Ask an SEO specialist to explain real work: a result, a mistake, a prioritisation decision and how they would handle your site. Strong answers carry numbers, trade-offs and plain language. Weak answers lean on tool names and promises.
Questions about experience
- Walk me through a result you are proud of. Listen for the starting point, the change, the measurement and the time frame. Ask what they would do differently.
- Tell me about a change that hurt traffic. Specialists who have never broken anything have rarely changed much.
- What did you personally do, and what did the team do? This separates owners from contributors.
Questions about thinking
- A site lost 30% of its organic traffic last month. What do you check first? A good answer starts with Search Console, dates, page types and algorithm updates before touching content.
- How do you decide what to fix first? Look for effect on revenue and effort, not a checklist read in order.
- How do you tell whether a ranking drop is real? Expect talk of segmenting, position averages and seasonality.
Questions about the work
- How do you choose which pages to create? The answer should include search intent, existing pages and cannibalisation.
- How do you work with developers? A strong answer includes writing tickets with the expected result and a way to test it.
- How do you measure SEO beyond rankings? Enquiries, sales or qualified leads, tied to landing pages.
- How do you handle AI search? Expect an answer about being cited, entity clarity and checking what assistants say about the brand.
Answers that should worry you
- A guaranteed ranking or a number of days to page one. See SEO ranking guarantee: scam or legit.
- Bulk links or tool-written content published unreviewed.
- No example with numbers.
- Reports made of rankings only.
After the interview
Check the claims against the skills and the job description you posted. For more on the choice itself, read how to hire an SEO specialist in Malaysia and common SEO hiring mistakes. You are welcome to ask me the same questions as an SEO specialist in Malaysia.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most revealing question to ask an SEO specialist?
Ask them to walk you through a result they produced: the starting point, what they changed, how they measured it and what did not work. Specifics separate real work from borrowed credit.
Should I ask a candidate to audit my site?
A short paid task is fair. Avoid asking for a free full audit, since that is work product.