is why most Web designers drive rusted out purple Gremlins instead of Ferraris!
1) and 2) are "on site" or "on page" optimization. I also did some offpage optimization, #3 below.
3) I created links from two of my blogs to the Website with link text of "Striped Bass Fly Fishing" -- note the keywords in the link text.
I also bookmarked it using a few social sites, maybe 3 or 4 max, such as Mister Wong and spurl, which created additional links. Links matter a lot to search engines.
So that's all I did, and the search engines (at least Yahoo! so far) are already sending me search engine traffic.
Long term plans for the site? Well, I'm passionate about Striped Bass fishing, so I'll be (very slowly) producing a lot of content, and hopefully running some advertisements and affiliate programs and making a few bucks. It's really all an experiment!
Update: After 3 days, it's started getting Google traffic too. Not a lot, but it's trickling in.
Maybe this site will never be in The Google Sandbox?