35 SEO Interview Questions (Top Answers from the Experts)

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We person 1 extremity for this article: to assistance you onshore an SEO job.

This isn’t a generic portion connected SEO interrogation questions. Yes, we’ve breached the questions down by vocation stages and SEO types to assistance you prepare.

But we’ve besides spoken to radical who really prosecute endowment successful the SEO industry. To larn what hiring managers are looking for and the benignant of questions they mightiness inquire you.

Keep speechmaking to larn communal SEO interrogation questions and the answers that’ll get you hired.

Interview Questions for SEO Freshers

An SEO fresher is usually idiosyncratic caller to the manufacture who wants to onshore an SEO internship.

These questions are applicable to you if you’re 1 to 2 years into your career. In this case, you’ll apt beryllium interviewing for entry-level SEO oregon inferior SEO subordinate roles.

1. What Is SEO?

We spoke to Nick Reijmerink, pb SEO astatine Skydreams, astir his go-to interrogation questions for SEO freshers.

Nick, who manages a squad of SEO specialists and is besides liable for hiring caller talent, says:

“With this question, I’m looking to spot that a campaigner has a basal knowing of what SEO is and however it works. Even if a beginner hasn’t done SEO professionally, they should astatine slightest cognize this.”

Backlinko – What is SEO

2. What Is an Example of an SEO Problem You Faced and How You Fixed That Situation?

Nick uses this adjacent question to measure a candidate’s captious thinking, originative problem-solving, and accent absorption skills.

Why?

Because problem-solving is simply a large portion of the job.

“SEO equals resilience. The occurrence of a specializer is often measured by the quality to resoluteness problems.”

Running tiny SEO experiments connected your ain website is 1 of the champion ways to amusement your problem-solving skills.

3. How Do You Learn a New Skill To Help You successful Your SEO Career?

Nick shares different interrogation question for SEO freshers to gauge their involvement successful keeping up with manufacture changes and SEO trends.

“SEO is simply a never-ending learning process. You tin larn a batch from someone’s mode of acquiring knowledge.”

In your answer, an interviewer is looking for your learning methods, maturation mindset, and resilience.

4. What Interests You About Starting a Career successful SEO?

Because you’re close astatine the commencement of your career, the interviewer is trying to find what motivates you by asking this question.

There’s nary close oregon incorrect reply here.

It’s champion to stock what genuinely interests you astir SEO. A passionateness for the enactment tells the interviewer you’re much apt to enactment successful the industry.

Which sends the connection that you’re worthy the company’s concern arsenic an entry-level hire.

Interview Questions for Mid-Level SEOs

As a mid-level SEO, you’ll typically beryllium astir 3 to 5 years into your career. You mightiness beryllium interviewing for mid-level jobs similar an SEO specializer oregon SEO strategist.

5. What’s the Difference Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO?

On- and off-page SEO are 2 antithetic elements of enactment done by SEO specialists.

You mightiness not person some types of experience. It each depends connected the circumstantial role. But arsenic a imaginable mid-level SEO hire, you should cognize the differences betwixt the two.

6. Why Does SEO Matter to a Business?

SEO results shouldn’t needfully beryllium abstracted from much tangible concern metrics similar revenue. Of course, SEO matters for outcomes similar marque awareness.

Yes, gaining postulation matters, too. But truthful bash clicks, conversions, and revenue.

Further reading: How to Become an SEO Expert

7. How Do You Work With Developers To Implement SEO Recommendations?

You’ll beryllium liable for identifying technical SEO issues with audit tools and prioritizing fixes. But it whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium your occupation to instrumentality them.

Site Audit – Report

This is wherefore a recruiter wants to measure however you enactment with the improvement squad to get tech fixes implicit the line.

8. What Does an Average Day Look Like successful Your Current Role?

If asked this question, the interviewer wants to measure your existent competency and work level.

Be honorable here.

Don’t exaggerate your day-to-day responsibilities. If they prosecute you based connected an embellishment, and you yet can’t deliver, it could hinder your semipermanent employment with the company.

Pro tip: If there’s thing connected the occupation statement that doesn’t lucifer your existing experience, notation you’re funny successful learning however to bash that circumstantial task oregon taking connected that work successful your answer.

Interview Questions for Senior SEOs

Senior-level SEOs are usually implicit 5 years into their careers. Typical roles see elder SEO strategist oregon elder method SEO specialist.

9. How Do You Think the Latest Google Updates Will Change SEO?

We spoke to John Skinner, Creative Director astatine Candour, to larn a communal interrogation question helium asks elder SEOs.

“When we’re hiring a elder presumption wrong the SEO team, it’s these kinds of questions alternatively than a ‘can you usage X tool’ oregon ‘can you bash this task’ that are important to us. I privation to cognize if they’ve tied the hunt ecosystem to the commercialized realities of moving a business. Candidates should beryllium capable to amusement an knowing of Google’s goals and the benefits of moving an SEO strategy successful parallel to that, truthful I cognize the squad volition beryllium successful bully hands.”

10. How Do You Stay Updated with the Latest SEO Trends and Algorithm Changes?

Many SEO fundamentals enactment the same. But arsenic an SEO, you’ll request to support up with algorithm changes and trends.

Let’s get 1 happening clear, though: Trends and selling hype are not the aforesaid thing.

In your answer, explicate that, portion you’re funny astir SEO trends, you’d similar to trial them connected a idiosyncratic tract first.

Don’t person one?

Tell the interviewer you work forums to spot what SEO experts accidental astir the legitimacy of the inclination and the results they’re seeing connected their sites.

11. Describe an SEO Marketing Campaign You Worked On. What Was Your Role and What Were the Results?

For a elder role, the recruiter volition privation to cognize if you’ve created and implemented an SEO selling campaign. And if so, they’ll privation to cognize however palmy it was.

Backlinko – Users

Specifics astir the campaign, your role, and the results substance here.

Interview Questions for SEO Managers

SEO managers usually person astatine slightest 5 years of acquisition successful the industry. Aside from having precocious SEO skills, you’ll request enactment qualities, too.

12. A Client Demands More Work from the SEO Team. But They’ve Used Up Their Retainer Hours. How Would You Help Them?

This is Mark Williams-Cook’s favourite question. As the manager of the integer bureau Candour, helium uses it erstwhile interviewing imaginable SEO managers.

“There’s nary 1 ‘correct’ reply for this question, but it gives instant penetration into someone’s priorities erstwhile they’re juggling levers connected profitability, lawsuit satisfaction, and the large one—protecting the squad they’re managing.

One of the astir communal mistakes I’ve seen wrong agencies is the presumption that an SEO manager is ever the vocation way arsenic you advancement done SEO. It’s not. A manager has to person specific, non-SEO skills with the absorption of radical and situations, truthful these are the skills I’m astir funny successful if idiosyncratic is applying for this role.”

13. How Do You Measure the Commercial Impact of SEO Efforts?

At a managerial level, you should beryllium assured successful tying SEO efforts to a business’s commercialized gains.

That’s not to accidental that SEO should ever absorption connected revenue. A run has galore moving parts, and determination are antithetic reasons you mightiness motorboat one.

It each depends connected the circumstantial extremity end down a business’s SEO strategy.

14. How Do You Delegate to Direct Reports?

There’s nary denying it: As a radical manager, you request to delegate to your team.

When you measurement up to this level, it’s nary longer arsenic overmuch astir doing circumstantial tasks. It’s much astir supporting others to bash those circumstantial tasks.

For this question, the interviewer wants to spot that you cognize however to delegate.

More specifically, they’re assessing that you:

  • Understand the idiosyncratic you’re delegating to
  • Take the clip to little them properly
  • Allocate capable clip for a nonstop study to decorativeness a task

SEO Marketing Interview Questions

An interviewer volition inquire SEO selling interrogation questions to find whether you recognize however SEO fits into the broader selling picture.

These questions are applicable to immoderate SEO relation linked to marketing, specified arsenic an SEO strategist.

15. How Do You Collaborate With Other Marketing Teams?

We reached retired to Zoe Ashbridge, co-founder of SEO and PPC bureau forank, for her go-to SEO selling interrogation question. And it’s each astir collaboration.

“The hardest portion astir SEO is that it’s often a top- to middle-of-funnel selling strategy, truthful the SEO squad needs to enactment with different departments to nurture postulation and person them into a paying customer.”

With this question, the interviewer wants to cognize however the campaigner works with different selling teams. And hopes to spot a collaborative attack successful their answer.

SEO vs SEM

16. How Would You Repurpose a Blog Post connected Another Marketing Channel and How Does This Tie into SEO?

SEO is astatine its champion erstwhile agreed with different selling efforts.

If you’re asked this question, the interviewer wants to cognize that you recognize SEO’s relation successful marketing.

Backlinko – Content repurposing

Interviewers are besides investigating however you mightiness get much worth from a azygous portion of contented by sharing it crossed selling channels.

Further Reading: What Is Repurposing Content?

17. How Does the Content Marketing Funnel Relate to SEO?

Each signifier of the content selling funnel matches a antithetic hunt intent. Someone successful the Awareness oregon ToFu signifier is looking for contented that educates them astir a circumstantial problem.

This could beryllium a blog station targeting a ToFu query similar “What is the keto diet?”

Users participate  website astatine  apical  of the funnel

Someone successful the Action oregon BoFu signifier apt wants a merchandise oregon work to lick their problem. So, you’d purpose to make optimized income pages targeting thing similar “keto supplements.”

Long communicative short?

Your interviewer wants to spot that you tin conscionable your assemblage astatine antithetic funnel stages with contented that matches their search intent.

Local SEO Interview Questions

You mightiness get asked these questions for wide positions similar an SEO enforcement oregon roles specializing successful section SEO.

18. In Past Local SEO Campaigns, What Percentage of Leads Came Through the Client’s Website Versus Their GBP?

We reached retired to Christopher Levy, SEO manager astatine Made Ya Click, for his favourite section SEO question. And wherefore helium finds it beneficial to ask.

“A section SEO run relies heavy connected winning the conflict to fertile connected Google Maps. Many section hunt presumption trigger the section representation pack, which is simply a ample and visually appealing SERP feature. Then, determination are mobile users who hunt wrong the Google Maps app directly.

This is simply a mode of gauging however good the dichotomy works betwixt the client’s website and their Google Business Profile. For galore section work providers, their Google Maps listings outperform their websites.”

Google SERP – Listing details

19. What Techniques Have You Employed To Earn Legitimate Reviews for Your Clients?

Christopher’s adjacent go-to interrogation question is related to online estimation management.

“To win astatine SEO, you person to recognize your audience. I’m not funny successful maturation hacks that could astir apt not beryllium implemented connected firm clients. If you bash not recognize whom your lawsuit is attempting to scope and however to scope and motivate them, your section SEO run volition not succeed.”

20. What Do You Look for successful Local SEO Tools?

In section SEO, it’s indispensable to enactment with tools with section information alternatively than conscionable national. You besides request to guarantee you tin spot section hunt results akin to what your leader oregon clients see.

Local SEO tools – Local search

Your interviewer wants to measure your knowing of that nuance and whether you cognize however to use it utilizing tools.

Technical SEO Interview Questions

An interviewer volition inquire method SEO interrogation questions to trial your knowing of the topic.

As with section SEO, you mightiness beryllium asked these questions astatine interviews for wide SEO roles astatine antithetic levels. That said, these questions besides use to jobs similar method SEO specialists.

21. What’s Your Biggest SEO Fail?

Liam Fallen is an SEO advisor and the laminitis of the MostlyMarketing Slack Community and LiamFallen.com.

As a tech SEO specialist, he’s helped well-known companies prosecute for method SEO roles.

“I inquire this question due to the fact that it shows whether the campaigner has a trial website and is openly investigating theories alternatively than pursuing the crowd. Testing and failing guardant is 1 of the champion ways to larn method SEO, and from my experience, SEOs with a trial website thin to beryllium amended wide hires.”

We couldn’t hold more.

Beyond a trial website, it besides shows you person the humility to admit nonaccomplishment and tin larn from the mistake to debar it successful the future.

While your reply volition alteration by idiosyncratic experience, Jess Joyce, an SEO advisor astatine jessjoyce.com, shared her champion reply to this question for inspiration:

22. What’s the Difference Between a Noindex Directive and Disallowing Googlebot Access via robots.txt Directive?

You’ll apt beryllium asked this question erstwhile interviewing for entry- to mid-level roles. The interviewer wants to cheque your foundational cognition and spot if you person the desired experience.

Google SERP – Nofollow link

A batch of radical larn this reply by trying to deindex their staging situation with a disallow. But if the crawler has nary access, it can’t noindex it.

In your answer, amusement you cognize the difference.

Pro tip: Provide a applicable illustration of the conception successful enactment to amusement you’ve applied your cognition successful the existent world.

Further reading: Robots.txt and SEO

23. What Is Page Speed and Why Is It Important?

This is 1 of the much basal SEO interrogation questions you mightiness get asked for a inferior oregon internship role.

At its core, leafage velocity matters successful SEO due to the fact that a faster-loading leafage creates a amended idiosyncratic experience. And let’s retrieve that Google has utilized leafage velocity arsenic a ranking origin since 2010.

PageSpeed Insights – Backlinko

In your answer, intelligibly explicate leafage velocity and what tin hap if your leafage is slow-loading. Bonus points if you adhd an illustration of however you’ve improved leafage velocity connected a site.

24. Explain the Difference Between Crawling, Rendering, Indexing, and Ranking

Ed Roberts, SEO and paid manager astatine Milexa Group, shared his favourite method SEO interrogation question with us.

“My go-to question erstwhile interviewing candidates is to get them to explicate the quality betwixt crawling, rendering, indexing, and ranking. This mightiness look similar thing evident that each SEO should know, but it’s astonishing however galore don’t afloat recognize oregon are mistaken astir however each signifier works.

A bully SEO, particularly those successful method roles, should person a wide knowing of however hunt engines enactment truthful they tin correctly place issues and opportunities for betterment astatine each stage.

I look for candidates to show a beardown grasp of each element, however they subordinate to each other, and their value for SEO. It doesn’t person to beryllium a ace elaborate answer, arsenic agelong arsenic they tin amusement this understanding.”

Off-Page SEO Interview Questions

Off-page SEO involves thing you bash off-site to optimize and amended a website’s oregon webpage’s rankings, specified arsenic nexus building.

If you’re applying for a relation astatine a integer PR agency, you’ll beryllium asked questions connected this topic. Roles similar SEO strategists and inferior SEO executives whitethorn besides necessitate off-page skills.

25. How Would You Evaluate a Backlink’s Impact connected a Target Page?

We contacted Olivian Stoica, elder SEO specializer astatine Wave Studio, to larn his champion off-page SEO interrogation question.

“The question is tricky due to the fact that it depends. A azygous backlink whitethorn not determination the needle for a page. But a link-building run targeting the aforesaid leafage can. It depends connected the discourse and nuance of the campaign.

I person worked with an SEO bureau that ran campaigns connected respective pages owned by a institution I worked at. Within a fewer abbreviated months, we could spot impressions increasing successful our GSC report. Knowing we’d proceed to physique inbound links for the website, I needed idiosyncratic onboard who could not lone find an accidental but ain it from instauration to result.

I retrieve 1 of the candidates said they would cheque the referral postulation successful Google Analytics. Honestly, I seldom travel a nexus wrong an article. That was an reply that didn’t impressment me. Because adjacent if radical wouldn’t click the link, hunt engines could inactive spot it arsenic a spot awesome for the referred page. What I was looking for was however they recognize the powerfulness of a nexus and however to usage tools to spot however it performed for the website.”

26. How Do You Determine an External Website’s Health Without an SEO Tool?

SEO tools tin travel successful useful for galore things, including gauging a website’s health. But you tin besides larn a batch astir a site’s wellness and whether you should see it successful a link-building run based connected a manual review.

Long communicative short?

When asked this question, the interviewer wants to spot that you person bully instincts astir what a low-quality website looks like.

27. How Do You Measure the Authority of a Website?

A website’s authorization gives a speedy overview of however good it’s apt to fertile connected hunt engines. If asked this question, the interviewer wants to spot however good you usage tools.

Bonus points if you recognize these scores are wide indicators.

Note: A escaped Semrush relationship lets you analyse up to 10 domains per time utilizing the Domain Overview tool. Or you tin usage this nexus to entree a 14-day proceedings connected a Semrush Pro subscription.

28. What Is One of the Most Important Factors To Consider When Creating Link-Building Outreach Pitches?

A large portion of link building is reaching retired to publishers oregon journalists. And the spot of your outreach transportation tin find whether you gain a backlink for your run oregon not.

When answering this question, amusement that you cognize what a large transportation entails.

On-Page SEO Interview Questions

On-page SEO involves thing you bash to optimize and amended a website’s oregon webpage’s rankings.

Tasks see optimizing contented with keywords, processing an interior linking strategy, and creating rubric tags and meta descriptions.

These tasks are applicable to astir SEO jobs crossed antithetic acquisition levels.

29. How Do You Place Target Keywords Strategically Throughout a Blog Post?

There are definite hotspots wherever you tin spot keywords passim your content. Doing this helps Google (and your readers) scan your leafage and spot what it’s about.

When asked this question, your interviewer evaluates whether you recognize wherever these hotspots are and wherefore they matter.

30. What Does a Click-Worthy Meta Description Look Like to You?

Meta descriptions don’t needfully interaction SEO due to the fact that they’re not a ranking factor. And sometimes Google volition override your meta statement anyway.

But compelling meta descriptions tin assistance summation clicks. So, creating customized contented for them is often inactive worthy the effort.

Backlinko – Meta description

When answering this question, show your quality to measure whether a meta statement is eye-catching and applicable capable to gain a click.

31. How Do You Make Your Content More Helpful Than a Competitor’s?

When asking this question, an interviewer wants to spot if you recognize Google’s adjuvant contented update (HCU) and the competitory quality of search.

Google – Helpful contented  update

Demonstrate that you cognize what it takes to make contented that outperforms competitors.

One mode to bash this is to guarantee your contented is adjacent much adjuvant than what already exists successful the SERPs. You should besides amusement that you genuinely attraction astir providing your scholar with an fantabulous acquisition done content.

32. How Do You Use Data and Analytics To Inform On-Page SEO Decisions?

For this adjacent question, we turned to Leigh McKenzie, caput of SEO astatine Backlinko.

“I similar to inquire open-ended questions that excavation into a candidate’s process and systems thinking. As overmuch arsenic possible, I privation to recognize however they deliberation and however they would use it to moving unneurotic connected the fixed job.”

SEO Content Writer Interview Questions

SEO contented writers (sometimes called SEO copywriters) constitute web contented with integrated postulation and conversion optimization successful mind.

The pursuing interrogation questions are circumstantial to SEO writing roles.

33. What’s the Difference Between Content and Copy?

Although radical often usage SEO contented writer and SEO copywriter occupation titles interchangeably, you should recognize wherever the roles differ.

That starts by knowing the quality betwixt contented and copy.

If you’re asked this question, the interviewer wants to spot that you recognize the nuance. And cognize erstwhile to usage transcript versus contented techniques successful your writing.

34. How Do You Optimize Content for Both Search Intent and Keywords?

Understanding hunt intent is simply a non-negotiable for SEO contented writers. (And anyone successful SEO, for that matter.)

Why?

Because hunt intent affects each signifier of the penning process. From contented format to subtopics.

With this question, the interviewer wants to spot if you tin make contented that’s a treble threat. Meaning, it ranks good and satisfies idiosyncratic queries.

35. How Do You Approach Keyword Research?

Whether the relation requires you to grip keyword probe yourself oregon not, you’ll privation to show a basal understanding.

While keyword probe tools are essential, an interviewer wants to spot that your probe methods spell beyond them.

In your answer, amusement that you bash preliminary probe first. This could beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic asking lawsuit enactment astir communal queries and income tickets.

Nail Your Next SEO Interview with Ongoing Education

Ongoing acquisition volition support your skills crisp and your interrogation crippled strong.

If you’re acceptable to find your adjacent job, an SEO certification tin help. Whether you’re looking for precocious tactics oregon conscionable learning the basics, SEO courses tin assistance you get hired—and enactment hired.

The station 35 SEO Interview Questions <br>(Top Answers from the Experts) appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.

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