Top SEO Interview Questions and Answers

Top SEO Interview Questions and Answers

Here we are presenting some important questions related to SEO interview and their answers. If you want to make a career in digital marketing or SEO field, then preparing for these SEO Interview Questions and Answers can be very beneficial for you. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an important technique that helps to improve the ranking of the website. The questions asked in the interview will help you understand how strong your preparation is from basic knowledge of SEO to advanced level understanding.

Table of Contents

SEO Interview Questions and Answers

Q. What is SEO?

Ans: SEO means Search Engine Optimization. It is a process by which a website is ranked better in search engines so that more people visit the website and traffic increases.

Top On-Page SEO Interview Question and Answer

Q1. What is On-Page SEO?

Ans: On-Page SEO is the process in which the things inside the website are optimized so that the search engine can understand it well and the ranking can be improved. It includes content, headings, keywords, URL, images, internal linking, etc.

Q2. What is Meta Title and how to optimize it?

Ans: Meta Title is an HTML tag that appears in the browser tab and appears as a title in the search engine results.

  • Ways to optimize:
  • Keep it under 60 characters
  • Put the main keyword in the beginning
  • Make it attractive and clickable
  • Create a unique title for every page
Q3. What is Meta Description?

Ans: Meta Description is an HTML tag that gives a brief description of the page and appears in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

It is 155–160 characters long.

Example:

“Digital Marketing Course in Noida – Get Professional Training with Live Projects.”

Q4. What are Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3…)?

Ans: These are HTML tags that show the hierarchy of the content.

  • H1: Main title (once per page)
  • H2: Section titles
  • H3: Sub-headings of H2
  • They are used to structure the content and improve SEO.
Q5. What is Keyword Density?

Ans: Keyword Density is the percentage of a keyword present in the content.

Formula:

  • (Number of keywords / total number of words) × 100
  • Ideal density: 1%–2% is considered.
Q6. What is Keyword Stuffing?

Ans:  Keyword stuffing means forcing a keyword into the content in excessive amounts.

This is a black hat technique and can lead to a penalty for the website.

Q7. What is Internal Linking and what is its benefit?

Ans: Internal Linking means linking one page to another page of your own website.

Benefits:

  • User Experience is better
  • Search engines are helped to understand the site structure
  • Link juice is passed
  • Bounce rate is reduced
Q8. How to make URL Structure SEO Friendly?

Ans: URL should be short and clear

  • Include keywords
  • There should be no special characters and stop words
  • Separate words with “-” (hyphen)
  • Example:
  • ✔ example.com/digital-marketing-course
  • ✘ example.com/pageid=123&ref=xyz
Q9. What is Permalink?

Ans:  Permalink is a permanent URL that uniquely identifies a blog post or page.

Example: https://example.com/seo-tips

Q10. What is Image Optimization?

Ans: Image Optimization means setting the size, format, name and ALT tag of the image in such a way that the page loads fast and the search engine can understand the image.

Q11. What is ALT Tag?

Ans:  ALT (Alternative Text) Tag describes the image.

SEO Benefits:

  • Helps in ranking the image in search engines
  • Useful for accessibility
  • Text appears in case of broken image
Q12. What is Anchor Text?

Ans: Anchor text is the clickable text on which the link is.

Example:

  • Read SEO Guide
  • Tip: Use keyword-rich anchor text.
Q13. What is Robots.txt?

Ans: Robots.txt is a file that tells search engine bots which parts of the website to crawl and which not to.

Q14. What is Canonical Tag?

Ans: Canonical Tag is <link rel=”canonical” href=”…”> in HTML, which tells the search engine which URL is the main/real one when the same content is on multiple pages.

Q15. What is Schema Markup?

Ans: Schema Markup is a type of structured data that is added to HTML so that the search engine can understand the content better.

Example: For Reviews, Ratings, FAQs, Recipes, etc.

Q16. What are LSI Keywords?

Ans: LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords are those words that are related to the main keyword.

Example:

  • Main Keyword: “Digital Marketing”
  • LSI Keywords: “Online Marketing”, “SEO”, “Social Media Marketing”
Q17. What is Mobile Optimization?

Ans: Mobile Optimization means making the website responsive and fast for mobile devices.

Google now prefers Mobile-First Indexing.

Q18. What are Breadcrumbs?

Ans: Breadcrumbs are navigation links that show the user where they are in the site.

Example: Home > Blog > SEO > On-Page SEO

Q19. How to Optimize Page Speed?
  • Compress Images
  • Enable Cache
  • Remove Unused JavaScript and CSS
  • Use Fast Hosting
  • Add Lazy Loading
Q20. How to Avoid Content Duplication?

Ans:

  • Write Original and Unique Content
  • Add Canonical Tag
  • Noindex Duplicate Pages
  • Check Content with Tools like Copyscape

Top Off-Page SEO Interview Question and Answer

Q21. What is Off-Page SEO?

Answer: Off-Page SEO refers to the techniques and activities that are done outside the website to increase the ranking, traffic and authority of the website. It includes creating backlinks, social media sharing, guest posting, forum submission etc.

Q22. What is a backlink?

Answer: Backlink is a link that comes from one website to another website. When another website gives a link to your website, it is called a backlink. It is very important in SEO because it increases the credibility and ranking of your site.

Q23. How to create high quality backlinks?

Answer: Ways to create high quality backlinks:

  • Do guest posting
  • Get links from high authority websites
  • Build broken links
  • Create valuable and original content that people link to themselves
  • Contact influencers
  • Use platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
Q24. What is the difference between Do-Follow and No-Follow links?

Answer: difference between Do-Follow and No-Follow links

  • Do-Follow Link: It allows Google bots to follow the link and helps in SEO.
  • No-Follow Link: It prevents Google from following the link and does not have a direct impact on SEO.
Q25. What is Guest Posting?

Answer: Guest Posting is a process in which you publish an article on another website or blog and include a link to your website in it. This gives traffic, brand awareness and backlinks.

Q26. What is Social Bookmarking?

Answer: Social Bookmarking is an Off-Page SEO technique in which you submit the link of your website or blog on Social Bookmarking Sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg etc. to get traffic and backlinks.

Q27. How is Blog Commenting beneficial for SEO?

Answer: Blog Commenting gives you niche related traffic, increases brand visibility and sometimes backlinks as well. Although most backlinks are No-Follow but they are helpful in increasing engagement and awareness.

Q28. What is Directory Submission?

Answer: Directory Submission is the process in which you submit your website to various online directories. This gives backlinks and helps in local SEO.

Q29. What is Forum Submission?

Answer: Forum Submission means going to various niche forums and participating in discussions and adding the link of your website in a natural way. This is useful for traffic and brand building.

Q30. What is Profile Creation?

Answer: Profile Creation is an SEO technique in which you create profiles on various websites and add the link of your website. This is a good way to increase your brand presence and get backlinks.

Q31. What is Article Submission?

Answer: In Article Submission, you publish your article on High Authority Article Submission Sites. With this, you can create backlinks through valuable content.

Q32. What is Classified Submission?

Answer: In Classified Submission, you list your service or product on Classified Websites like OLX, Quikr etc. This increases traffic and helps in SEO.

Q33. What is Link Juice?

Answer: Link Juice is the SEO value that passes from one website to another through links. Do-Follow links pass Link Juice which improves ranking.

Q34. How to do Backlink Audit?

Answer: To do Backlink Audit:

  • Use Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console
  • Make a list of all backlinks
  • Identify low quality and spammy links
  • Disavow unwanted links
Q35. What is Disavow Tool?

Answer: Disavow Tool is a tool provided by Google through which you can tell Google not to count certain backlinks in the ranking of your website. It is useful to avoid bad or spam links.

Q36. What is Toxic Backlink?

Answer: Toxic Backlinks are those links which come from spam websites or low quality sites. These can harm your site in the eyes of Google and reduce the ranking.

Q37. Why is Anchor Text Distribution important?

Answer: Anchor Text Distribution is important so that your website looks natural. Using only Exact Match Anchor Text can give a penalty to Google. Therefore, a balance of Anchor Text with Branded, Generic, and LSI Keywords is important.

Q38. What is Domain Authority and Page Authority?

Answer:

  • Domain Authority (DA): A score developed by Moz that indicates how well a domain can rank on Google.
  • Page Authority (PA): It shows the ranking potential of a particular page.
Q39. What is Broken Link Building?

Answer: Broken Link Building is a technique in which you identify dead links of a website and suggest a link to your site in place of that link. It is a smart way to get a high quality backlink.

Q40. How does Influencer Outreach help in SEO?

Answer: In Influencer Outreach, you contact the influencers of your niche and ask them to promote your product or content. This gives your content good exposure, traffic and backlinks.

Top Local SEO Interview Question and Answer

Q41. What is Local SEO?

Ans: Local SEO (Local Search Engine Optimization) is a digital marketing technique that aims to optimize a local business for location-based searches in search engines like Google. For example: “Best Restaurants in Noida”.

Q42. What is Google My Business (GMB)?

Ans: Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) is a free tool that allows businesses to display their name, address, phone number, location, website, hours, photos, etc. on Google.

Q43. How to Optimize a GMB Listing?

Ans: To optimize a GMB Listing:

  • Enter the correct name, address, and phone number (NAP Consistency)
  • Set up business categories
  • Upload high-quality photos and videos
  • Do regular Google Posts
  • Respond to customer reviews
  • Add products and services
  • Keep FAQs and business hours updated
Q44. What is NAP Consistency?

Ans: NAP stands for: Name, Address, Phone Number. NAP Consistency means that this information should be the same on every platform (website, directory, GMB etc.).

Q45. What is Local Citation?

Ans: Local Citation is a mention where your business’s NAP appears on a website or directory. These indicate the legitimacy of your business to Google.

Q46. What are the Local Business Directories?

Ans: Some major Local Business Directories:

  • Justdial
  • Sulekha
  • IndiaMart
  • Yellow Pages
  • Google Business Profile
  • Yelp
  • Hotfrog
  • Grotal
  • TradeIndia
Q47. What is the impact of Customer Reviews on SEO?

Ans: Customer Reviews in SEO:

  • Increase trust and credibility
  • Increase CTR (Click-Through Rate)
  • Improves GMB ranking
  • If reviews match with keywords, Google considers it as a signal
Q48. How to handle negative reviews?

Ans:  Ways to handle negative reviews:

  • Give a calm and professional response
  • Apologize and offer solutions
  • Don’t take it personally
  • Correct genuine issues
  • Report fake reviews
Q49. What are Geo-Targeted Keywords?

Ans: Geo-Targeted Keywords are those that have a location attached to them, such as:

  • “Digital Marketing Courses in Delhi”
  • “Best Cafes in Noida”
Q50. How to Add Business to Google Map?

Ans:  Search “Google My Business” on Google

  • Sign in and enter your business name
  • Fill in address, phone number, category etc.
  • Set location pin
  • Order a postcard for verification
  • Will appear on map after verification
Q51. What is Local Pack?

Ans: Local Pack is a section in Google search results where 3 local businesses and their map appear. It is also called 3-Pack.

Q52. What are Location Pages?

Ans: Location Pages are website pages that are created for a particular city or region. Such as:

  • example.com/delhi
  • example.com/mumbai
Q53. What is Local Schema Markup?

Ans: Local Schema Markup is a code that is added to the website so that search engines can better understand your business information (name, address, phone, reviews, timings etc.).

Q54. What is the role of Voice Search in Local SEO?

Ans: role of Voice Search in Local SEO

  • In voice search, people search in the form of questions like “Where is the best tea shop near me?”
  • So the use of long-tail and conversational keywords has increased in local SEO.
Q55. What are Google Posts?

Ans: Google Posts is a feature in GMB, where you can publish information about business updates, offers, events etc. These are visible on the GMB profile for 7 days.

Q56. What can you know from GMB Insights?

Ans: With GMB Insights you can know:

  • How many people viewed your listing
  • How was it searched for
  • How many calls came
  • How many people asked for directions
  • How many people clicked on the website
Q57. What are Map Citations?

Ans: Map Citations means mention of business on location based places like Google Maps, Apple Maps, which strengthens your local SEO.

Q58. Why is Mobile Optimization important in Local SEO?

Ans: Because:

  • Most people search for local things from mobile
  • Google prefers mobile friendly sites
  • Provides better UX (User Experience)
Q59. How to create Regional Backlinks?

Ans: Ways to get Regional Backlinks:

  • Guest post on local news websites
  • Get links in local blogs or events
  • Local directory submission
  • Collaborate with local partner websites
Q60. What are Hyperlocal Keywords?

Ans: Hyperlocal Keywords target a very small area like:

  • “Hair Cutting Salon in South Ex Delhi”
  • “Mobile Repair in Noida Sector 18”

Top Technical SEO Interview Question and Answer

Q61. What is Technical SEO?

Answer: This is the process of SEO in which the technical things of the website are improved so that the search engine can crawl and index it easily. Such as: site speed, mobile friendliness, SSL, XML Sitemap etc.

Q62. What is XML Sitemap?

Answer: It is a file that contains a list of all the important pages of the website, which makes it easier for the search engine to find and index them.

Q63. What is the function of Robots.txt file?

Answer: It tells the search engine bots which parts of the website to crawl and which not.

Q64. What is Crawl Budget?

Answer: It is the time and resources spent by the search engine on a website. It means how many pages Google will crawl and how often.

Q65. What is the difference between Indexing and Crawling?

Answer: In Crawling, the search engine scans the website, while in Indexing it saves the content in its database.

Q66. What is the difference between 301 Redirect and 302 Redirect?

Answer: 301 Redirect is a permanent redirection while 302 Redirect is temporary. 301 is better for SEO because it transfers link value.

Q67. Why is Canonical URL important?

Answer: It tells which is the real (primary) URL in pages with similar content, so that there is no problem of duplicate content.

Q68. What is Structured Data?

Answer: It is a format through which the search engine gets additional information about a content. Example: Reviews, recipes, events, etc.

Q69. What is the effect of HTTPS and SSL on SEO?

Answer: HTTPS makes the website secure and Google considers it a ranking factor, so it has a positive effect on SEO.

Q70. What is Mobile-First Indexing?

Answer: Google now gives priority to mobile versions for indexing websites, as most users browse from mobile.

Q71. What is AMP and why use it?

Answer: AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a framework that loads pages faster on mobile. It improves the mobile user experience.

Q72. What is the use of Page Speed ​​Insights Tool?

Answer: This is Google’s tool that checks the speed of the website and gives suggestions to improve it.

Q73. What are Core Web Vitals?

Answer: These are three metrics set by Google to measure the speed, interaction, and visual stability of the website – LCP, FID, and CLS.

Q74. What is Lazy Loading?

Answer: In this, images or videos are loaded only when the user scrolls to see them, making the page open faster.

Q75. How to Fix Duplicate Content?

Answer: Duplicate content can be removed or managed using Canonical tags, 301 redirects, unique content and noindex tags.

Q76. How to Identify Crawl Errors?

Answer: Crawl errors can be identified through the Coverage report and Crawl Stats in Google Search Console.

Q77. How to Fix Broken Links?

Answer: Use the Broken Link Checker tool and update or redirect links that are not working.

Q78. How to make Website Architecture SEO Friendly?

Answer: Design the website with clear hierarchy, internal linking, navigation menus and less depth so that it is easy for bots and users to access the pages.

Q79. How does Pagination work in SEO?

Answer: Pagination divides long content into pages. rel=”next” and rel=”prev” tags were used in SEO, but now Google itself recognizes them.

Q80. What is hreflang tag?

Answer: This tag indicates different versions for different languages ​​or countries so that the search engine can show the result to the user in his language.

Q81. How to manage SEO in Site Migration?

Answer: It is important to transfer 301 redirection, search console update, sitemap submission and analytics settings correctly.

Q82. What is Log File Analysis?

Answer: It is a server file that records the activities of crawl bots, which lets us know which pages were crawled.

Q83. How to optimize Server Response Time?

Answer: Server Response Time can be reduced by fast hosting, caching, database optimization and improving code quality.

Q84. What is Structured Data Testing Tool?

Answer: This is Google’s tool with which you can test Structured Data to see if it has been implemented correctly or not.

Q85. How to fix Mobile Usability Errors?

Answer: Go to the Mobile Usability section of Google Search Console and find out the problem and then fix the CSS, font, button size or viewport.

Q86. Is Infinite Scroll good for SEO or not?

Answer: It is good for SEO only if pagination or load-more button is also provided, so that crawlers can access all the content.

Q87. What is JavaScript SEO?

Answer: JavaScript SEO means ensuring that the content loaded with JavaScript can be crawled and indexed by search engines.

Q88. What are the Common Mistakes in Canonicalization?

Answer: Canonizing the wrong URL, giving the same canonical on all pages, and Noindexing the canonical URL are common mistakes.

Q89. What is the role of HTTP Headers in SEO?

Answer: HTTP Headers such as status code, cache-control, content-type etc. give technical information about the page to the search engine.

Q90. How to manage Faceted Navigation for SEO?

Answer: Control URL parameters, add canonical tag, use noindex-tag and set up parameter handling in Google Search Console.

Top SEO Tools Related Interview Question and Answer

Q91. What is Google Search Console and what are its benefits?

Answer: Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool provided by Google. It helps website owners to know how their website is performing on Google.

Key Benefits:

  • Monitoring and maintaining website indexing status
  • Providing information about crawl errors, broken links, etc.
  • Showing data on keywords clicks, impressions, CTR, etc.
  • Submitting sitemaps
  • Checking mobile usability and Core Web Vitals
  • Providing information about manual penalties
Q92. How is Google Analytics used for SEO?

Answer: Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks website traffic and user behavior. In SEO, it is mainly used for performance measurement.

Uses:

  • Analyzing organic traffic
  • Metrics like bounce rate, session duration, and pageviews
  • Which pages are getting the most visits
  • Where are users coming from (Location, Device, etc.)
  • Conversion tracking
Q93. What is Ahrefs and how does it work?

Answer: Ahrefs is a premium SEO tool used for backlink analysis, keyword research, and website auditing.

How does it work:

  • It crawls websites on the internet and builds a huge backlink database
  • Shows Domain Rating (DR), URL Rating (UR), referring domains, etc.
  • Shows competitor analysis, keyword gap, and content gap
  • Provides SERP analysis and keyword difficulty score
Q94. What is SEMrush and how do you use it?

Answer: SEMrush is an all-in-one digital marketing tool used for SEO, PPC, content marketing, and competitor analysis.

Uses:

  • Keyword research and tracking
  • Competitor website analysis
  • Site audit
  • Backlink analysis
  • Position tracking
  • Traffic insights and domain overview
Q95. What is Screaming Frog SEO Spider?

Answer: Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop-based SEO audit tool that crawls a website and finds SEO related issues.

Main functions:

  • Finds broken links (404 errors)
  • Shows redirect chains
  • Gives information about meta tags, headings and duplicate content
  • XML sitemap generation
  • Analyzes internal linking structure
Q96. What is MozBar?

Answer: MozBar is a Chrome extension that shows SEO data of any website right in the browser.

Key Features:

  • Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA)
  • Checking on-page elements like title, meta description, H1 etc.
  • Identifying NoFollow/DoFollow links
  • SERP analysis
Q97. How does Ubersuggest help in SEO?

Answer: Ubersuggest is an SEO tool developed by Neil Patel. It helps in keyword research and site audit.

Main Uses:

  • Finding keywords for SEO and PPC
  • Showing keyword difficulty and search volume
  • Auditing site health
  • Suggesting content ideas
  • Competitor analysis
Q98. What information does GTmetrix provide?

Answer: GTmetrix is ​​a website speed testing tool that analyzes your website’s loading speed and performance.

It gives information about:

  • Page Load Time
  • Total Page Size
  • Number of Requests
  • Core Web Vitals report
  • Performance grade (PageSpeed ​​and YSlow)
  • Specific issues like Image optimization, JS/CSS minification
Q99. What is SEO Audit and how to do it?

Answer: SEO Audit means checking your website in depth to see how it is performing in all aspects of SEO.

How to do it:

  • Technical Audit: Site Speed, Mobile Friendliness, Sitemap, Robots.txt
  • On-Page Audit: Titles, Headings, Meta Descriptions, Content
  • Off-Page Audit: Quality and quantity of Backlinks
  • Content Audit: Duplicate content, thin content
  • Tools used: Screaming Frog, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Search Console
Q100. Which tools are used for automation in SEO?

Answer: Many tools are used to automate repetitive tasks in SEO.

  • Main Automation Tools:
  • Zapier: To automate SEO reports
  • Screaming Frog + Google Sheets: Auto audits
  • Ahrefs / SEMrush: Automated keyword and backlink tracking
  • Google Data Studio: Automated SEO reporting
  • Rank Math / Yoast (WordPress): On-page SEO automation
  • Buffer / Hootsuite: Automated content sharing for link-building

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Conclusion:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a field that keeps changing constantly, so the questions asked in its interviews also keep changing according to the trends and updates. The top SEO interview questions and their answers given above will not only help you prepare for the interview but will also deepen your SEO knowledge. If you understand and practice these questions well, you can confidently clear any SEO interview. Constantly staying updated and getting practical experience is the key to success in this field.

About Ravendra Singh

Hello friends, I am Ravendra Singh, the Founder of News Beed. I am a blogger and digital creator. Through this blog, you can access information related to Digital Marketing and Blogging. If you find our articles informative, you can also share them with your friends. You can follow us on social media platforms as well.

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