Too much work for a job interview?
Hey! I just got an interview for an SEO job, and they wanted me to do a case to show my competencies, but I feel like it's too much work for a job interview.
The job posting said they wanted someone with 2-5 years of experience at an agency or in-house. I have about 1 year at an agency.
Here is the full case they asked me to do (in 3 days). Let me know what you all think about the amount. I personally think it's too much.
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Scenario Training
Here you will receive a number of scenarios where we want you to reason through and describe your approach to solving the problem/optimizing the website based on the situation described.
Assume that you have access to all tools needed to make well-informed decisions.
(Analytics, Search Console, Ahrefs, etc.) and if you would use any of these tools, describe what you would use them for.
We evaluate your logic and reasoning in these scenarios, and we recommend that you do not use ChatGPT for convenience, as it can often be wrong. If you are knowledgeable within these areas, your competence will be demonstrated more clearly if you complete the assignment yourself.
Scenario 1
Background:
We have a client who has historically ranked very strongly in positions 1–2 for their primary keyword, but recently they have dropped and are now fluctuating between positions 3–5.
Task:
How would you troubleshoot the issue, and what implementations would you carry out in order to regain the previous rankings?
Scenario 2
Background:
We have an e-commerce client with a large product catalog. All category pages and product pages are already created and well optimized content-wise for their respective primary keywords (e.g. “mailboxes”).
The client now wants to take the next step and capture even more relevant organic traffic with strong purchase intent, but they do not know where to begin.
Task:
How would you identify the most effective ways to increase traffic and sales at this stage? Describe specifically how you would identify low-hanging fruit and give examples of actual implementations you would carry out on the website.
Scenario 3
Background:
We have just onboarded a new e-commerce client within the outdoor apparel niche who previously worked with another SEO agency. During an initial review of their website, we discover problems involving two of their key categories: “Shell Jackets” and “Rain Jackets”.
Both categories must remain live for business reasons, since they are two completely separate product groups in the warehouse inventory.
When reviewing Google Search Console, we notice clear keyword cannibalization. Google constantly alternates which of the two URLs ranks for several important search terms (so-called URL flipping), and neither page ranks higher than position 8.
Task:
- What are common reasons why keyword cannibalization occurs on e-commerce websites in general?
- Based on the client’s specific situation with “Shell Jackets” and “Rain Jackets”, why do you think this issue has occurred here? What could the previous agency have done wrong in their optimization work?
- Practically speaking, how would you separate these pages in Google’s eyes and get both pages to rank highly for their respective relevant search queries?
Scenario 4
Background:
One of our largest clients, a B2B software company, has just informed us that they are planning to migrate to a new CMS and redesign the entire website. They plan to launch the new website in six weeks.
They have renamed several of their main categories and merged some old service pages together. In addition, they have decided to change the URL structure across their entire high-traffic blog because they thought the old URLs were “too long and ugly”.
They are now asking you for SEO approval before launch.
Task:
- What are the biggest SEO risks with what the client is planning to do?
- Describe your process for handling this migration during the next six weeks. Which key implementations would you present to the client?
- Strategically and technically, how would you handle changing the URL structure for all blog posts in the best possible way?
Scenario 5
Background:
We have a new client that is an established veterinary clinic chain with 8 different clinics in southern Sweden (e.g. Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg).
Despite having a generally strong brand, they perform very poorly in local searches and in the “Map Pack” (map results) when people search for terms such as “Veterinarian + [City Name]” or “Emergency veterinarian near me”.
They are constantly outranked by small local clinics that only have a single location and a much weaker domain overall.
The client does not understand why their size and national authority are not helping them locally.
Task:
- What are the very first things you would review (both on-site and off-site) to diagnose why they are underperforming locally?
- Based on your experience, what are the most common mistakes businesses with multiple physical locations make when it comes to local SEO?
- Present a high-level strategy for how you would reverse this trend and help them dominate the map results across all 8 locations.
On-page Optimization
In this example, we have received a local plumbing company.
They want to improve their rankings for their primary keyword: “Plumber in town”.
Please list the on-page optimizations you believe we can implement in order to improve their rankings for this keyword.
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I appreciate all constructive input.