# SEO Interview Questions — SEO for Developers: Technical SEO and Core Web Vitals

Source: https://www.skillbyai.com/en/seo-developers/seo-interview-questions

> Practice common technical SEO interview questions on redirects, semantic HTML, Core Web Vitals and JavaScript.

Quick check

**Quiz:** What is the difference between 301 and 302 redirects?

- [ ] They are the same; the number doesn't matter.
- [x] 301 is permanent; 302 is temporary. Use 301 for moved pages.
- [ ] 301 is faster than 302 on the server.

*Answer:* 301 is permanent; 302 is temporary. Use 301 for moved pages.. 301 transfers ranking authority to the new URL; 302 keeps authority on the old URL. Always use 301 for permanent moves.

Quick check

**Quiz:** Why should you use semantic HTML for SEO?

- [ ] It makes CSS easier to write
- [x] It tells search engines what content means, not just how it looks
- [ ] Because search engines only read div tags

*Answer:* It tells search engines what content means, not just how it looks. Semantic tags like <article>, <section>, <nav> tell Google the structure and meaning of your content.

Quick check

**Quiz:** What are Core Web Vitals and why do they matter?

- [ ] They are only for mobile optimization
- [ ] They don't affect ranking
- [x] LCP, INP, CLS — Google's metrics for UX and ranking signals

*Answer:* LCP, INP, CLS — Google's metrics for UX and ranking signals. Core Web Vitals are essential UX metrics that Google uses to rank pages. Developers must optimize them.

Quick check

**Quiz:** How do you handle JavaScript for SEO?

- [x] Use server-side rendering or prerendering; ensure initial HTML has content
- [ ] Avoid JavaScript completely on SEO pages
- [ ] Block crawlers from all JavaScript files

*Answer:* Use server-side rendering or prerendering; ensure initial HTML has content. Google can render JS, but it's delayed. Use SSR/prerendering or put content in initial HTML.

## Final quiz 1 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** Which tag helps prevent duplicate content by naming the preferred URL?

- [ ] rel=nofollow
- [ ] meta viewport
- [x] rel=canonical

*Answer:* rel=canonical. The canonical link consolidates signals to one URL.

## Final quiz 2 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** Which Core Web Vital measures responsiveness to user input?

- [ ] LCP
- [ ] CLS
- [x] INP

*Answer:* INP. INP replaced FID in 2024.

## Final quiz 3 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** What is the correct status code for a permanently moved page?

- [x] 301
- [ ] 302
- [ ] 404

*Answer:* 301. A 301 passes signals to the new URL.

## Final quiz 4 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** How do you keep a crawlable page out of search results?

- [ ] Add Disallow to robots.txt only
- [x] Serve a noindex directive
- [ ] Delete the sitemap

*Answer:* Serve a noindex directive. noindex works only if crawlers can fetch the page.

## Final quiz 5 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** Which structured-data format does Google recommend?

- [ ] Plain text
- [ ] CSV
- [x] JSON-LD

*Answer:* JSON-LD. JSON-LD is easy to maintain and keeps markup out of the visible HTML.

## Final quiz 6 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** Why prefer SSR or prerendering for JavaScript-heavy sites?

- [ ] It removes the need for sitemaps
- [ ] It disables caching
- [x] Initial HTML contains the content crawlers need

*Answer:* Initial HTML contains the content crawlers need. Content in the initial HTML is indexed faster and more reliably.

## Final quiz 7 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** What does hreflang tell search engines?

- [x] The relationship between language or region versions
- [ ] The page load time
- [ ] The author's name

*Answer:* The relationship between language or region versions. hreflang links equivalent pages for different languages and regions.

## Final quiz 8 of 8

Final quiz

**Quiz:** Where should you track queries, clicks and impressions?

- [ ] The robots.txt file
- [x] Google Search Console
- [ ] A CSS file

*Answer:* Google Search Console. Search Console reports real search performance data.