SEO tips for 2025
The internet has been awash with SEO tips for 2025 for months. The first I noticed was in October 2024. To be fair to the author, I didn’t disagree with most of what they said, but I was surprised at the lack of emphasis on one area.
SEO tips in list form are very popular. The issue with them is that they haven’t changed much in the last 4-5 years. Some of the lists are regurgitated rubbish, and the repetitive elements of them highlight the mistakes authors make in not putting due time and attention into new content. Quantity over quality isn’t a mantra I would recommend anyone adopts for SEO success.
If I was to write a list, it’d be short. I could publish all the usual things anyone working in SEO should already know. They’d range from AI implications to structural importance of pages, but this blog is written with website owners in mind above all else.
Hence, the old ruler of the kingdom is back with vengeance. Content is King, but not just any old content.
SEO and original content
The crux of 2025 success with SEO (as far as Google rankings are concerned) is likely to be based on the focus of the 3 core updates released by Google in 2024.
Don’t forget Bing when planning SEO
Before I come to Google, I should mention Bing. Everyone in SEO is guilty of thinking Google and dismissing all other search engines too quickly. That is a serious error. The recently released Ofcom survey on internet use in the UK, shows why.
Google Search reaches 83% of UK users. Bing reaches 39%. That accounts for those using both platforms. Ultimately, 18.5 million UK internet users are potential Bing users. They spend 38 seconds on Bing each visit (approximately half the time spent on Google), but they’re still viable targets. Don’t forget that all Windows based laptops come with Bing as the default search engine in the browser, and not everyone changes it. Bing gets a lot of traffic in the UK.
Google Core Updates had a consistent theme
Getting back to Google though, I’ve mentioned the importance of the core updates because of what they communicated.
Each of the updates came with the same message – original and valuable content is key. The August update stressed it. The November update said it was an extension of August. December’s update went largely unnoticed by businesses and a fair few SEO professionals too. However, it was another update with the emphasis on originality and valuable content.
The problem is that very few people are taking the message seriously.
Now is the time to take content seriously
How many times does Google need to stress originality? The words “high quality” have been used countless times by them, but most publishers are churning out the same old stuff that is a mish-mash of content you’ll find elsewhere online. It isn’t high quality and it certainly isn’t original.
If you’re the type of business or site owner to whom blog or new content is a pain in the rear, and you just want to tick a box and get the content task off your list, I strongly advise you to reconsider the importance of the task.
Yes, Google needs the structure of your website to be solid, and there are other elements for you to consider, but you should be focused on content in 2025.
Why don’t businesses take content seriously?
I’m convinced I know the reason behind the lack of enthusiasm for following Google’s advice. I hear and see it frequently. Crafting good quality and original content is hard work. Business owners don’t have the appetite for it. I’m not saying they don’t like hard work, I’m saying that they are sceptical about the potential gain they’ll have from putting time and resource into creating the content.
Who can blame them for their doubts if they’ve seen very little gain from publishing content to date? The reality is that their existing content probably isn’t good enough, by a long way.
They’re also unsure where to start.
There are over 50 billion webpages on the internet as of 2024. How on earth do you create original content if there is already so much of it out there?
I often hear “What should I write?” or “Where do I start?”, and I understand the pain involved in writing new material. I have to do it too!
What type of content should you publish?
One of the biggest barriers I find is that businesses are reluctant to write anything that isn’t a sales pitch in disguise. Blog and other content doesn’t need to be scream-out-loud marketing material. It does the marketing job by simply being found.
Readers want something they didn’t know, or couldn’t find elsewhere. You have to be seen to give advice, opinion or information, preferably in an impartial style (as difficult as that is when you want them to buy your products or services).
I give the same advice to everyone that asks. Look around your office, think of the questions you’ve been asked recently, focus on the things your competitors don’t like to. If there is a subject that you know will take a very long time to write about, do it. Bite the bullet and put that content out there.
Educate people. Inform people. Give them something genuinely interesting.
Google have given more than sufficient information on producing content. There is even a checklist and I provided more guidance on what Google look for when assessing content.
Invest time in content and the SEO reward will come
The time you invest in producing high quality and original content needs a new perspective. If I was to give you guidance on something completely new, unheard of, and said it’d be a major factor in your Google rankings performance, you’d probably make doing it a priority.
However, when businesses are told that ‘new’ thing is in fact the old content line, attitudes shift dramatically. Suddenly, interest levels drop.
How frequently should you publish new content?
Frequency of content is another common question. Google Search Advocate, John Mueller, cleared this up 6 years ago.
He stated that Google’s search algorithm doesn’t consider frequency of content publication to be a ranking factor. I think you need to take that with a pinch of salt, as you won’t get away with 6 or 12 months without new content. However, it supports the current emphasis on quality of content rather than quantity.
How long should new content be?
Content length is the other associated question on this subject, and I tried to clear this up when I wrote about how long a blog should be. It doesn’t really matter too much.
I’d suggest you simply forget the length of content you’re writing, as good quality content that gives value is likely to go past any thin content parameters anyway.
Use AI in moderation for content generation
If you need to lock yourself away in a quiet space to think about content ideas, do it. You can use AI and the likes of ChatGPT for content ideas, but try to use them as a first step or trigger. It is all too easy to ask AI for content ideas and take something off the list it spews out and write about it.
Instead of doing that, use the items on the list as a starting point from which other branches of content will grow. You’re more likely to find something unique (because don’t forget you’ll not be the only person asking AI for ideas and it will probably give you all the same suggestions!).
You should also bear in mind the way that Google treats AI generated content, moderating your use of it.
SEO in 2025 and using your time
I think it is wise to read several opinions on what you should be watching for, or working on, in the coming year. However, I’ve focused on quality content because it isn’t a guess, it isn’t even a prediction. It is fact as to what Google will be looking for based on their own statements and core updates.
When you’re planning your time or thinking about what that spare 30 minutes should be spent doing, spend it on content ideas and curating something that your target audience will be interested in. It isn’t a tip, it is the sensible thing to do and the most likely to reap rewards.
Feedback
If you disagree with my SEO tips for 2025, let me know. Feedback and differing opinions are important to me. I’ll always try to reply where possible.
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