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Technical SEO test: Pre-employment screening assessment to hire the best candidates

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Technical SEO test

Type: Role specific skills

Time: 10 min

Languages: English

Level: Intermediate

Summary of the Technical SEO test

This Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) test evaluates candidates’ skills in analyzing websites and improving their search engine rankings. This test will help you hire technical SEO experts who can put your website on the map.

Covered skills

Understanding search engine requirements and on-page SEO
Handling analytical and technical aspects of SEO
Handling Google tools and algorithms

Use the Technical SEO test to hire

SEO specialists, ranking strategists, website administrators and developers, and any marketing or other roles that require a technical understanding of SEO.

Preview questions

graphic image for role specific skills tests

About the Technical SEO test

Improving the technical aspects of your website through technical search engine optimization (SEO) will help your site rank higher in search engines, increasing traffic to your website and the number of potential customers you receive each day. An optimized site loads faster and makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site and list its pages in search results.

This Technical SEO test evaluates candidates’ ability to understand search engine requirements and on-page SEO, handle both the technical and analytical aspects of SEO, and use tools and algorithms to improve results. The test covers many SEO practices, including backlinks, URL structure, file structure, desktop and mobile version optimization, performance tracking, and problem-solving.

Candidates who perform well on this test can diagnose problems, provide solutions, and design effective ranking strategies for your site through their understanding of the search engine algorithms used to drive site traffic.

photo of the subject-matter expert for this test

The test is made by a subject-matter expert

Irina M.

A digital marketer and web analyst, Irina has worked in marketing since 2010. She is an expert in SMM, SEO, and project management, and her varied career has seen her serve in strategic and tactical media planning departments in international media agencies, and found her own agency.

She also enjoys sharing her marketing knowledge as an author and teacher. Passionate about education, Irina holds a Master’s degree in statistics and completed a postgraduate program in web analytics.

Crafted with expert knowledge

TestGorilla’s tests are created by subject matter experts. We assess potential subject-matter experts based on their knowledge, ability, and reputation. Before being published, each test is peer-reviewed by another expert, then calibrated using hundreds of test takers with relevant experience in the subject.

Our feedback mechanisms and unique algorithms allow our subject-matter experts to constantly improve their tests.

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View a sample report

The Technical SEO test will be included in a PDF report along with the other tests from your assessment. You can easily download and share this report with colleagues and candidates.

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How to recruit for technical SEO skills

The Technical SEO test will enable you to evaluate candidates applying to fill an open role in your company. Technical SEO (search engine optimization) will help your website rank higher in search engines and thereby increase the number of leads your website receives.

This is why it’s important to make sure you hire the right technical SEO expert to improve your website so that it ranks higher in SERPs (search engine results pages).

The Technical SEO test assesses candidates on the following:

• Understanding of SEO requirements

• Knowledge of on-page SEO

• Ability to use analytics to improve SEO

• Skill in using Google algorithms to improve rankings

You should use this test if you’re hiring an SEO specialist, ranking strategist, website administrator or marketing director.

If you’re hiring for any role that requires technical SEO knowledge, you should give your candidates this test to ensure that you find the one with the best SEO skills.

Why technical SEO is important

Improving your website’s SEO will help people discover it via search engines. The higher your site ranks in search engines, the more people will visit it and become potential customers.

A technical SEO expert optimizes your website’s on-page SEO, improves its loading speed, and makes sure that it follows all of Google’s guidelines.

The Technical SEO test evaluates whether candidates understand search engine requirements, on-page SEO, the analytical aspects of SEO, how to fix technical and security components, and how to use white-hat techniques to improve results.

The test covers the main technical SEO concepts, such as:

• Backlinks

• URL structure

• File structure

• Mobile-version optimization

• Desktop-version optimization

• Performance tracking

Candidates who do well on the test can successfully diagnose problems, provide technical solutions, and create effective strategies that help bring your website to the top of the search engine rankings.

Technical SEO competencies for candidates

Candidates need to know how to work with the following SEO features to pass the test with flying colors:

• SSL: An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that creates an encrypted link between your browser and the web server. If there’s an “HTTPS” in the site’s URL, it uses SSL. SSL makes your website more secure, and Google gives preference to sites that use it.

• Optimization for mobile-first indexing: More and more users are using the internet on their mobile devices. They’re increasingly likely to visit the mobile version of your website, so you should ensure that your site’s design is responsive on mobile.

• Compression and fast DNS providers: It’s essential for your web pages to load quickly if you want to rank highly in search engines. A technical SEO expert should be able to reduce your pages’ loading times by compressing image files (without causing pixilation), using fast DNS providers, and minifying your site’s code.

• Canonical links: Duplicate content, or website content that is identical to content somewhere else on the internet, can be a problem for your site. Google doesn’t like showing duplicate content, so your technical SEO expert will need to know how to fix this problem. One solution to this issue is to use canonical link elements to let the search engine know which version of your content is the main one.

• XML sitemaps: An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website’s pages. It’s like a roadmap that tells search engines where each part of your website resides and how to index important pages quickly. A technical SEO expert should know how to create an XML sitemap and update it frequently.

What happens when you don’t have the right technical SEO expert?

In today’s business environment, it’s essential for your website to rank well in search engines. One of the most common ways potential customers discover you is by using Google.

To ensure that your site ranks highly in search engines and customers can find you, you need solid SEO. But because most other companies are trying to do the same thing, skipping even one step can prompt a decline in your search rankings.

That’s why you should use the Technical SEO test to find a candidate who will increase your organization’s leads, which will translate into more customers and an improved bottom line for the business.

Why you should use the Technical SEO test to hire

There are many upsides to using a pre-employment test like the Technical SEO test in your hiring process. Here are some of the key benefits

• Bias-free hiring process: When you use a pre-employment test, you give all of your candidates a chance to prove their skills. With CV screening, you might filter out some good candidates, and some unqualified ones may pass the process. But by giving applicants a pre-employment test, you remove bias and evaluate people only on their test scores.

• Objective scoring: The results of TestGorilla’s pre-employment tests are given to you in the form of numerical values. And because all of the candidates complete the same test, you can easily compare their scores to see who did better on the test.

• Quick and easy to use: Receiving 200 applications might be a headache when you have to screen candidates’ CVs, but it’s no problem with TestGorilla’s pre-employment tests – you can send our assessments to all of your candidates with a single click.

• ATS integration: Applicant tracking systems (ATS) document your hiring process from listing the job to appointing the candidate. TestGorilla's ATS integrations help you further streamline your recruitment process, helping you to keep recruitment in one platform.

In summary

TestGorilla’s pre-employment tests enable you to measure candidates’ skills objectively and without bias. They quickly reveal the most qualified candidates and save you the time you’d otherwise spend reviewing countless CVs.

It’s critical that you hire the right SEO expert to help you optimize your website. And there’s no better way to find top candidates than by giving them a pre-employment Technical SEO test.

FAQs

An assessment is the total package of tests and custom questions that you put together to evaluate your candidates. Each individual test within an assessment is designed to test something specific, such as a job skill or language. An assessment can consist of up to 5 tests and 20 custom questions. You can have candidates respond to your custom questions in several ways, such as with a personalized video.

A video question is a specific type of custom question you can add to your assessment. Video questions let you create a question and have your candidates use their webcam to record a video response. This is an excellent way to see how a candidate would conduct themselves in a live interview, and is especially useful for sales and hospitality roles. Some good examples of things to ask for video questions would be "Why do you want to work for our company?" or "Try to sell me an item you have on your desk right now."

Besides video questions, you can also add the following types of custom questions: multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Multiple-choice lets your candidates choose from a list of answers that you provide, coding lets you create a coding problem for them to solve, file upload allows your candidates to upload a file that you request (such as a resume or portfolio), and essay allows an open-ended text response to your question. You can learn more about different custom question types here.

An assessment is the total package of tests and custom questions that you put together to evaluate your candidates. Each individual test within an assessment is designed to test something specific, such as a job skill or language. An assessment can consist of up to 5 tests and 20 custom questions. You can have candidates respond to your custom questions in several ways, such as with a personalized video.

A video question is a specific type of custom question you can add to your assessment. Video questions let you create a question and have your candidates use their webcam to record a video response. This is an excellent way to see how a candidate would conduct themselves in a live interview, and is especially useful for sales and hospitality roles. Some good examples of things to ask for video questions would be "Why do you want to work for our company?" or "Try to sell me an item you have on your desk right now."

Besides video questions, you can also add the following types of custom questions: multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Multiple-choice lets your candidates choose from a list of answers that you provide, coding lets you create a coding problem for them to solve, file upload allows your candidates to upload a file that you request (such as a resume or portfolio), and essay allows an open-ended text response to your question. You can learn more about different custom question types here.

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