• If your site is well placed in other search engines, for instance Yahoo, but suddenly no traffic from Google - probably yes.
  
  
• If Google still visits the site according to the server log, but no traffic - probably yes. When you use a free or very low cost server you don't have this information - see next point instead. If no visits from their spider and you have plenty incoming links, then your site is probably banned.
• If your site (Home page) ranking number [Google toolbar] is 01/10 or more, but no traffic - probably yes. If Google toolbar page rank bar shows nothing and you had traffic from Google before, then your site has most probably been banned.

If you have a suspicion your site has by some reason been banned, you can check if a site is banned or not. It doesn't work with a very new website. If your site's banned, then after you have corrected the bad mistakes you can ask for re-inclusion by using the form (Google Webmaster Tools).

What to do if "you are placed in the sandbox"? You can only continue playing along, i.e. continue working on your site and wait - may be some 3-8 months until you "Graduate" out of the Sandbox! This site was probably put in the Sandbox because a majority of the pages were written and published (uploaded) during the later part of second half of 2004 and of course there were not immediately any incoming links. May be that's how to define a "new" website?

Building Incoming Links

Google is paying more and more attention to the topics ( subjects of the content ) the different pages cover. In addition the link text is getting into focus. What's normal ? It's not normal if a new site suddenly within one month's time gets 1.000+ incoming links, and all with the same link text.

You have to give an impression of working manually and at the side also getting spontaneous links. This you cannot get by automated programs or by buying links, you have to do it yourself. It's a very hard and never-ending work.

One or two links out to bad neighbourhoods can be honest mistakes. But if a majority of your links in and out are with link farms your website is at risk. Google looks for patterns.

Of course you have to continue adding fresh content, but then again there's only just so much you can realistically add. Don't make "artificial" changes, i.e. changes for the sake of change only. Even more important than adding content is to get more incoming links. Especially if you had only very few when being placed in the "sandbox".

Once you get out of the "sandbox" your site will probably get a better ranking than before with Google, IF you have continued to add content and up-dating the pages. Do continue your work on getting more quality incoming links that are relevant to your subject.

This site was in Google's "Sandbox" from January until August (2005). How do you think I got my site out of it? I did exactly what I suggest above: I continued up-dating the pages and slowly adding some content as if nothing was amiss. Because the "Sandbox" seems to affect mostly web sites in very competitive sectors, like website design, it's very difficult to get new relevant incoming links. Almost every web master wants incoming links but only a few of them gives any links out. I got just a few new incoming links only.