Freshers SEO Interview Questions

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?

Google can treat a long lasting 302 like a permanent redirect, but use the correct code from the start. See Redirection.

What is alt text and why is it important for SEO?

<img src="red-shoes.jpg" alt="Pair of red running shoes on a track" width="800" height="533">

Write a short natural description of what is in the image. Do not stuff keywords, and use an empty alt="" for decorative images. Good alt text also helps in Google Images. See Images.

What is anchor text?

In <a href="...">SEO title tag guide</a> the anchor text is “SEO title tag guide”. Search engines use it to understand the target page.

• Use descriptive text, not “click here”.
• Mix the words naturally, do not use the exact keyword everywhere.
• Keep it short.

See Anchor Tag and Links.

What is Google Search Console?

It is a free tool where you verify your website and see the data from Google: which searches bring visitors, how many clicks and impressions you get, which pages are indexed, errors, sitemap status, Core Web Vitals, and backlinks. You can also test one URL and request indexing. See Google Search Console.

What is SERP in SEO?

SERP is the page shown by a search engine for a search. It can contain paid ads, organic results, featured snippets, “People also ask” boxes, images, videos, maps and AI generated summaries. When we say “rank on the first page of SERP” we mean the organic listing on that page.

What is keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is the bad practice of filling a page with the same keywords, in the text, in the tags or hidden. Example: “We sell cheap shoes. Our cheap shoes are the best cheap shoes in town.”

It makes the content hard to read, and it is against the spam policies of Google. Write naturally, and use the keyword and related words only where they fit. See Black Hat SEO.

What is the difference between white hat and black hat SEO?

See White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO.

What is organic traffic?

Organic traffic is the visitors who click your page from the normal (unpaid) search results. It is different from paid traffic (ads), direct traffic (typing the address), referral traffic (links on other sites) and social traffic.

In Google Analytics 4, open the Traffic acquisition report and look at the channel “Organic Search”. See Google Analytics.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is for businesses which serve people in a place, like a shop, a clinic or a service in a city. The main steps are: a complete Google Business Profile, the same name, address and phone number everywhere (NAP), real reviews, local citations, and location pages on the website. See Local SEO.

What is a 404 error and a soft 404?

A 404 is the HTTP status for a missing page. A soft 404 is a page that looks like “not found” but returns 200 (OK), or an empty page, or a redirect of all missing pages to the home page.

• Return a real 404 (or 410 for removed on purpose) for pages which do not exist.
• Redirect with 301 only if there is a close replacement page.
• Make a helpful custom 404 page.

See Custom 404 Page.