Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your eCommerce website, blog, or other online pages get more visitors. It is achieved by enhancing both appearance and content, making the site more appealing to both search engines and users.
According to Forbes, less than 1% of Google users load the second page of search results. This highlights the importance of ranking #1 on Google or, at the very least, appearing on the first page of results.
Every company wants a top Google ranking, and for that, they hire the most talented and experienced SEO professionals. If you're going to bag a high-paying and flexible job in this industry, read on to find SEO specialist interview questions that companies often ask to assess your capabilities. Also, learn about tips on how to crack an SEO interview like a pro.
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20 SEO Specialist Interview Questions You Must Know
Your interview will likely start with the basics, such as why you chose a career in SEO or why you think you are a good candidate for this role. While answering such questions, you can share your real-world SEO problem-solving experiences. Here's what comes next:
Technical Questions
Preparing for technical SEO questions for an interview is crucial. Your employer will test your technical knowledge to ensure you are a perfect fit for the company. Here's what they might ask:
What factors matter the most for Google ranking?
Your website's ranking on Google depends on several important factors. These include having high-quality, relevant, and up-to-date content, obtaining backlinks from reputable websites, ensuring a user-friendly design, maintaining fast loading speeds, and implementing effective technical SEO.
How are 301 and 302 redirects different?
301 is a permanent redirect. It tells Google to give ranking preference to the new page. Simply put, it indicates that you have permanently moved a specific page to a new URL.
A 302 redirect provides temporary SEO value to the new URL. By implementing it, you instruct Google to temporarily rank the new page without granting it full authority. It's used when you are testing a new page or during maintenance.
What is a URL slug?
It is the part of the URL that provides users with information about the content they are about to view. For example, in https://website.com/blog/high-intensity-workout, "high-intensity workout" is the URL slug.
How do you know if a website is indexed or not?
There are two ways of knowing whether a website is indexed or not:
- Type "site:exampledomain.com" in the search bar. If multiple pages from the website appear, it's indexed.
- Check the Page Indexing status on Google Search Console.
What are anchor texts, and why do they matter?
Anchor text is a clickable word in your content that takes your viewers to another page on your website. It's important because it conveys the connection between different sections of your site. It promotes seamless navigation.
What are Robots.Txt?
Robots.txt is a file that provides instructions to help search engine bots know the pages they can or cannot crawl.
Also Read:- Top 25 GenAI Interview Questions for Marketers in 2025 (and How to Crush Them)
Case Study Questions
You must be prepared for SEO case study interview questions for beginners, mid-level, senior-level, or freelancing positions. To test your skills beyond the theory, your employer will want to assess your real-world SEO skills. Here's what's commonly asked:
Our website traffic dropped drastically last week. How will you check the root cause of a sudden traffic dip?
Google Search Console is where you can identify penalties or errors that may negatively impact your ranking. Google Analytics is the next step. It provides a detailed picture of which sections of your website experienced this dip and why.
Our content ranks on the second page of the search results. What will you improve to push it to the first page?
Improve content quality, add competitive keywords, review meta titles, tags, and descriptions, add internal links, and enhance the page's loading speed.
I want to rank a page for a long-tail keyword. How can you do it?
Keyword research helps you find the terms that people commonly use to search for your products/services. Add them to the title, subtitles, and throughout the content naturally.
Our website ranking dropped due to duplicate content. How can you fix it?
Use canonical tags to help Google identify the original or main version of the content, rewrite content on webpages to prevent duplicate issues, and implement internal linking to enhance user experience.
Off-page and On-page SEO
The interviewer will likely ask questions about these two core pillars of SEO. Here are some off-page and on-page SEO interview scenarios to prepare for:
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO is optimising individual web pages, blogs, and other content on your website to improve your SERP ranking.
What are the elements of on-page SEO?
On-page SEO covers:
- Proper keyword usage
- Meta title/tags/descriptions
- Images
- Image alt text
- Headers
- Internal linking
- URL structure
What is off-page SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to the SEO practices that occur outside your website to achieve a better ranking.
What are the elements of off-page SEO?
The key elements include:
- Backlinks
- Influencer outreach
- Social media marketing
- Guest posting
How to ensure the backlink is of good quality?
It must be from a website with a high domain authority (DA) and relevant to your page. The link should be labelled as "dofollow" and appear natural within the content.
Google Search Console Interview Questions
The knowledge of Google Search Console shows your technical and analytical skills. Be prepared for the following Google Search Console interview questions:
What is Google Search Console?
It's a free analytical tool that shows your site's indexing status, technical errors, clicks, keyword data, and overall website performance in search results.
How are sitemaps submitted to Google?
In Google Search Console, there's a sitemap section with a field to enter the new sitemaps. You can paste the sitemap link here.
Content Questions
Your content quality, length, and keyword usage are other critical factors in SEO. Here's what you might be asked.
What is keyword density? Does it matter?
Keyword density is the number of times a particular keyword appears in the content. Although it's essential to use relevant keywords, it's more important that the keyword fits naturally and is strategically placed rather than being forced just to achieve the target density.
What is the ideal word count for website content?
It depends on the content type. Ideally, keeping the content length 1000-2000 words is recommended for better ranking.
What is content pruning?
Content pruning removes outdated blogs and pages that aren't performing well in the search results.
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Conclusion
Most retail giants have built a strong presence in search engines. Other developing businesses and startups are transitioning their operations to the digital world, as e-commerce is experiencing tremendous growth lately.
This has led to a surge in the demand for SEO talent. Employers expect applicants not only to understand the theory of SEO but also to provide real-world examples of how to implement different elements of SEO for improved search engine results page (SERP) performance.
