1. What training do you have as an SEO analyst or specialist?

This is a question only you can answer, but be prepared to answer it in a way that emphasizes your experience and any advanced SEO training you’ve done.

2. What kind of analytics do you perform and what do you look for?

Because of the job you’re applying for, you might be asked several of these types of SEO analyst interview questions. Be ready. Talk about the tools you use for analytics, what you look for, and how you use those metrics to measure results and plan to make changes.

3. Which SEO analytics don’t get enough attention, in your opinion?

As per the question above, you’ll answer this based on your own experience. It might be that there are features of Google Analytics that many people don’t know how to use, or that people get caught up in the details and forget to look at the big picture, or perhaps they neglect to align analytics to the SEO strategy. Answer the question as you see fit, but do be prepared to answer it.

4. What is keyword stemming and why does it matter?

Keyword stemming is adding on to the stem of a word. For example, if the word interview was your stem, variations could be interviewing, interviewer, interviews. Using keyword stemming helps you to use more relevant keywords on a webpage without keyword stuffing or ending up with content that reads poorly.

5. What is the most important thing to look for when doing keyword research?

This is a subjective question! People new to SEO tend to focus on popular keywords without considering the competitiveness of that keyword, so that’s something you could mention. Search volume and relevancy are other factors you might discuss.

6. What is a canonical issue?

Canonical issues are most frequent when a webpage/website has many URLs that contain the same or comparable information. A lack of correct redirects frequently causes them, but they can also be created by ecommerce search criteria and syndicating or distributing material on several sites. For example, http://www.exampleURL.com and http://exampleURL.com.

7. How have you dealt with link penalties?

We hope you haven’t had any link penalties slapped on you by Google due to your SEO efforts, and you might want to make that clear to your interviewer! Then address the steps you’ve taken to find bad links, and either fix them if you can or to disavow those you can’t.

8. Which Webmaster tool do you use and why?

Google Webmaster Tools is a set of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools provided by Google to help you manage your site's visibility in Google Search results. They are now grouped and kept within Google Search Console, and they give you all the information you need to boost your search ranking. 

Google Webmaster tool is a robust tool that allows website owners to track how their sites interact with Google.

9. What is Google’s preferred method of configuring a mobile site?

Google likes responsive web design when it comes to mobile websites.

10. What are rich snippets?

Rich snippets are the featured text that appears at the top of the organic search results, in a box, and sometimes with an image. Webmasters can use structured data to mark up content so that search engines can easily identify the type of content and deliver it as a rich snippet. Rich snippets are not part of SEO, but if used, they can deliver better results on the SERPs.

11. Why do you need to know about backlinks to competitors’ websites?

A competitor backlink analysis aids in the development of a digital strategy for your page and enables you to: Assess your industry's competitiveness. You can assess how well your rivals perform and develop parameters for what you're doing to compete with them by studying competition websites.

12. What is a link audit and why should you do one?

A link audit is basically an audit of the links that point to your website, the backlinks. SEO experts to link audits prior to doing a link building campaign, but also to make sure external links are of the quality you want to help with SEO.

13. Which are the major Google updates that have impacted SEO?

Panda and Penguin were the two most significant Google updates, although the search giant is constantly making changes to its search algorithm. Panda was introduced in 2011 and targeted poor quality content. The Penguin update was released in 2012 and targeted spammy link building techniques. Both are regularly updated by Google.

14. How has Hummingbird changed the landscape of search?

Released in 2013, Hummingbird has helped to make search contextual, moving us away from the strict adherence to keywords toward understanding a searcher’s intent.

15. What are accelerated mobile pages (AMP)?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source initiative that aims to boost the performance of mobile web pages. Twitter and Google were the driving forces behind the initiative. The technology underpinning AMP allows for lighter, faster-loading websites for smartphone and tablet users.

16. How do you stay up-to-date on the near-constant search algorithm changes?

You’ll want to answer this question based on the sources that you rely on for up-to-date SEO and Google news.

17. How will you measure success as an SEO analyst or specialist at our organization?

As with the answer above, this will be subjective, but be prepared to answer it by showing you understand SEO’s role in the bigger picture. Talk about aligning with business objectives, achieving goals, and driving results, not just “winning more searches.” 

Those are some suggested SEO interview questions for professionals with around 3 years of experience under their belt or an SEO analyst. If management is the direction you’re headed in, you will want to keep reading for the SEO interview questions and answers for experienced managers and executives.