Ranking drops after linking from PBN

I just build my first, small PBN and started to link to a clients (local) site. Yesterday I linked out twice from a 500 words article from a site, which used to be the same kind of business in the same city. Its very small linking profile is clean and natural (links from local citations, related sites, the most powerful links are image links from the web design company which created this site). THe CF is 21 and TF 25, also the site is indexed.

I linked out in the beginning in the article about my clients services with the anchor "KW1 in city" and in the end "KW2".

Today I noticed a drop from #4 to #8 for "KW1 city". I have been ranking this site for a while and I know that this is almost certainly not a google dance, because 1.) I very rarely saw a site dancing for this local KWs and 2.) when my clients site dropped, it always stayed there until I build some new links to it. Im also sure that this must be the cause from these links because I always notice a ranking update for the site within 12-48 hours, and the dropped happened within this timeline. Also, I am not building other links or whatsoever to the site.

I am very surprised about the drop because imo this is the most natural link you can get for a local business. Also, I highly doubt that the linking site has ever been penalized because it has < 20 BL`s and all of them are natural. THe only reasons why g00gle could devalue this site is because 1.) it was dropped for months and 2.) the design and site structure are different from the original site. Regarding 1): The people in the country I am ranking this site seem not to know or care about PBNs, so its not uncommon to find a good site which has been dropped for a long time.

So what do you think? I remember reading a thread about ranking dropping after using a PBN but cannot find it anymore.

Also, what would be the best way to test out individually if a PBN site is good for linking to the MS or not?

I dont think you dropped your rank because you linked your site from a PBN.

The point here being, it cant happen so fast. you said it was around 24 hours gap...between 'you get the link" and "You lost the ranking" I highly doubt it.

How old is the PBN domain, how many links, how much content, obls - is the content updated regularly? if so, for how long have you been doing so? Images, platform, etc, etc, etc.

There are ton of factors that could affect the PBN itself if you are 100% certain that the drop has been originated from linking to it.

A 4 positions drop? is not much. Wait up to a week

That is a weird one. My first though would be the Google dance but as you have built the PBN link on a relevant domain name that shouldn't be the instance.

I recommend you wait for 10 days see if the rankings move around if not. Just continue as you are doing build 1 PBN link a week or 2 and purchase/do your own web 2.0's, article submissions, social bookmarks etc with tiers to diversify your backlink profile and hopefully that will increase your rankings.

Do keep us informed on progress. Best of luck.

I think you just need to build more links... that's all. If all is as you've described, and there are no penalties hidden somewhere in the dark, there's not a ranking problem in the world that can't be solved by building more good quality PBN links.

What is the anchor text than you linked ? Is it exact , example you want to rank for 'doctor in estonia' , is your anchor text exactly the same ? And what is the anchor text ratio for other links?

You don't think it's a dance but it's likely a dance. A site can drop in the rankings when Google finds a new backlink pointing to it. That's how backlinks work; sometimes they increase your ranking and sometimes they decrease it.

Paulie W said:

What could be the problem is the change in the design and site structure.

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Site structure and design has nothing to do with the rank drop. If the structure is different, it'll only make it less effective not the other way around so your site will still hold the #4 even after linking from this tiny PBN.

Its definitely a google dance. If not, it must be the over-optimization penalty for having keyword rich anchor texts but I doubt this is the case with you. Wait for a week or two to see it coming back on top.

Is your PBN hidden?

Also, my cleints site has a diversified linking profile and very diversified anchor text profile where the KW-anchors are very low.

The first thing that comes to mind is to ask whether or not your PBN site is even indexed after just 24 hours - if it isn't then chances are the new link has not been found and has nothing to do with your rankings drop. Or is this an article on an already indexed site? Either way - check the cache to see if the page and link are there.

If it is indexed, I still wouldn't be concerned by this in the slightest - I've experienced "dancing" after building new PBN links to a site/page and without giving it a chance to settle, you can't really say one way or another what is happening.

Don't you think it too early to start judging yourself. A lot of times after links are build it takes from days to several weeks to see positive changes and within this window period the site's ranking may drop and come back stronger on the SERP.

tony_d said:

I think you just need to build more links... that's all. If all is as you've described, and there are no penalties hidden somewhere in the dark, there's not a ranking problem in the world that can't be solved by building more good quality PBN links.

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this is also what i think

Reyone said:

Mystery solved isn't it?
Why would you send 2 kw anchor links to your client on a domain that has just gone live and that has had no activity whatsoever in the past?

Hope you are not charging too much

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My point exactly.