My website went from PR4 to PR5 but was thrown back 15 positions in Google for a competitive keyword.I always thought that if you got a higher page rank you would climb to a higher SERP.I did decent link building with my anchor text but was surprised to see the outcome after all the effort.
I don't know why but try wait a couple of weeks. Google seems to be having ups and downs recently with pagerank.
It has been a rollercoaster lately, I would suggest being patient for a few weeks and watch closely...
But u never know, maybe those above you had gathered some authority links, or you are penalized for something.
It would be really easy, too easy if pagerank influenced serps that much, each of your competitors could have promoted that is now being picked up by google and knocking your site back a few positions. Traffic also influences where your ranked, you could have pr of 7 or 8 but if a site is hardly visited it wont be much use.
sure strange. i thought both could be related. all these left you wondering how the search engine work
I sympathize as I'm going through the same thing. My cake site just went from a PR 3 to PR 4 and yet is has pretty much completely disappeared from the SERPs (except for its name). I have been building links steadily and adding content and had just gotten to the #4 spot for my main keyword and now I'm nowhere to be found. It sucks after all the hard work. I am praying it is temporary and that it will come back stronger but in the meantime I'm continuing to build links and add content.
Exact same thing, my PR4 site just became a PR5... yet, my serps dropped across the board for all of my best keywords, and went from page 1 to pages 4-6. This happened 2 weeks ago. How long does the Google dance last? How do you know if it's a penalty or just google dance?
Keep in mind, while you are working for your site's improvement, your competitors definitely do the same. The results might show that your competitors are doing better than yours. The competition on a competitive keyword usually very hard to predict. Do not wait. Work harder to get back to your previous position, or even better than before.