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SEO

SEO Expert Quiz – How much do you know about SEO?

True or false: Having Google Analytics installed directly affects your rankings in Google.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

Having Google Analytics installed on your site (or not) has no effect on your rankings in Google.

You can track Google Posts activity in Google Analytics using:

  • 301 redirects
  • Short names
  • Justifications
  • UTM codes

Answer: UTM Code

You can track Google posts activity in Google Analytics using UTM codes.

The August 2018 Google core algorithm update was known as the [blank] update and largely affected sites in the [blank] vertical.

  • August Core / lifestyle
  • Possum / hyper local
  • Fiat / automotive
  • Medic / health & wellness

Answer: Medic/health & wellness

The August 2018 Google core algorithm update was known as the Medic update and largely affected sites in the health & wellness vertical.

When the searcher performs a(n) [blank] search, they typically want to go to a particular place on the Internet, such as Instagram or the Ikea home page.

  • Transactional
  • Informational
  • Navigational
  • None of the above

Answer: Navigational

With navigational searches, a searcher intends to find a particular website via the search engine.

True or false: Auto dealerships can create additional GMB listings for the car brands they sell.

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Auto dealerships can create additional GMB listings for the car brands they sell.

There are generally three types of promotion used in content marketing:

  • Paid, earned, & owned
  • Ads, social media, & CTAs
  • Online, offline, & word-of-mouth
  • Paid, organic, & earned

Answer: Paid, earned, & owned

Paid, earned, & owned promotion are most commonly used types in content marketing.

True or false: 301 redirects pass along link equity.

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

According to Google, 301 redirects retain their link equity.

Which of the following is a Moz score that predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs)?

  • PageRank
  • Page Authority
  • Domain Authority
  • Search Visibility

Answer: Page Authority

Page Authority predicts how well a specific page will rank on the SERPs.

Which of the following on-page factors can help you appear in a featured snippet?

  • Length of content
  • Meta keywords
  • H1 tag
  • H2 tag
  • On-Site SEO

Answer: H2 tag 

Correctly using H2 tags can help you appear in featured snippets.

Which link is more likely to pass the most value?

  1. An internal link high up on a page
  2. An external link within the body of a page
  3. An external link within a noscript tag
  4. An internal image link

Answer: An external link within the body of a page

Of these, an external link within the body of a page is most likely to pass the most value.

True or false: You should have one comprehensive page on a topic instead of multiple pages for each variation of a keyword.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

A comprehensive page on a topic results in a better visitor experience and is more likely to rank than multiple weaker pages on specific keyword variations.

True or false: Link equity is not a factor in Google’s ranking algorithm and has no effect on the order of search results.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

Link equity factors into Google’s algorithms and can affect how your page ranks in the SERPs.

Core Web Vitals identify user experience issues by generating a metric for:

  1. Page loading performance
  2. Ease of interaction
  3. Visual stability of a page from a user’s perspective
  4. All of the above

Answer: All of above

Core Web Vitals are a set of standardized metrics from Google that help developers understand how users experience a web page.

The marketing funnel includes:

  • Discovery, intent, evaluation, retention
  • Awareness, intent, consideration, purchase
  • Discovery, consideration, conversion, retention
  • Awareness, intent, conversion, purchase

Answer: Discovery, consideration, conversion, retention

The marketing funnel includes discovery, consideration, conversion, and retention — all served by content marketing.

True or false: Including search intent in reporting is helpful in understanding users’ behavior and thought processes.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

Reporting on search intent can help client and stakeholders understand your customers’ behavior and thought processes.

True or false: Every search engine results page includes the count of pages in the search index that meet your criteria.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

The search engine results do include the count of pages in the search index that meet your criteria.

True or false: Businesses can ask and answer their own questions in Google Questions and Answers.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

Businesses are able ask and answer their own questions in Google Questions and Answers.

Which of these is important to keep in mind when measuring the success of a new link?

  1. Sites that are already on the first page of search results will increase in rank more easily
  2. Links from sites with low Domain Authority will have no effect on SERP rankings
  3. It can take time for a new, valuable link to trigger an increase in SERP rank
  4. All of the above

Answer: It can take time for a new, valuable link to trigger an increase in SERP rank

New, valuable links may take some time to have an effect on your rankings.

True or false: You typically expect and hope to rank higher for terms containing your brand name.

  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

Ranking for branded terms is usually easier than winning non-branded rankings.

“Sold here”, “In stock”, “Provides”, and “Menu highlight” are examples of:

  • Google Posts types
  • Justifications
  • Branded Maps pins
  • Gratifications

Answer: Justifications

“Sold here”, “In stock”, “Provides”, and “Menu highlight” are examples of justifications.

A rel=canonical tag can be used to point search engines to a particular page when tackling these issues.

  • Indexation
  • Duplicate content
  • Slow content
  • Redirect

Answer: Duplicate Content

A rel=canonical tag can be used to point search engines to a particular page when tackling duplicate content issues.

True or false: Minifying your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files can increase your load time.

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Minifying (or reducing the size) of your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files can decrease your load time.

What is the most effective detail to include in reporting in regards to issues that haven’t been fixed yet?

  • The technical details around the issue
  • A timeline of expected progress by prioritization
  • A detailed explanation of why the issue hasn’t been fixed yet
  • Don’t report on issues that haven’t been fixed

Answer: A timeline of expected progress by prioritization

When issues haven’t yet been fixed, the most effective detail to include in reporting is a timeline of expected progress by prioritization.

Which is NOT part of Google’s new Core Web Vitals:

  • Largest contentful paint
  • Site speed
  • First input delay
  • Cumulative layout shift

Answer: Site speed

Largest contentful paint, first input delay, and cumulative layout shift comprise Google’s Core Web Vitals; site speed does not.

This is a way of measuring an amount of advertising presence or strength for a particular brand or product.

  • Search visibility
  • Conversions
  • Share of voice
  • Click-through rate

Answer: Share of voice

Share of voice helps you measure your brand’s strength presence in ads and on the SERPs.

You should report lost SERP features, as there can be correlations to:

  • Increased site traffic
  • Increased ranking
  • Decreased site traffic
  • Decreased DA

Answer: Decreased site traffic

Loss of SERP features can lead to decreased site traffic.

When the searcher performs this kind of search, they typically need knowledge, such as the dimensions of a queen mattress or how to care for a rosebush.

  • Transactional
  • Informational
  • Navigational
  • None of the above

Answer: Informational

When the searcher performs an informational search, they typically need knowledge, such as the dimensions of a queen mattress or how to care for a rosebush.

These push organic results down the page and can impact CTR.

  • Ads
  • Featured snippets
  • Images
  • All of the above

Answer: All of the above

Ads, featured snippets, and images all affect how organic results appear in the SERPs, which can affect organic CTR.

This is content other outlets give freely to you.

  • Owned media
  • Affiliate content
  • Earned media
  • Guest posting

Answer: Earned media

Earned media is content other outlets give freely to you.

RankBrain is a component of Google’s core algorithm which uses this to determine the most relevant results to search engine queries.

  • Natural language processing
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Machine learning
  • Schema

Answer: Machine learning

RankBrain uses machine learning to determine the most relevant results to search engine queries.

  • Long-tail keywords are often [blank] than general keywords.
  • Higher volume
  • Higher difficulty
  • Lower difficulty
  • Lower conversion

Answer: Lower difficulty

Long-tail keywords are often less difficult to rank for than general keywords.

What is 10x content?

  • Content that is 10 times better than the highest ranking result for a given keyword or topic.
  • Content that includes the fundamental 10 core marketing practices all big brands use.
  • Content that includes the 10 most important SEO factors, such as on-page optimization and link building.
  • Content that has been on the Internet for over 10 years.

Answer: Content that is 10 times better than the highest ranking result for a given keyword or topic.

10x content is ten times better than the highest ranking result for a keyword or topic.

A best practice in goal setting is to create S.M.A.R.T. goals. The A stands for:

  • Accountable
  • Authentic
  • Affordable
  • Achievable

Answer: Achievable

Your goals should always be achievable.

In terms of SEO, what ISN’T a content audit used for?

  • Finding content that needs to be updated and made more current
  • Finding the strongest pages on a domain
  • Finding content that serves an HTTP status code error
  • Finding content gap opportunities

Answer: Finding content that serves an HTTP status code error

A content audit can have many purposes and desired outcomes, but finding pages returning status code errors isn’t one of them — that’s what a site audit is for.

If you have more than 100 listings in your Google My Business dashboard, Google stops:

  • Charging you for Ads.
  • Showing your listings on Google Maps.
  • Users from suggesting edits to your listings.
  • Sending you review notifications.

Answer: Sending you review notifications

If you have more than 100 listings in your Google My Business dashboard, Google stops sending you review notifications.

True or false: It’s better to use exact match keywords rather than partial match keywords.

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

While one type is not better or worse than the other, generally speaking, you’ll want to make sure you use the right match type to avoid Google penalties and astronomical AdWords costs.

The best way to use Domain Authority is to…

  • Aim for the highest score possible
  • Aim for the lowest score possible
  • Use it as a comparative metric between you and your true competitors.
  • Compare your site to sites like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

Answer: Use it as a comparative metric between you and your true competitors.

Use Domain Authority as a comparative metric between you and your true competitors, not an absolute score.

What does the directive “disallow” mean?

  • Don’t crawl this page or directory
  • Don’t rank this page or directory
  • Block this page or directory from users
  • Crawl this page or directory, but don’t index it

Answer:  Don’t crawl this page or directory

Instructing a user-agent to “disallow” informs them not to crawl the page or directory.

A 404 status code is a page that:

  • Indicates a server error
  • Has been permanently redirected
  • Has been temporarily redirected
  • Cannot be found

Answer: Cannot be found

A 404 status code is a page that cannot be found.

As a best practice, it’s recommended that you surface and support your core pages through:

  • URL structure
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Navigation
  • All of the above

Answer: All of the above

As a best practice, it’s recommended that you surface and support your core pages through URL structure, breadcrumbs, and navigation.