Is it worth Disavowing 15 links?

[aj613]

After a few months of blogging and redoing the home page, my client moved up from #40 to #1 for terms like "baltimore office furniture", "cubicles washington DC" etc.

I did not do any link building for this campaign.

This week, ranks are falling like a stone, and after months at #1 we're now back to #23 and lower for these terms.

For the six months prior to August, we were getting about 10 clicks from referrals each month.  Half way through August, we already have 35, and they are from spammy sounding sources like "search-error.com" and "search.pch.com".  (screen shot attached)

Should I disavow these links? There are about 20 different sources I do not recognize (see screen shot).

Thanks!

6sD3oLL

[RobCairns]

Hi Adam,

Based on what you have said here, it sounds as if these links are harmful and could be disavowed. A few things to look for:

1. Are you the target of harmful/negative SEO?

This is my first thought on account of your loss of #1 rankings and the upsurge in spammy leads - it's not as common as it used to be, but negative SEO still exists and some folks would rather go that route rather than try to outrank you naturally. Some clues might lie in when the links were created (how close to one another) and whether they come from an established PBN (look at hosting cues). If sites linking to your site are showing C-Class hosting then you may be the target of negative SEO and should disavow.

2. Have you changed anything on the site that would lead to the drop?

You mentioned you haven't done any link building, but you were continuing with a content strategy. Has anything on the site changed with respect to architecture, pathways, etc.?

3. Check for a manual penalty

I assume you have checked your Search Console for notifications of a penalty. If not, do that.

4. How long has this been going on?

It's not abnormal for rankings to adjust for a few days while SERP's are being compiled. If this has been going on for less than a week, I would give it some more time before you start making significant changes. My wait period is about 14 days before I start worrying.

5. Local SEO Factors

Are you seeing decreases in rankings across the board, or is it for a specific geographical area? If general decreases, you are probably looking at a disavow. If localized drops, then it may just be a case of local SEO factors acting against you.

TL:DR

You can disavow, but if those links are actually helping you then you can't retract your request and you'll have lost them forever. Make sure it's actually the links causing the harm before you go that route. Disavow should be your last choice.

Feel free to follow up - always happy to help!

Cheers,

Rob