Both the Simonovits stability theorem and the Nikiforov spectral stability theorem are powerful tools for solving exact values of Turán numbers in extremal graph theory. Recently, Füredi [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 115 (2015)] provided a concise and contemporary proof of the Simonovits stability theorem. In this note, we present a unified treatment for some extremal graph problems, including short proofs of Nikiforov's spectral stability theorem and the clique stability theorem proved recently by Ma and Qiu [European J. Combin. 84 (2020)]. Moreover, some spectral extremal problems related to the $p$-spectral radius and signless Laplacian radius are also included.