Change tracked keywords when they no longer represent your business, while keeping a record of the previous set. Constantly replacing poorly performing terms can make a report look better without showing real improvement.
01 Review and update tracking
- Record the current terms, their intended pages and the reason each matters. Preserve a report or notes before removing tracked items.
- In the web application, open Settings > Manage Keywords. Choose Search New Keywords to research a relevant phrase.
- Review alternatives and available search-volume information. Choose terms matching the customer's purpose, language and the services your website can fulfil.
- Add selected terms within your plan's allowance. Remove an old term only after deciding whether it is obsolete, duplicated or still needed as a baseline.
- Associate focus terms with the appropriate page in the optimisation workflow. Closely related variants can belong to one useful page.
- Record the date of the tracking change. Compare subsequent results against an appropriate baseline rather than treating new terms as if they had always been monitored.
Common questions
Does deleting a tracked term remove it from my website?
Tracking settings and website content are separate. Review the page itself if the business no longer offers the product or information.
Should a low-volume term always be removed?
No. A precise enquiry can be valuable even with a small audience. Evaluate relevance and actual business outcomes as well as the tool's estimate.
What if a keyword has no reported rank?
Check indexing, the selected market and the tool's reporting range. A missing value is not proof that nobody searches for the topic or that you should create many similar pages.