How I pick which search queries to push on a new site: Search Console rows ranked 6-12 with impressions but few clicks

I run a small information site alone, with an AI coding tool doing most of the page generation. Making pages turned out to be the easy part. Deciding which search queries to push first was the part I had no rule for, so I wrote a deliberately simple one.

The data

I export 28 days from Search Console and look at queries and pages. For this site that was 44 clicks, 2,820 impressions, a 1.6% CTR and an average position of 8.2, across 126 queries and 439 pages.

The rule

I look for queries where:

• the average position is roughly 6-12,
• there are impressions,
• there are almost no clicks.

That band is the bottom of page one or the start of page two. A title and first paragraph change is cheap, and it is the zone where a small change can plausibly move the result.

What I change on those pages

• Put the query wording as-is into the title, the H1 and the first paragraph.
• Show the deadline and the last-updated date.
• Add an FAQ block.
• Write facts only from official sources.

New external links go only to those pages, and I do not repeat keyword anchor text on purpose.

Measuring

After four weeks I compare clicks, impressions and position for the same queries. I know this is weak: indexing changes and seasonality are mixed in, and with 3-15 impressions per query the numbers are noisy.

What I am unsure about

1. Should there be a minimum impression threshold before a query counts as a candidate?
2. How far can I trust a 28-day average position in the 6-12 range, given personalization and location?
3. Is there a simple before/after method for a small site that separates the effect from indexing changes?

If you pick queries differently, I would like to hear how.