Which outdated or manipulative SEO practices should you avoid?

Avoid treating keyword stuffing, deliberately hidden text, buying links to manipulate rankings, or content lacking useful information as SEO shortcuts. Nor should filling in Meta Keywords or always placing keywords at the start of titles be your optimization priorities. These practices pose different problems: some offer limited returns, while others carry risks associated with manipulation. They should not all be labeled cheating. The following summary draws on articles published from 2017 to 2024, preserving the authors’ assessments at the time rather than treating older articles as current official rules.

Outdated or ineffective does not mean leaving it in place will trigger a penalty

In 2023, yesharris listed Meta Keywords, stuffing keywords into URLs, and insisting on keywords at the beginning of titles as relatively outdated or less influential practices. The point is to avoid investing effort mechanically, not to suggest that URLs and titles cannot contain keywords.

A 2017 article by the same author cited Google’s 2009 statement and recommended no longer spending time filling in Meta Keywords. It also noted that existing tags themselves had no direct positive or negative effect. The author separately warned against deliberate stuffing, but this does not support the conclusion that retaining the tags will result in a penalty.

Hidden text and keyword stuffing are no substitute for content

A 2017 Semrush article recalled that matching text to the background color to hide keywords from visitors had once worked, but the author said Google had subsequently caught on. A yesharris article from the same year also opposed secretly embedding hidden keywords to preserve a brand website’s clean appearance.

• Visible content should not be stuffed with keywords either: a 2024 Semrush article used an article about hiking boots to illustrate how repeatedly inserting target terms that do not fit the context makes content difficult to read and may also pose search-related risks.
• The alternative is to describe problems and answers naturally, using related terms or long-tail keywords where they fit the context rather than sacrificing readability to include keywords.

Focus on link relevance, not just buying volume

In 2024, Semrush recommended earning natural links from credible, topically relevant websites and avoiding link purchases or participation in link schemes. The article warned about excessive unnatural link building; this should not be reduced to a claim that any short-term increase in links will necessarily trigger a penalty.

Repeated exact-match anchor text is not necessarily better, either. The article recommended describing the destination page naturally and accurately, using a mix of branded, partial-match, and exact-match anchors. It did not call for eliminating all exact-match keywords or specify a mandatory ratio.

Do not use thin content just to create more pages

In 2024, Semrush identified content lacking useful information, poorly written content, and content copied from others as risks. For example, a recipe without ingredient quantities or baking instructions cannot adequately answer readers’ questions, even if it includes target keywords. The key consideration is whether the information is useful, not simply how long the content is.

As for whether manipulative tactics had stopped working entirely, the author of the 2017 Semrush article allowed for exceptions: some methods might still have worked for skilled practitioners at the time, but were nevertheless not recommended. Having once improved rankings does not make a tactic worth investing in, nor does it guarantee safety.