I understand that searching for keywords in "quotes" lets me know how many competitors I have, but is there any direct correlation between how you rate with "quotes" and how you rate with out quotes?

For example if I search for a site on credit with quotes and my new site appears on page 2, does this mean that when I am out of the sandbox my site will appear on page 2 of the search results?

I hope this makes sense, if not I will try to explain my question better.

Thanks for your help

Matt

In a word: no.

All quotes establish is how many people rank for that exact phrase. That's it, that's all.

You're more likely to do well for that exact phrase, but any site with some combination of the words contained within that phrase has a shot at ranking. For example...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&rls=GGLF%2CGGLF%3A2006-19%2CGGLF%3Aen&q=%22real+estate+in+Delaware%22

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...re&btnG=Search

Look for househunt.com in both cases.

(Note: that's not a site I worked on, nor is it a phrase I've ever targeted. I pulled the example completely out of the air. Just in case anyone thinks I'm obsessed with the phrase or something. )

Quotes should not make much difference.

I don't see how, "searching for keywords in "quotes" lets me know how many competitors" . I agree with Adam here, "any site with some combination of the words contained within that phrase has a shot at ranking."