Old and Present SEO Practices: Guide for the Latest SEO [2025]

SEO is a field of action that is constantly evolving. It may be one of the professional areas of marketing where the flexibility and curiosity of those who perform it are most valued. Therefore, staying with what worked in the past, beyond being a mistake, is counterproductive.

Google has been sharpening its requirements for appearing in its search engine over the years, and at the same time has perfected its tools to detect any practice that violates its “rules.” 

Old SEO Practices to be Avoid

In this article, we will discover outdated SEO practices compared to current trends and we will explain how to adapt to the needs of modern search engines.

1. Overuse Use of Keywords Placing

It may seem unbelievable, but it is a practice that is still seen today. A decade ago, keyword stuffing was the main tactic for ranking. Phrases like “best smartphone under 10,000” could be repeated countless times on a page. And it worked.

Today’s search engines penalize this behavior. Content quality and relevance are more important than keyword density. So review your texts and give your users a break – nobody wants to read repetitive or dull text.

2. Mass Creation of Low-quality Backlinks

Previously, SEOs generated massive links from any possible source, regardless of domain relevance or authority.

Nowadays, search engines give more importance to links from relevant and reliable sites. Quality trumps quantity, so prioritize those websites that are related to yours and that can provide added value, and if possible, traffic as well.

3. Duplicate Content

A few years ago, copying content on multiple pages was a common tactic to expand reach. For example, when you wanted to rank in multiple locations, many would copy and paste the texts, changing the name of the location.

This doesn’t make sense in 2025 (or much sooner). Google and other search engines penalize duplicate content. Why? Because of its low value to the user: unique content is essential. If you want to truly win over your users, put in some work and give them some of your time to create content just for them.

4. Focus on Exact Keywords

In the old days, search engines worked much more simply and needed to find keywords literally and exactly to understand that a page responded to a search. A simple variation between singular and plural was considered two different searches.

These tools have now become much more sophisticated and semantic search understands the intent behind queries, allowing for a more natural approach. So remember that you are writing for users, not search engines, and try to sprinkle keywords throughout naturally.

5. Optimize Only for Search Engines

This is still the case today, and it can be the difference between a long-term strategy working or not. SEO used to focus exclusively on techniques that would please algorithms (hence the saying “texts are for bots, not for users”).

Admittedly, it worked, but what did it feel like to the user who landed on a page with boring text and meaningless repetition of keywords? That’s why it’s considered an SEO mistake to continue using it; nowadays, user experience (UX) takes priority. A site that not only contains interesting and useful content but is also fast, intuitive and mobile-friendly is essential.

As you can see, the evolution in SEO is evident and there are quite a few things that have changed over the years. It is everyone’s job to adapt so that websites are as focused as possible on satisfying the users who visit them. Below we make a brief summary of which SEO practices do work.

Latest SEO Practices for a Successful Website [2025]

There is no magic wand in SEO, but if you meet several of these requirements, your online marketing strategy will surely be more successful in the medium and long term (no one said that haste was good for organic positioning):

1. Optimize for User Intent

We’re not the ones saying it, Google is: Search is not just about keywords, it’s about answering questions and solving problems. Current strategies include understanding the search intent behind each query, such as informational, transactional, or navigational.

If you can make sure that the different pages of your website address these intentions, you have a better chance of ranking correctly. Think big.

2. Create Valuable Content 

From here we claim the role of good writing, far removed from the old repetitive and tedious texts aimed at SEO. Search engines reward unique, relevant, and well-structured content. Wouldn’t any of us do the same when faced with information?

Articles, videos, and guides that cover topics in-depth have a better chance of ranking. Analyze which format best explains what you want to say; reading a recipe is not the same as seeing pictures of how to install a shower screen. Find a way to explain it better than anyone else and if you end up with a text that you feel you are happy with, you will have a great advantage in ranking.

3. Build Quality Links

Instead of getting links from any source (years ago we would have fought for that) focus your efforts on building relationships with relevant sites. That is, it is no longer just about link marketing: strategies include collaborations, high quality guest post, and brand mentions.

4. Advanced Technical SEO

SEO has become even more technical, but it shouldn’t scare you. Things like fast loading speed, friendly URL structures, structured data, a good mobile experience, and optimization for Core Web Vitals are all important.

So, leave it in the hands of professionals and ask for before-and-after data to assess the impact of the actions taken. Measuring is as relevant in SEO as in any campaign because only in this way can the impact of the actions be known.

5. Follow the Google Guide About EEAT

Strategies reflected in Google’s official guides for its evaluators, such as EEAT (an acronym for experience, knowledge, authority, and trustworthiness of websites and their content and authors) influence performance.

How can you work on this? Creating author profiles, reliable references, and trust signals (an author identifiable through their social profiles, for example) are paramount. If you know a lot about a topic, show it. If you have professionals who do it better than you, delegate to them. And show who they are so your users can trust their words (and Google will too).

6. Use of Artificial intelligence and Machine learning

Search engines like Google use AI-based algorithms to deliver more accurate results. AI tools available to any user can help identify search patterns and improve content personalization.

Far from demonizing them, learning to use them with common sense can be very helpful in adding new information and speeding up processes that would have been more repetitive and tedious. So, welcome to sensible technology!

We’ve said it before: in SEO, adapting is necessary to meet the updated requirements of search engines. While many practices from the past are still relevant at their core, the key is to evolve and adopt an approach focused on quality, relevance, and user experience.