Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Web Content Designer
💰 $60,000 - $95,000
🎯 Role Definition
The Web Content Designer is responsible for planning, creating, implementing and optimizing web content and interactive experiences that align brand voice, UX best practices and SEO goals. Working at the intersection of content strategy, visual design and front-end implementation, the Web Content Designer partners with product managers, UX researchers, developers and marketing teams to craft user-focused pages, templates and components that drive engagement, conversions and accessibility compliance.
Key areas of ownership include content strategy and governance, page-level information architecture, UX copy and microcopy, CMS templating and styling, SEO and metadata optimization, UX testing and performance analysis, and cross-functional design handoffs to engineering.
📈 Career Progression
Typical Career Path
Entry Point From:
- Junior Content Designer / Junior Web Designer
- UX Writer, Copywriter or Content Specialist with web experience
- Front-End Developer with content or editorial experience
Advancement To:
- Senior Web Content Designer / Lead Content Designer
- UX Content Lead or Content Strategy Manager
- Head of Content Design, Product Content Director
Lateral Moves:
- UX Designer
- Product Designer
- SEO Manager / Content Strategist
Core Responsibilities
Primary Functions
- Develop and execute end-to-end content strategies for web pages, microsites and campaign landing pages that increase organic search visibility, improve conversion rates and maintain consistent brand voice across channels.
- Create high-quality UX copy, microcopy, calls-to-action and error messaging that guide users through tasks, reduce friction, and improve completion rates for key flows such as sign-ups, purchases, and support requests.
- Lead the information architecture and content modeling for new page templates and component libraries, defining content types, fields, metadata, and relationships used by the CMS and front-end components.
- Build and maintain reusable page templates, content modules and design system components in collaboration with Product Design and Engineering to ensure consistent experiences across desktop and mobile.
- Implement on-page SEO best practices including title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, schema markup, URL structure, canonicalization and image optimization to support organic traffic growth.
- Author, edit and publish content within enterprise CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, Sitecore, etc.) including template mapping, field population, and media management while ensuring accessible markup and semantics.
- Translate product requirements and user research findings into clear content recommendations, user flows and prototypes that address user needs and business objectives.
- Conduct regular content audits and inventory to identify gaps, duplication, and opportunities to consolidate or repurpose content for better findability and maintainability.
- Lead A/B tests and multivariate experiments on page copy, layouts and CTAs; analyze results and iterate on content to improve KPIs such as click-through rate, time on page and conversion rate.
- Partner with SEO, analytics and paid media teams to prioritize content work based on keyword research, traffic trends, revenue impact and conversion potential.
- Create and maintain content style guides, tone-of-voice documentation and editorial standards to ensure consistent messaging across web, product and marketing teams.
- Ensure all web content meets accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA or higher), including semantic HTML, alt text, keyboard navigation, color contrast and screen reader compatibility.
- Use HTML, CSS and basic JavaScript to troubleshoot front-end issues, prototype content-driven interactions, and collaborate efficiently with engineering during implementation.
- Produce wireframes and content-aware prototypes in Figma, Adobe XD or Sketch to visualize content layout, responsive behavior and interaction patterns for stakeholder review.
- Conduct user testing sessions and moderated interviews to validate content decisions and refine information architecture, copy and navigation to reduce task completion times and support usability goals.
- Manage content localization and translation workflows with internal teams or external vendors, ensuring cultural relevance, content parity and technical readiness for multilingual publishing.
- Monitor web analytics (Google Analytics, GA4, Adobe Analytics) and content performance dashboards to report on traffic, engagement, conversion funnels, bounce rates and content ROI; recommend data-driven optimizations.
- Coordinate launch plans and QA checklists for content releases, including cross-browser and device testing, broken link checks, metadata verification and performance monitoring.
- Train and support internal stakeholders and content authors on CMS best practices, template usage, editorial workflows and governance to scale consistent content production.
- Maintain governance for evergreen and seasonal content refresh cycles, establishing review cadences, archival rules and lifecycle processes to keep the site current and compliant.
- Collaborate with legal, compliance and privacy teams to ensure content meets regulatory requirements (privacy notices, cookie banners, terms and conditions) and that tracking implementations align with policies.
Secondary Functions
- Conduct keyword gap analysis and work with SEO specialists to inform content briefs and editorial calendars for both organic and paid search initiatives.
- Produce regular content performance reports and insights for leadership and cross-functional partners, including actionable recommendations prioritized by impact and effort.
- Support cross-functional agile teams by participating in sprint planning, grooming, and demo sessions to align content deliverables with product roadmaps and release schedules.
- Assist with rapid content prototyping and guerrilla testing for emergent features, marketing campaigns and promotional pages requiring quick turnarounds.
- Audit and optimize internal linking structures, taxonomy and navigation to improve crawlability and user discoverability across the site.
- Maintain versioning and backup procedures for critical content, coordinating rollback plans for production issues and unexpected regressions.
- Manage relationships with external agencies, freelancers and localization vendors to ensure quality, timeliness and budget adherence for content projects.
- Support corporate content governance initiatives including accessibility remediation projects, content security reviews and CMS migrations.
Required Skills & Competencies
Hard Skills (Technical)
- Expert-level content design and UX writing for web, including crafting microcopy, CTAs, and contextual help that improve user outcomes and conversions.
- Proficient in HTML5 and CSS3 to create or debug content markup and ensure semantic structure and responsive behavior.
- Experience with modern CMS platforms (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, Sitecore) including templating, content modeling and editorial workflows.
- Strong SEO knowledge: keyword research, on-page optimization, structured data (JSON-LD/schema.org), meta tags, canonical handling and technical SEO fundamentals.
- Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 A/AA), assistive technology considerations, and tooling for automated and manual accessibility testing.
- Experience with analytics platforms (Google Analytics/GA4, Adobe Analytics), event tracking, goal setup, and interpreting content performance metrics.
- Proficiency with design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD or InVision for content-layout collaboration and handoff.
- Experience running A/B tests with tools like Optimizely, VWO or Google Optimize and analyzing statistical results to guide content decisions.
- Knowledge of information architecture, content modeling, taxonomies and metadata schema to structure content for findability and reuse.
- Familiarity with front-end build tooling and version control basics (Git) to collaborate effectively with engineering teams.
- Experience working with localization and translation systems (Smartling, Transifex, Lokalise) and managing multilingual content pipelines.
- Strong copyediting, proofreading, and editorial QA skills for publishing error-free, brand-aligned content at scale.
Soft Skills
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with an ability to translate complex concepts into clear, user-centered copy.
- Strong stakeholder management — able to negotiate trade-offs, influence decisions and synthesize feedback from design, product and marketing teams.
- Analytical mindset with a data-driven approach to prioritizing content work and measuring impact against business KPIs.
- Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to quality and consistency in tone, grammar and formatting.
- Project and time management skills to handle multiple concurrent content projects with competing deadlines.
- Creative problem-solving and user empathy to craft content that anticipates user needs and reduces support friction.
- Collaborative team player who contributes to cross-functional rituals, design critiques and shared documentation.
- Adaptability and resilience in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities and iterative development cycles.
- Leadership and mentorship ability to coach junior content creators, editors and designers on best practices.
- Integrity and accountability when handling sensitive content, user data, or compliance-related messaging.
Education & Experience
Educational Background
Minimum Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Communication, English, Journalism, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Marketing, Web Design or a related field; or equivalent professional experience.
Preferred Education:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in HCI, UX Design, Digital Media, Information Architecture, or related disciplines with coursework in web technologies and content strategy.
Relevant Fields of Study:
- Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
- Communication, Journalism, or English
- Graphic/Web Design or Digital Media
- Marketing, Content Strategy or Information Science
- Computer Science (front-end focus)
Experience Requirements
Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of hands-on experience designing and publishing web content, managing a CMS, and collaborating with product/engineering teams.
Preferred: 5+ years of demonstrated experience as a Web Content Designer, Content Strategist or UX Writer with a portfolio showing content-led design projects, SEO results, accessibility compliance and cross-functional implementations.