35 SEO Interview Questions
(Top Answers from the Experts)
(Top Answers from the Experts)
Written by Rachel Nicholson
We have one goal for this article: to help you land an SEO job.
This isn’t a generic piece on SEO interview questions. Yes, we’ve broken the questions down by career stages and SEO types to help you prepare.
But we’ve also spoken to people who actually hire talent in the SEO industry. To learn what hiring managers are looking for and the type of questions they might ask you.
Keep reading to learn common SEO interview questions and the answers that’ll get you hired.
Interview Questions for SEO Freshers
An SEO fresher is usually someone new to the industry who wants to land an SEO internship.
These questions are relevant to you if you’re one to two years into your career. In this case, you’ll likely be interviewing for entry-level SEO or junior SEO associate roles.
1. What Is SEO?
We spoke to Nick Reijmerink, lead SEO at Skydreams, about his go-to interview questions for SEO freshers.
Nick, who manages a team of SEO specialists and is also responsible for hiring new talent, says:
“With this question, I’m looking to see that a candidate has a basic understanding of what SEO is and how it works. Even if a beginner hasn’t done SEO professionally, they should at least know this.”
Answer
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It covers everything you do to increase the likelihood of a search engine ranking a website or webpage. Ideally, you want them to appear in the most prominent SERP positions for relevant user queries.
Specific areas of SEO include technical, content, and link building. Through technical SEO, you can improve your website so it’s easier for search engines to find, understand, and index. Content is what you feed to the search engine.
For example, you might create a blog post that helps solve a common customer query.
Link building is the process of earning a link from another website. High-authority links signal to Google that your website is trustworthy and helpful, which helps increase its authority.
Further reading: SEO Basics: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
2. What Is an Example of an SEO Problem You Faced and How You Fixed That Situation?
Nick uses this next question to assess a candidate’s critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and stress management skills.
Why?
Because problem-solving is a big part of the job.
“SEO equals resilience. The success of a specialist is often measured by the ability to resolve problems.”
Answer
I run a personal website called IntelliHome, which I’ve been using to learn SEO. When I started the site, I didn’t understand page speed, why it mattered, or how to optimize a site to load quickly. After researching, I realized that page speed matters because it’s a ranking factor. A slow-loading site or page can also make users leave and find an alternative.
One issue I had, in particular, was having a lot of images on my site that I hadn’t compressed. As a result, the site loaded very slowly. To fix this, I used TinyPNG to reduce the file size of my images. Solving the issue took time and patience, but my site is now much healthier. I’ll also never make the same mistake again because I know how painful it can be to fix.
Running small SEO experiments on your own website is one of the best ways to show your problem-solving skills.
3. How Do You Learn a New Skill To Help You in Your SEO Career?
Nick shares another interview question for SEO freshers to gauge their interest in keeping up with industry changes and SEO trends.
“SEO is a never-ending learning process. You can learn a lot from someone’s way of acquiring knowledge.”
In your answer, an interviewer is looking for your learning methods, growth mindset, and resilience.
Answer
I like to learn by doing. When I started my site, I didn’t understand keyword research. I’d write random posts about topics I assumed my audience wanted to read about. But the blog posts never brought much traffic to my site.
So, I read a blog post that taught me how to find the right keywords for my site.
After that, I started using a free SEO tool to find long-tail, low-competition keywords. In a month, I started to see some movement in traffic to my blog.
4. What Interests You About Starting a Career in SEO?
Because you’re right at the start of your career, the interviewer is trying to determine what motivates you by asking this question.
There’s no right or wrong answer here.
It’s best to share what genuinely interests you about SEO. A passion for the work tells the interviewer you’re more likely to stay in the industry.
Which sends the message that you’re worth the company’s investment as an entry-level hire.
Answer
By working on my personal website, I realized that I love keyword research and content ideation.
I’d love the opportunity to work on these tasks in a professional setting.
I’d also love the chance to get hands-on experience in executing SEO campaigns and helping other people improve rankings and grow their sites.
Interview Questions for Mid-Level SEOs
As a mid-level SEO, you’ll typically be about three to five years into your career. You might be interviewing for mid-level jobs like an SEO specialist or SEO strategist.
5. What’s the Difference Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO?
On- and off-page SEO are two different elements of work done by SEO specialists.
You might not have both types of experience. It all depends on the specific role. But as a potential mid-level SEO hire, you should know the differences between the two.
Answer
On-page SEO is anything you do to optimize your website or webpages for search. This could include creating title tags and meta descriptions, improving page structure through headers and schema, and more.
Off-page SEO is any task you perform outside of the website related to improving a website’s search performance. Examples include link building through digital PR or digital guest posting, which can improve your website’s authority.
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6. Why Does SEO Matter to a Business?
SEO results shouldn’t necessarily be separate from more tangible business metrics like revenue. Of course, SEO matters for outcomes like brand awareness.
Yes, gaining traffic matters, too. But so do clicks, conversions, and revenue.
Answer
SEO matters to any business because it can make their website more visible in search. Beyond raising brand awareness in the SERPs, SEO can also help a business attract the right customers to their website.
Having the right customers land on a website makes them more likely to convert. Conversions could include inquiring about a service, signing up for a demo, purchasing a product, or joining an email list. Directing relevant traffic that’s more likely to convert to a website can increase a business’s revenue.
Further reading: How to Become an SEO Expert
7. How Do You Work With Developers To Implement SEO Recommendations?
You’ll be responsible for identifying technical SEO issues with audit tools and prioritizing fixes. But it may or may not be your job to implement them.
This is why a recruiter wants to assess how you work with the development team to get tech fixes over the line.
Answer
Part of effective collaboration means working on interpersonal relationships. One of my first priorities is to get to know the development team. So, when I joined my last company, I engaged with the dev team through the company Slack.
When it comes to working with developers to implement SEO recommendations, I like to set clear expectations. This means setting up a task in a project management tool with clear instructions, the scope of the task, and an ideal deadline. I’ll also add any relevant documentation. Basically, anything that adds more context to the task.
I also always make myself available for questions via instant message, email, and calls. And I let the team know that the deadline is negotiable.
8. What Does an Average Day Look Like in Your Current Role?
If asked this question, the interviewer wants to assess your current competency and responsibility level.
Be honest here.
Don’t exaggerate your day-to-day responsibilities. If they hire you based on an embellishment, and you ultimately can’t deliver, it could hinder your long-term employment with the company.
Pro tip: If there’s something on the job description that doesn’t match your existing experience, mention you’re interested in learning how to do that specific task or taking on that responsibility in your answer.
Answer
In my current role, I’m agency side. On any given day, I could be developing a keyword research strategy for a new client or creating content briefs for writers.
I could also be running SEO content audits for client websites. But one thing I’m not currently doing is technical SEO. I would really love to develop that skill, and it’s part of what interests me about this role.
Interview Questions for Senior SEOs
Senior-level SEOs are usually over five years into their careers. Typical roles include senior SEO strategist or senior technical SEO specialist.
9. How Do You Think the Latest Google Updates Will Change SEO?
We spoke to John Skinner, Creative Director at Candour, to learn a common interview question he asks senior SEOs.
“When we’re hiring a senior position within the SEO team, it’s these kinds of questions rather than a ‘can you use X tool’ or ‘can you do this task’ that are important to us. I want to know if they’ve tied the search ecosystem to the commercial realities of running a business. Candidates should be able to show an understanding of Google’s goals and the benefits of running an SEO strategy in parallel to that, so I know the team will be in good hands.”
Answer
The only way to truly understand an update or the future of SEO is through a test website. That’s because what Google says and what it actually does can differ.
Take Google’s spam update as an example. Initially, the update targeted purely AI-driven sites. But some AI sites slipped through the net and continued to rank. Then, some people using AI content with human editing did well during the update.
Still, my gut says that SEO should always focus on providing a great user experience and building authentic audience relationships. Those fundamentals are unlikely to change. They also build trust, which plays a big part in whether your target audience converts or not.
Further reading: Google E-E-A-T: How to Create People-First Content
10. How Do You Stay Updated with the Latest SEO Trends and Algorithm Changes?
Many SEO fundamentals stay the same. But as an SEO, you’ll need to keep up with algorithm changes and trends.
Let’s get one thing clear, though: Trends and marketing hype are not the same thing.
In your answer, explain that, while you’re curious about SEO trends, you’d prefer to test them on a personal site first.
Don’t have one?
Tell the interviewer you read forums to see what SEO experts say about the legitimacy of the trend and the results they’re seeing on their sites.
Answer
I like to read trusted publications like Search Engine Land, Backlinko, Semrush, and Google to keep up with algorithm updates. SEO conferences and webinars are great, too. That said, if a trend interests me, I like to test it on my personal site first to see if it’s worth it.
I’m also part of a few SEO Slack communities, such as Traffic Think Tank and MostlyMarketing. They’re full of curious SEOs who are actually testing concepts. Plus, whenever something new happens in SEO, be that a trend or update, someone usually posts about it in one of those communities, helping me stay up to date.
11. Describe an SEO Marketing Campaign You Worked On. What Was Your Role and What Were the Results?
For a senior role, the recruiter will want to know if you’ve created and implemented an SEO marketing campaign. And if so, they’ll want to know how successful it was.
Specifics about the campaign, your role, and the results matter here.
Answer
Last year, I was the lead SEO on a campaign for an editorial publication specializing in niche music. The publication wanted to increase relevant traffic, clicks, and impressions.
The website already had a high volume of content published in the niche and had a lot of topical authority. Because of this, I wanted to focus on keeping up with publishing volume while creating content with organic traffic in mind. The aim was to publish four SEO-driven pieces a month.
To do this, I wanted to start building relevant content clusters. I noticed the site was already ranking well for a few articles about video game music, which also drove a lot of traffic to the site. So, I started building out a content cluster about video game music.
After developing a keyword strategy based on content clusters, I started creating content briefs for the publication’s writers. I also introduced ‘Article’ schema and created an internal linking strategy to encourage pillar pages to start ranking.
After six months, the publication experienced a 38% increase in clicks and a 75% increase in impressions. It also had over 350 keywords ranking in positions one to 10 with the majority of them ranking top three in the SERPs.
Interview Questions for SEO Managers
SEO managers usually have at least five years of experience in the industry. Aside from having advanced SEO skills, you’ll need leadership 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 favorite question. As the director of the digital agency Candour, he uses it when interviewing potential SEO managers.
“There’s no one ‘correct’ answer for this question, but it gives instant insight into someone’s priorities when they’re juggling levers on profitability, client satisfaction, and the big one—protecting the team they’re managing.
One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen within agencies is the assumption that an SEO manager is always the career path as you progress through SEO. It’s not. A manager has to have specific, non-SEO skills with the management of people and situations, so these are the skills I’m most interested in if someone is applying for this role.”
Answer
I’d start by reviewing the work completed to date, the client’s goals, and the current strategy’s performance. I’d do this to identify any data-driven gaps or opportunities in our current plan.
This might mean examining resource capacity and utilization rates, for example. This data can help me see how the team typically uses its time and whether we can find efficiencies in the coming months. More importantly, I’d want to balance the team’s workload so no one is overloaded.
Afterward, I’d meet with the client to discuss these findings and manage their expectations. During the conversation, I’d explain the work done, its impact, and the realistic timelines for seeing results.
If the client requires additional work, we can explore flexible options, such as adjusting the scope of future work, offering a one-time additional service at a discounted rate, or discussing the possibility of increasing their retainer hours.
13. How Do You Measure the Commercial Impact of SEO Efforts?
At a managerial level, you should be confident in tying SEO efforts to a business’s commercial gains.
That’s not to say that SEO should always focus on revenue. A campaign has many moving parts, and there are different reasons you might launch one.
It all depends on the specific end goal behind a business’s SEO strategy.
Answer
How I measure the commercial impact of my SEO efforts depends on the specific sales funnel I’m dealing with. That said, a common way I track SEO efforts is through the performance of pages built specifically for SEO. I focus on SEO-driven pages that don’t pull in many branded searches.
To do this, I use Google Analytics’ landing page report to track revenue or conversions.
Another way I measure commercial impact is by tracking sales or conversions from users who also viewed SEO-driven content. For example, that could be a landing page or a blog post created based on my recommendation. For this, I use GA4’s segment overlap. I’ll also track organic revenue sitewide.
14. How Do You Delegate to Direct Reports?
There’s no denying it: As a people manager, you need to delegate to your team.
When you step up to this level, it’s no longer as much about doing specific tasks. It’s more about supporting others to do those specific tasks.
For this question, the interviewer wants to see that you know how to delegate.
More specifically, they’re assessing that you:
- Understand the person you’re delegating to
- Take the time to brief them properly
- Allocate enough time for a direct report to finish a task
Answer
When delegating to my direct reports, I first review the task to ensure I’m assigning it to the person with the most appropriate skill set.
Once I’ve identified who to delegate the task to, I check their availability. If the task is urgent and they’re busy, I will collaborate with them to reallocate or reprioritize their workload to free them up.
Then, I’ll brief them so they have clear expectations of the task. Once I assign the task, I’ll let them know they can ask me any questions. I’ll also set a reasonable deadline that balances the urgency and complexity of the task.
SEO Marketing Interview Questions
An interviewer will ask SEO marketing interview questions to determine whether you understand how SEO fits into the broader marketing picture.
These questions are relevant to any SEO role linked to marketing, such as an SEO strategist.
15. How Do You Collaborate With Other Marketing Teams?
We reached out to Zoe Ashbridge, co-founder of SEO and PPC agency forank, for her go-to SEO marketing interview question. And it’s all about collaboration.
“The hardest part about SEO is that it’s often a top- to middle-of-funnel marketing strategy, so the SEO team needs to work with other departments to nurture traffic and convert them into a paying customer.”
With this question, the interviewer wants to know how the candidate works with other marketing teams. And hopes to see a collaborative approach in their answer.
Answer
I love SEO, but it’s just one part of marketing. So, I like working with other marketing teams because this helps with SEO efforts. This collaboration might involve contacting the PPC team to see if I can use their data to help my keyword research.
In the past, this has helped me find new opportunities for long-tail keywords that I might not have found otherwise.
Further reading: SEO vs. SEM: What’s the Difference?
16. How Would You Repurpose a Blog Post on Another Marketing Channel and How Does This Tie into SEO?
SEO is at its best when united with other marketing efforts.
If you’re asked this question, the interviewer wants to know that you understand SEO’s role in marketing.
Interviewers are also testing how you might get more value from a single piece of content by sharing it across marketing channels.
Answer
How I’d repurpose a blog post via a different marketing channel depends on the context of the piece and the specific business. Repurposing could be as simple as using a meta description as a post on X. Or it could be a little more complex. Like engaging a designer to help me repurpose a B2B blog post into a LinkedIn carousel or YouTube video.
As the content is shared across various platforms, it can attract backlinks from different sources, boosting its authority and rankings.
You can also target different keywords and phrases with different content formats. For example, a video might rank for video-specific keywords on YouTube, while the original blog post targets traditional search queries.
Further Reading: What Is Repurposing Content?
17. How Does the Content Marketing Funnel Relate to SEO?
Each stage of the content marketing funnel matches a different search intent. Someone in the Awareness or ToFu stage is looking for content that educates them about a specific problem.
This could be a blog post targeting a ToFu query like “What is the keto diet?”
Someone in the Action or BoFu stage likely wants a product or service to solve their problem. So, you’d aim to create optimized sales pages targeting something like “keto supplements.”
Long story short?
Your interviewer wants to see that you can meet your audience at different funnel stages with content that matches their search intent.
Answer
At the ToFu or ‘Awareness’ stage, people are just becoming aware of the problem. To serve the search intent, I’d create educational blog posts that build trust.
At the MoFu or ‘Interest’ stage, a prospect wants a solution but is weighing options. I’d aim to produce helpful comparison guides to serve the search intent.
At the BoFu or ‘Action’ stage, a prospect wants to purchase a solution. To serve this search intent, I’d aim to produce product or sales pages.
Local SEO Interview Questions
You might get asked these questions for general positions like an SEO executive or roles specializing in local SEO.
18. In Past Local SEO Campaigns, What Percentage of Leads Came Through the Client’s Website Versus Their GBP?
We reached out to Christopher Levy, SEO manager at Made Ya Click, for his favorite local SEO question. And why he finds it beneficial to ask.
“A local SEO campaign relies heavily on winning the battle to rank on Google Maps. Many local search terms trigger the local map pack, which is a large and visually appealing SERP feature. Then, there are mobile users who search within the Google Maps app directly.
This is a way of gauging how well the dichotomy works between the client’s website and their Google Business Profile. For many local service providers, their Google Maps listings outperform their websites.”
Answer
In my last three local SEO campaigns, more of my clients’ leads came through Google Maps than their websites. One of those clients gained 65% of leads via their GBP versus 35% through their website.
Optimizing the company’s Google Maps listing was part of that campaign’s success. For example, I covered the basics, like making sure the listing information was up to date and adding professional photos. But I also published posts frequently and focused on earning legitimate Google reviews to build trust.
19. What Techniques Have You Employed To Earn Legitimate Reviews for Your Clients?
Christopher’s next go-to interview question is related to online reputation management.
“To succeed at SEO, you have to understand your audience. I’m not interested in growth hacks that could probably not be implemented on corporate clients. If you do not understand whom your client is attempting to reach and how to reach and motivate them, your local SEO campaign will not succeed.”
Answer
The techniques I deploy to earn legitimate reviews really depend on each client’s needs and specific audience. That said, we had one client in a very competitive market with customers who needed to visit a physical storefront. That meant maps, maps, maps. So, we had the store employees print QR codes that customers would use to quickly leave reviews from the premises.
I have also worked closely with my client’s social media teams in the past to earn reviews. For example, whenever a customer left positive comments on a company Facebook page, I encouraged the social team to ask them for a Google review.
20. What Do You Look for in Local SEO Tools?
In local SEO, it’s essential to work with tools with local data rather than just national. You also need to ensure you can see local search results similar to what your employer or clients see.
Your interviewer wants to assess your understanding of that nuance and whether you know how to apply it using tools.
Answer
First, I use a keyword research tool that allows me to specify the geographic area I’m targeting. This way, I can gauge the keyword difficulty and monthly search volume based on the geographic area rather than nationwide data.
I also look for an SEO tool that can generate SERPs in my employer’s or client’s market. I’ll use a virtual private network (or VPN) if this isn’t possible.
Further reading: 5 Powerful Local SEO Tools to Get More Customers
Technical SEO Interview Questions
An interviewer will ask technical SEO interview questions to test your understanding of the topic.
As with local SEO, you might be asked these questions at interviews for general SEO roles at different levels. That said, these questions also apply to jobs like technical SEO specialists.
21. What’s Your Biggest SEO Fail?
Liam Fallen is an SEO consultant and the founder of the MostlyMarketing Slack Community and LiamFallen.com.
As a tech SEO specialist, he’s helped well-known companies hire for technical SEO roles.
“I ask this question because it shows whether the candidate has a test website and is openly testing theories rather than following the crowd. Testing and failing forward is one of the best ways to learn technical SEO, and from my experience, SEOs with a test website tend to be better overall hires.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Beyond a test website, it also shows you have the humility to admit failure and can learn from the mistake to avoid it in the future.
While your answer will vary by personal experience, Jess Joyce, an SEO consultant at jessjoyce.com, shared her best answer to this question for inspiration:
Answer
I was working at an agency where we were rolling out a lot of updates to a website that included every arm of the agency. After some QA, I created a ticket to ensure the canonicals were set up. In my ticket, I included an example of the code to put in for the canonicals. But the dev pushed the canonical value as the example I had put in—meaning it was the same for every single page.
The push was live for about a week—and it was one of the most stressful weeks of my entire career. It involved me negotiating with multiple teams all the way up the chain. I finally convinced a PM to move their schedule around so we could update it correctly and push a fix.
I learned that as many times as I QA something, something else can always go wrong. And when providing examples, a chat with the person implementing it is a great additional step to take.
22. What’s the Difference Between a Noindex Directive and Disallowing Googlebot Access via robots.txt Directive?
You’ll likely be asked this question when interviewing for entry- to mid-level roles. The interviewer wants to check your foundational knowledge and see if you have the desired experience.
A lot of people learn this answer by trying to deindex their staging environment with a disallow. But if the crawler has no access, it can’t noindex it.
In your answer, show you know the difference.
Pro tip: Provide a relevant example of the concept in action to show you’ve applied your knowledge in the real world.
Answer
One concerns getting a page out of the index, and the other concerns the crawler not being allowed to access the page.
Noindex is a directive you give to a page to remove it or prevent it from being indexed. Robots disallow is a line of code in the text that prevents crawlers (when specified) from accessing a certain page. This stops them from seeing (no index) directives.
I have a staging website that I forgot to lock off from Google. As a result, it got indexed. To get it out of the index, I placed a noindex directive on the page, so the next time Google checks the page, it sees the directive and removes it from the index.
But if I just disallowed the crawler from accessing that page, the crawler won’t see the noindex directive. As a result, it won’t know to remove the page from the index, and the problem remains.
Further reading: Robots.txt and SEO
23. What Is Page Speed and Why Is It Important?
This is one of the more basic SEO interview questions you might get asked for a junior or internship role.
At its core, page speed matters in SEO because a faster-loading page creates a better user experience. And let’s remember that Google has used page speed as a ranking factor since 2010.
In your answer, clearly explain page speed and what can happen if your page is slow-loading. Bonus points if you add an example of how you’ve improved page speed on a site.
Answer
Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a webpage to load. It’s important because it’s one of the few ranking factors confirmed by Google. Aside from that, a slow-loading page negatively impacts user experience. A poor user experience may discourage people from returning to your site.
In the past, I’ve improved page speed by reducing image sizes, optimizing code, and removing render-blocking JavaScript.
Further reading: Core Web Vitals: What They Are and How to Improve Them
24. Explain the Difference Between Crawling, Rendering, Indexing, and Ranking
Ed Roberts, SEO and paid manager at Milexa Group, shared his favorite technical SEO interview question with us.
“My go-to question when interviewing candidates is to get them to explain the difference between crawling, rendering, indexing, and ranking. This might seem like something obvious that every SEO should know, but it’s surprising how many don’t fully understand or are mistaken about how each stage works.
A good SEO, especially those in technical roles, should have a clear understanding of how search engines work so they can correctly identify issues and opportunities for improvement at each stage.
I look for candidates to demonstrate a strong grasp of each element, how they relate to each other, and their importance for SEO. It doesn’t have to be a super detailed answer, as long as they can show this understanding.”
Answer
Crawling is the process where automated programs (also known as bots, crawlers, or spiders) discover and scan webpages, collect a copy of each page, and identify new links to be crawled.
Crawling is crucial for Google to find new or updated content and is one reason why internal linking is vital for SEO.
Once a page has been crawled, it’s queued for rendering. This involves taking the HTML and CSS and executing the JavaScript to “render” the page as it would appear in a browser. This allows bots to parse all the information on the page. If a page can’t be rendered properly, important content or links might not be visible to bots.
After a page has been crawled and rendered, search engines determine whether to add it to their index (except in some edge cases). The index lists all the pages and other content that the search engine knows about. A page can only be shown in search results if it’s indexed. This is why you need to ensure only the right pages are being indexed.
The final process is where search engines sort through the content within the index to return the most useful results to users. This process is governed by algorithms and is influenced by numerous ranking factors and signals, including the words used in the query, relevance, and quality of the content, location, and external links to the page.
It’s essential to understand, test, and apply these criteria to improve rankings.
Off-Page SEO Interview Questions
Off-page SEO involves anything you do off-site to optimize and improve a website’s or webpage’s rankings, such as link building.
If you’re applying for a role at a digital PR agency, you’ll be asked questions on this topic. Roles like SEO strategists and junior SEO executives may also require off-page skills.
25. How Would You Evaluate a Backlink’s Impact on a Target Page?
We contacted Olivian Stoica, senior SEO specialist at Wave Studio, to learn his best off-page SEO interview question.
“The question is tricky because it depends. A single backlink may not move the needle for a page. But a link-building campaign targeting the same page can. It depends on the context and nuance of the campaign.
I have worked with an SEO agency that ran campaigns on several pages owned by a company I worked at. Within a few short months, we could see impressions growing in our GSC report. Knowing we’d continue to build inbound links for the website, I needed someone onboard who could not only find an opportunity but own it from creation to result.
I remember one of the candidates said they would check the referral traffic in Google Analytics. Honestly, I rarely follow a link within an article. That was an answer that didn’t impress me. Because even if people wouldn’t click the link, search engines could still see it as a trust signal for the referred page. What I was looking for was how they understand the power of a link and how to use tools to see how it performed for the website.”
Answer
I’d start by examining the quality of the backlink using an SEO tool. I look at the Domain Authority or Authority Score of the referral site and the relevancy of the linking page’s content to our target page.
High-authority, relevant sites typically provide more SEO value.
I’d also monitor the impact of the backlink on the target page’s rankings and traffic. I use Google Search Console and Google Analytics to track any changes in keyword rankings, organic traffic, and conversions after acquiring the backlink.
26. How Do You Determine an External Website’s Health Without an SEO Tool?
SEO tools can come in handy for many things, including gauging a website’s health. But you can also learn a lot about a site’s health and whether you should include it in a link-building campaign based on a manual review.
Long story short?
When asked this question, the interviewer wants to see that you have good instincts about what a low-quality website looks like.
Answer
When determining a website’s health without an SEO tool, I’d want to see how fast the page loads as a priority. So, if I click on a page and images or text loads slowly, that’s not a great sign of a healthy site.
I’d also look to see if there were a lot of ads throughout the website. Too many site ads can make it seem spammy, low-quality, and untrustworthy.
Another thing I’d want to check is the on-page links to see if any are broken.
27. How Do You Measure the Authority of a Website?
A website’s authority gives a quick overview of how well it’s likely to rank on search engines. If asked this question, the interviewer wants to see how well you use tools.
Bonus points if you understand these scores are general indicators.
Answer
It’s not an exact science, but you can measure a website’s authority in several ways. One way is to use third-party tools that provide a health score, like Semrush’s Authority Score or Moz’s Domain Authority checker. I use the Domain Overview tool in Semrush to measure a website’s authority.
The AS metric ranks a website’s authority from one to 100. A higher score indicates a higher authority website.
Note: A free Semrush account lets you analyze up to 10 domains per day using the Domain Overview tool. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.
28. What Is One of the Most Important Factors To Consider When Creating Link-Building Outreach Pitches?
A big part of link building is reaching out to publishers or journalists. And the strength of your outreach pitch can determine whether you earn a backlink for your campaign or not.
When answering this question, show that you know what a great pitch entails.
Answer
Before pitching to publishers or journalists, I ensure what I’m suggesting adds value to their page or website. I also want to make sure their site is relevant to the site I’m building links to.
One of my priorities is to customize my outreach message to each prospect so my pitch resonates with them. Part of that means making sure the prospect can clearly see the value I will bring to their specific audience.
Hi [First Name],
I was looking for content on [Topic] today, when I stumbled on your article:
[Article Title].
Good stuff! I especially enjoyed [Something specific from their article].
Also, I just published a new guide on [Your Topic]: [URL].
As someone that writes about [Topic], I thought you’d enjoy it.
My guide may also make a nice addition to your page. Either way, keep up
the awesome work with [Website]!
Talk Soon,
[Your Name]
On-Page SEO Interview Questions
On-page SEO involves anything you do to optimize and improve a website’s or webpage’s rankings.
Tasks include optimizing content with keywords, developing an internal linking strategy, and creating title tags and meta descriptions.
These tasks are relevant to most SEO jobs across different experience levels.
29. How Do You Place Target Keywords Strategically Throughout a Blog Post?
There are certain hotspots where you can place keywords throughout your content. Doing this helps Google (and your readers) scan your page and see what it’s about.
When asked this question, your interviewer evaluates whether you understand where these hotspots are and why they matter.
Answer
I like to place target keywords in high-visibility places that help Google understand a page’s topic. So, I will include the target keyword in the H1, first paragraph, and subheaders (H2 through H6). This helps Google and readers see at a glance if the page matches their search intent.
Further reading: What Is an H1 Tag? Best Practices and Examples for SEO
30. What Does a Click-Worthy Meta Description Look Like to You?
Meta descriptions don’t necessarily impact SEO because they’re not a ranking factor. And sometimes Google will override your meta description anyway.
But compelling meta descriptions can help increase clicks. So, creating custom content for them is often still worth the effort.
When answering this question, demonstrate your ability to evaluate whether a meta description is eye-catching and relevant enough to earn a click.
Answer
I would say a click-worthy meta description doesn’t just consider Google but the reader, too. So, I look for elements like whether a publisher has included the target keyword or whether the most important part of the text is visible on mobile.
From the reader’s perspective, we should write content in the active voice because it’s more engaging. There should also be some conversion copywriting. For example, a writer might use voice of customer to target pain points. Finally, there should be a clear call to action that directs someone to click the page.
31. How Do You Make Your Content More Helpful Than a Competitor’s?
When asking this question, an interviewer wants to see if you understand Google’s helpful content update (HCU) and the competitive nature of search.
Demonstrate that you know what it takes to create content that outperforms competitors.
One way to do this is to ensure your content is even more helpful than what already exists in the SERPs. You should also show that you genuinely care about providing your reader with an excellent experience through content.
Answer
When briefing writers or writing content myself, I always keep Google’s HCU guidelines top of mind. I want to make sure people who read the content leave feeling like they’ve learned enough to achieve their goals, for example.
I also don’t want readers to leave the site to find better information from another source. With that in mind, I like to dive into the SERPs during research—not to copy competitors, but to find gaps. A gap I’d want to bridge is when a site provides a definition, but I have to look at another website to understand part of it. I’d make sure my content didn’t have that gap.
Adding relevant visual content like images and videos is another way to create more helpful content. I’m always surprised by how many organic competitors don’t do that.
32. How Do You Use Data and Analytics To Inform On-Page SEO Decisions?
For this next question, we turned to Leigh McKenzie, head of SEO at Backlinko.
“I like to ask open-ended questions that dig into a candidate’s process and systems thinking. As much as possible, I want to understand how they think and how they would apply it to working together on the given job.”
Answer
To improve existing content with on-page SEO edits, I’ll head to Google Analytics or Google Search Console. If there are content pieces with high impressions but low clicks, I’ll prioritize them for on-page edits.
When I’ve organized my list of on-page content edits, I’ll return to Search Console to identify keyword opportunities. I’ll look at the queries people use that we aren’t already targeting.
If these make sense in terms of search intent and are logical in the context of the page, I’ll add them to the existing content. For example, I might add them to existing headings or create new sections.
I’ll also use this data to inform new content opportunities, keeping on-page SEO considerations top of mind. If any queries from GSC don’t fit the page’s search intent or could use an entire article to match search intent, I’ll pitch new content pieces.
SEO Content Writer Interview Questions
SEO content writers (sometimes called SEO copywriters) write web content with organic traffic and conversion optimization in mind.
The following interview questions are specific to SEO writing roles.
33. What’s the Difference Between Content and Copy?
Although people often use SEO content writer and SEO copywriter job titles interchangeably, you should understand where the roles differ.
That starts by knowing the difference between content and copy.
If you’re asked this question, the interviewer wants to see that you understand the nuance. And know when to use copy versus content techniques in your writing.
Answer
Web content typically leans more toward the educational side. It consists of how-to blogs, listicles, or guides. Meanwhile, web copy covers more of the sales side, such as homepage copy, product collections, or sales landing pages.
That said, just because I’m writing content doesn’t mean I won’t add an element of sales. And just because I’m writing sales copy doesn’t mean I won’t educate my reader. Because of that, I will always have both styles or techniques in mind when writing content or copy.
This could mean adding conversion copywriting techniques to a long-form blog post to encourage demo sign-ups. Or getting into the details of how a concept works to educate and build trust via a sales landing page.
34. How Do You Optimize Content for Both Search Intent and Keywords?
Understanding search intent is a non-negotiable for SEO content writers. (And anyone in SEO, for that matter.)
Why?
Because search intent affects every stage of the writing process. From content format to subtopics.
With this question, the interviewer wants to see if you can create content that’s a double threat. Meaning, it ranks well and satisfies user queries.
Answer
Optimizing content and nailing search intent go hand in hand. To start, I use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to research keywords, focusing on their intent—whether it’s informational, commercial, navigational, or transactional. I also look at search volume and difficulty.
Next, I examine the top-ranking content for my target keyword to understand what Google considers relevant, whether it’s a how-to, product page, or comparison guide.
Based on the intent, I structure my content to match. For example, for an article on the best noise-canceling headphones, I would do a comparison guide to match search intent. I’d include top products, detailed reviews, and pricing and feature comparisons with clear headings and images.
As I’m writing, I’d optimize the content with the target keyword and any secondary terms. I’d also add relevant internal links, and optimize title tags, meta descriptions, and image alt tags.
Further reading: SEO and Content Marketing: A Complete Guide
35. How Do You Approach Keyword Research?
Whether the role requires you to handle keyword research yourself or not, you’ll want to display a basic understanding.
While keyword research tools are essential, an interviewer wants to see that your research methods go beyond them.
In your answer, show that you do preliminary research first. This could be as simple as asking customer support about common queries and sales tickets.
Answer
I like to start by doing audience research. Of course, speaking to an audience directly is better, but sometimes that isn’t doable. In this case, I might search relevant LinkedIn or Facebook groups and existing customer reviews or visit forums like Reddit for insights.
I also like checking in with customer support to learn about common queries or support tickets.
I’ll then use that data to find keywords that match the queries and search intent. I love starting keyword research like this because it opens up content ideas I never would’ve thought of. Even better still, the keywords link to queries that real people are actually searching for.
Nail Your Next SEO Interview with Ongoing Education
Ongoing education will keep your skills sharp and your interview game strong.
If you’re ready to find your next job, an SEO certification can help. Whether you’re looking for advanced tactics or just learning the basics, SEO courses can help you get hired—and stay hired.