47 SEO Interview Questions With Example Answers To Expect

Updated 7 October 2022

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When hiring SEO specialists and managers, marketing companies look for unique qualities and skills. If you have an upcoming interview for the role of SEO specialist, you are likely to encounter several questions during your interview. Learning about commonly asked questions can help you prepare answers beforehand and impress the interviewer. In this article, we provide a list of 47 SEO interview questions and some example answers that can help you get hired for a desirable SEO job.

General SEO Interview Questions

The following general SEO interview questions help an interviewer understand your interest in the job role. Some general interview questions an employer can ask are:

Can you describe the work environment in which you want to work?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What do you expect from this job role?
What do you plan to achieve within the first month of joining your job?
Do you have questions about the job role?
Why do you want to work with us?
How do you remain updated with the latest SEO trends?
What is your expectation from the job?
Are you willing to work during the evening and on weekends?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Questions About Experience And Background

Here are a few questions an employer may ask you during your SEO interview:

How do you update yourself with the new SEO strategies and tools?
Do you have knowledge of SEM?
What experience do you have in web analytics?
What procedure do you follow to conduct keyword research?
What SEO tools do you use to complete your duties?
What challenges do you face when implementing SEO strategies?
Do you have experience working in a similar role?
Have you ever disagreed with your manager about your performance evaluation? What were the reasons?
How has your academic training prepared you for a career in the SEO industry?
Differentiate between SEO and SEM.
What process do you follow to conduct keyword research?
Give details about your proficiency in using SEO strategies?
What websites do you follow to remain updated with the latest SEO practices?
Why do you think SEO is essential for every business?
What methods do you use to measure success with SEO?

In-Depth Questions

An interviewer may ask in-depth questions to assess your expertise, experience and skills. It helps them understand why you are a desirable candidate for a job role. Here are 15 commonly asked in-depth questions:

How many keywords do you rank at a time?
What strategies do you use to build links to improve the SEO ranking of your website?
What lessons did you learn from your SEO failure?
Explain some limitations of description and title tags.
Where do you include your keyword for enhancing your SEO ranking?
What SEO strategies do you apply for video content?
Explain the process you follow to use SEO with social media marketing?
What do you know about on-page optimisation?
What do you mean by keyword density and keyword stemming?
How did the latest SEO practices affect your SEO strategies?
How do you ensure your website ranks well in search engine ranking?
Explain the limitations of SEO.
How many keywords do you use in a group of ads and why?
What are the three most important skills for a successful SEO career?
Where can you use keywords to drive more traffic to your website?

SEO Interview Questions And Example Answers

Use the following interview questions and example answers to prepare yourself for an upcoming interview:

1. Explain the difference between off-page and on-page optimisation.

An interviewer may ask you this question to understand your knowledge of using search engine ranking. Being able to increase website traffic is essential for this role. When answering such questions, clearly outline the difference between the two.

Example: “Both on-page and off-page optimisation are SEO techniques that help in improving the search ranking of a website. On-page optimisation is the technique to optimise individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. It primarily involves refining meta descriptions, title tags and content. In comparison, off-page optimisation refers to the technique you can use to improve the position of your website on the search engine results page (SERPs). It focuses on social shares, backlinks, domain authority, brand mentions and page authority.”

2. Describe different SEO techniques you use to ensure a higher website ranking.

SEO requires many techniques to ensure a website ranks higher. The interviewer asks what techniques you are likely to use to get their website to rank higher on search engines. Also, this question helps an employer understand whether you are aware of the black hat and white hat SEO techniques.

Example: “While there are three main SEO techniques, including White hat, Black hat and Grey hat SEO. I primarily use the White hat SEO techniques because it adheres to search engine guidelines and ensure long-term ranking growth. By creating quality content, focusing on website restructuring and ensuring HTML optimisation, I build websites that rank on the search engine results. I do not use the grey hat technique because it combines black and white hat SEO techniques that can deliver unpredictable results.”

3. What keyword frequency do you use in your content?

This question helps an interview understand how you determine an appropriate keyword frequency for an article or blog you create. Often, candidates use methods like keyword stuffing to create content. This helps employers understand whether candidates use the right technique to determine the keyword frequency.

Example: “Depending on the website, I decide the keyword frequency. I focus on including the keyword in the first paragraph and then incorporating the keyword naturally at least four or five times in the article. To ensure the website ranks higher, I incorporate different keyword variations. This helps in ensuring that the content ranks higher for relevant keywords.”

4. What is the importance of using internal linking in an article or blog?

Internal linking is an important SEO technique and it can result in a higher SEO ranking. Through this question, an interviewer wants to understand how you evaluate content within your website. As internal linking help Google understands and ranks your website better, employers want to ensure you know the importance of internal linking.

Example: “Internal linking is beneficial for building authority and increasing a website's search ranking. It helps in building relevancy for specific keywords. In my previous job, I used internal linking in all my projects. It helped me improve the authority of many keywords that the company was ranking for. Internal linking boosted the site's ranking and the company ranked on the first page of SERP.”

5. What is the importance of backlinking?

Backlinking is an essential SEO technique and through this question, an interviewer wants to gauge your skills regarding this critical concept. When answering this question, give an example from your past project and how it helped increase the website's ranking and optimisation.

Example: “Backlinks are links to a website from other websites. When you create backlinks to high-authority websites, your website's domain and authority level go up. The backlink increases your visibility in organic search engine ranking. I improved the SEO of a client's gaming website in my previous role. For each article I created, I created one backlink. In four months, the client sites ranked higher and the referral traffic increased by three times in four months.”

6. Is HTML case sensitive or not?

Knowing HTML is essential for a rewarding career as an SEO specialist. Through this question, an employer wants to understand you know about the basics of HTML. When answering such a question, highlight your ability to understand and code in the markup language.

Example: “HTML is not a case sensitive language because lowercase and uppercase do not matter. Though you can write your code in any language, mostly HTML coding is in the lowercase case. When checking a website's code to ensure it follows HTML and SEO best practices, I mostly see HTML codes in lowercase.”

7. How do you stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and techniques?

Employers ask this question to understand how invested you are and what resources you use to learn more about effective strategies and the latest SEO trends. Consider mentioning the career-related extracurricular you perform to keep yourself updated.

Example: “I spend time learning about the latest technologies, techniques and trends in the SEO industry. To remain updated with the latest SEO trends, I am subscribed to many SEO and marketing related blogs and newsletters. I am also taking an online course related to SEO strategy to understand how search engines update their ranking algorithm and what I can do to improve search rankings.”