(Entry was posted by Mari Sa on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 01/20/2022).

What do I do with the keywords the site is currently ranking?

Iâ€™m re-building a website based on the current site that did not have an SEO strategy but is ranking. What do I do with the keywords the site is currently ranking for vs. the focus keywords that are new that Iâ€™m building in to not hurt itâ€™s ranking? Not sure if Iâ€™m asking this right. The pages are already ranking. Some of the keywords they are ranking for are not most relevant. Some of the content needs to be edited but I want to preserve the rankings.Some of the keywords the page is ranking for are not even showing up on the page. How is this?

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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Michael Martinez: First of all, are you using both Google Search Console and Bing Toolbox to check "rankings"? If not, you need to get all that set up. Don`t use any 3rd-party tools to track rankings.

Secondly, since this is a client site, I`m assuming it generates conversions of some sort. Identify the pages where the conversions are happening (if you can). Make as few changes to those pages as possible until you`ve got a solid strategy to follow.

*=> Learn about WHY pages were created before you decide they aren`t serving a useful purpose. Understand the history of the site and what the business goals are.

Third, just because a page ranks for something you don`t think is relevant doesn`t mean you need to change it or delete it or whatever. It`s okay for a Website to draw random traffic. That`s natural. It contributes to brand building.

If you think there are queries for which content is relevant but not ranking, not getting any traffic at all, then improve that content to better serve those queries.

If you think there are queries that aren`t being served at all - for which there is no relevant content on the site - then create that content. In fact, I would create that content first.

Don`t start turning things upside down just because it looks like work needs to be done.

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