Top 12 Content Writer Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's digital age, content writers carry the load of engaging audiences and steering traffic with words that actually move. A sharp resume that spotlights your strongest skills can jolt a hiring manager’s interest and nudge you past the pile.

Content Writer Skills

  1. SEO Optimization
  2. WordPress
  3. Google Analytics
  4. HTML Basics
  5. CMS Experience
  6. Copywriting
  7. Proofreading
  8. HubSpot
  9. Social Media
  10. Content Management
  11. Research
  12. Adobe Photoshop

1. SEO Optimization

SEO Optimization for a content writer means shaping on-page text and structure so search engines can understand, rank, and reward it. Smart keywords, clean structure, meaningful internal links, and content that actually answers real questions—those are the gears turning behind the scenes.

Why It's Important

SEO lifts your words into view. More visibility means more readers, more leads, more momentum. It feeds traffic and deepens engagement without paying for every click.

How to Improve SEO Optimization Skills

Level up with deliberate practice and a tight process:

  1. Keyword Research: Find relevant search terms with intent. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs. Place primary and related terms naturally in titles, headers, and copy. Don’t stuff—guide.

  2. High-Quality Content: Be useful, fast. Answer the question, then the next one. Use tools like Yoast SEO to keep readability and metadata tidy.

  3. On-Page Fundamentals: Clear titles, descriptive meta descriptions, concise URLs, proper heading hierarchy, descriptive alt text. Small edits, big returns.

  4. Internal Linking: Weave related posts together. Help readers dig deeper and help search engines map your site.

  5. Mobile-First Experience: Make content responsive and legible on phones. Test with Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights and fix what’s slow or jumpy.

  6. Loading Speed and Web Vitals: Improve Core Web Vitals—LCP, CLS, and INP. Compress images, lazy-load media, trim scripts, cache aggressively.

  7. Backlinks: Earn mentions from reputable sites with standout resources, digital PR, and contributor content. Quality > quantity.

  8. Social Distribution: Share content where your audience gathers. It won’t directly rank you, but it sparks traffic and discovery.

  9. Content Refreshes: Update aging posts with new data, better structure, and sharper examples. Freshness signals win.

  10. Analytics Feedback Loop: Track performance in Google Analytics 4 and Search Console. Double down on what draws engaged readers; fix pages that rank but don’t convert.

With consistent, reader-first execution, rankings follow. Slowly at first—then all at once.

How to Display SEO Optimization Skills on Your Resume

How to Display SEO Optimization Skills on Your Resume

2. WordPress

WordPress is a widely used content management system that lets writers draft, edit, optimize, and publish without touching code. Blocks, media, metadata—manageable in minutes.

Why It's Important

It’s the home base. From SEO fields to scheduling to collaborative editing, WordPress gives writers control and speed without developer delays.

How to Improve WordPress Skills

Polish the workflow, tighten the site, write faster:

  1. Performance: Add caching, compress images (e.g., Smush or similar), and keep themes/plugins lean.
  2. SEO: Use a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math for structured metadata, sitemaps, and readability checks.
  3. Editorial Planning: Use an editorial calendar plugin to map deadlines, owners, and status.
  4. Distraction-Free Mode: In the block editor, enable distraction-free writing to focus on the words.
  5. Backups and Security: Schedule backups (e.g., UpdraftPlus) and add a reputable security plugin (e.g., Wordfence).
  6. Style and Grammar: Run browser-based assistants like Grammarly or Hemingway for quick polish.
  7. Social Sharing: Configure social sharing buttons and, if appropriate, set up auto-sharing for evergreen posts.

Small improvements stack. Publishing becomes smooth, reliable, less brittle.

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics reveals how readers arrive, what they touch, and when they bounce. In GA4 you track events, conversions, engagement—then shape content that performs.

Why It's Important

Data steers your strategy. You learn which topics and formats punch above their weight and which ones need a rethink.

How to Improve Google Analytics Skills

Work with GA4’s model, not against it:

  1. Define Conversions: Replace old “Goals” thinking with GA4 conversions. Mark form submits, downloads, sign-ups, or key engagement events as conversions.

  2. Engagement Metrics: Watch engagement rate, average engagement time, and views per user. They reveal stickiness better than raw pageviews.

  3. Traffic Acquisition: Break down channels, campaigns, and mediums. Prioritize sources delivering engaged sessions—not just volume.

  4. Search Insights: Connect Search Console to see queries and landing pages that earn impressions and clicks, then refine on-page content to close gaps.

  5. Segments and Comparisons: Use comparisons or build audiences to study specific user groups (e.g., mobile readers, new vs. returning, engaged > 2 minutes).

  6. Content Grouping: Implement content groups via event parameters (e.g., content_group) to compare categories like guides vs. product pages.

  7. Path Exploration: Use Path Exploration to trace journeys across pages and events. Smooth the friction points you uncover.

  8. Experimentation: For A/B tests, use built-in CMS experiments or third-party tools (e.g., Optimizely, VWO). Google Optimize has been sunset.

  9. Review Cadence: Make analytics reviews a habit. Monthly trends, weekly checks, quick pivots.

Numbers tell a story. You write the better ending.

How to Display Google Analytics Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Google Analytics Skills on Your Resume

4. HTML Basics

HTML is the scaffolding of the web. Headings, paragraphs, links, images, lists—each tag adds meaning and structure so browsers (and search engines) can make sense of your content.

Why It's Important

With HTML basics, you format cleanly, fix small issues yourself, and present content accessibly. Better structure, better SEO, better reader experience.

How to Improve HTML Basics Skills

Get hands-on and keep it simple:

  1. Document Structure: Understand the skeleton—doctype, html, head, body. Know where metadata lives and why it matters.

  2. Common Tags: Practice headings (h1–h6), paragraph (p), links (a), images (img), lists (ul/ol with li), emphasis (em/strong), and semantic sections (header, nav, main, article, section, footer).

  3. Play in a Sandbox: Use a browser, a code editor, and live preview. Short reps, quick feedback.

  4. SEO Touchpoints: Titles, meta descriptions, headings, alt text, and logical order. Human-friendly first; machine-readable by design.

  5. Stay Current: HTML evolves. Skim reputable docs and changelogs every so often.

  6. Read Page Source: Peek under the hood of pages you admire. Learn by observing solid patterns.

Master the fundamentals and everything else snaps into place.

How to Display HTML Basics Skills on Your Resume

How to Display HTML Basics Skills on Your Resume

5. CMS Experience

CMS experience means you can create, edit, organize, and publish digital content without deep technical lift. You know the workflow, the permissions, the templates—and how to avoid breaking things.

Why It's Important

Because speed matters. A writer who moves confidently in a CMS keeps content fresh, consistent, and on-brand, without waiting in line for simple changes.

How to Improve CMS Experience Skills

Build practical fluency, not just theory:

  • Clean Interface: Favor systems with intuitive dashboards (e.g., WordPress) and learn the shortcuts that save time.

  • Responsive Previews: Check content on mobile, tablet, and desktop before publishing. Fix layout quirks early.

  • Training and SOPs: Create quick-reference guides for your team. Screenshots, do’s and don’ts, publishing checklists.

  • Search and Taxonomy: Use tags, categories, and internal search wisely so content stays findable months later.

  • Customization: Learn how templates, components, and shortcodes work (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Adobe Experience Manager, etc.).

  • SEO Integration: Use built-in or plugin-based SEO fields to standardize titles, metas, schema, and sitemaps.

  • Multimedia Support: Ensure images, video, and embeds are optimized and accessible (alt text, captions, transcripts).

The goal: publish confidently, with fewer steps and fewer surprises.

How to Display CMS Experience Skills on Your Resume

How to Display CMS Experience Skills on Your Resume

6. Copywriting

Copywriting is persuasive writing that nudges action—sign up, click, buy, reply. It’s empathy wrapped in clarity, sharpened by strategy.

Why It's Important

The right words move people. Strong copy turns attention into outcomes without shouting.

How to Improve Copywriting Skills

Sharpen instincts and technique:

  1. Know the Audience: Interview customers, read reviews, mine support tickets. Language from the source beats guesses.

  2. Headline Reps: Draft many. Keep the winners. Test the rest.

  3. Benefits Over Features: Translate specs into outcomes. Show how life gets better.

  4. Clarity First: Short sentences. Strong verbs. Plain words. No fluff.

  5. Persuasion Frameworks: AIDA, PAS, storytelling arcs—use frameworks as scaffolding, not cages.

  6. Crystalline CTAs: Tell readers exactly what to do and why now.

  7. Edit Ruthlessly: Cut 20%. Then cut again. Read aloud to catch snags.

  8. Swipe File: Save great examples. Deconstruct why they work. Rebuild with your voice.

  9. Practice Daily: Small drills, big dividends. Consistency beats intensity.

Write, test, refine. Repeat until it sings.

How to Display Copywriting Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Copywriting Skills on Your Resume

7. Proofreading

Proofreading is the final pass. Typos, tense slips, punctuation stumbles—gone. The polish that helps readers glide.

Why It's Important

Credibility lives in the details. Clean copy reads better, reflects professionalism, and reduces support headaches later.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

Slow down to speed up:

  1. Step Away: Take a breather before the proof. Fresh eyes spot fresh errors.

  2. Read Aloud: Your ear catches what your eyes miss.

  3. Use Tools: Run a grammar and style pass with software, then do a human pass. Tools help, they don’t finish the job.

  4. Consistency: Maintain voice, tense, capitalization, and terminology across the piece.

  5. Single-Issue Passes: One pass for spelling, one for punctuation, one for formatting.

  6. Print or Reformat: Changing the medium reveals mistakes you gloss over on screen.

  7. Second Pair of Eyes: Peer review catches blind spots.

  8. Personal Checklist: Track your common errors and hunt them deliberately.

  9. Reverse Read: For spelling, go line by line backwards.

  10. Keep Practicing: The muscle gets stronger with reps. Consider short courses focused on editing and proofreading.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

8. HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one platform for content, SEO, email, social, CRM, and analytics. A single place to plan, publish, and measure.

Why It's Important

Writers can create content, optimize it, and track outcomes without tool sprawl. Less juggling, more creating.

How to Improve HubSpot Skills

Turn the platform into a force multiplier:

  1. SEO Tools: Research keywords, optimize on-page fields, and tidy technical basics.

  2. Content Strategy: Map campaign pillars, build topic clusters, and manage a calendar that actually ships.

  3. Analytics: Track page performance, conversions, and assisted influence across channels. Adjust quickly.

  4. Automation: Use email sequences and social scheduling to promote content on autopilot.

  5. Ongoing Learning: Take HubSpot Academy courses and stay current on product updates.

  6. Integrations: Connect design and writing tools (e.g., Canva, Grammarly) and sync with the CRM for closed-loop reporting.

The result is a tighter loop from idea to impact.

How to Display HubSpot Skills on Your Resume

How to Display HubSpot Skills on Your Resume

9. Social Media

Social media is the public square—short posts, threads, videos, carousels. Conversation at speed. For writers, it’s where messages travel and ideas get tested.

Why It's Important

It amplifies reach, builds community, and funnels attention back to owned content. A living focus group, every day.

How to Improve Social Media Skills

Create for people, not algorithms (then win both):

  1. Audience Insight: Study platform analytics and run quick polls. Mirror the audience’s language and cadence.

  2. Quality Over Quantity: Useful, visual, skimmable. Think hooks, captions, and thumb-stopping images.

  3. Searchability: Use relevant keywords and hashtags thoughtfully. Clarity > keyword stuffing.

  4. Engage: Reply, ask, reshare. Community grows when you show up.

  5. Measure: Track saves, shares, comments, watch time, and click-throughs. Optimize formats, not just topics.

  6. Consistency: Keep a posting rhythm and a recognizable voice.

  7. Experiment: Test new formats and platforms. Kill what underperforms; scale what pops.

Momentum compounds when you listen and iterate.

How to Display Social Media Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Social Media Skills on Your Resume

10. Content Management

Content Management means planning, creating, organizing, versioning, approving, and publishing—on time and in one piece.

Why It's Important

Without process, content clogs. With it, quality rises, updates stay on schedule, and distribution becomes repeatable.

How to Improve Content Management Skills

Tidy the pipeline end to end:

  1. Content Calendar: Plan themes, owners, deadlines, and channels. Keep status visible.

  2. Use a CMS: Standardize templates, components, and workflows in a system like WordPress.

  3. SEO Built In: Use tools (e.g., Yoast SEO) to standardize metadata and indexing rules.

  4. Cloud Storage: Organize drafts, briefs, and assets with shared folders and naming conventions.

  5. Version Control: Track changes and approvals. Protect the final draft from last-minute chaos.

  6. Refresh Cadence: Audit content and update what’s aging out. Redirect wisely.

  7. Analytics: Review performance regularly in GA4 and adjust topics, formats, or CTAs accordingly.

Good process shrinks friction and frees up creative energy.

How to Display Content Management Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Content Management Skills on Your Resume

11. Research

Research is how you ground claims, uncover nuance, and find the stat that makes a paragraph pop. It’s rigor, not rabbit holes.

Why It's Important

Accuracy builds trust. Depth earns shares. Insight drives action.

How to Improve Research Skills

Be systematic, then skeptical:

  1. Define the Goal: Know what you’re proving or exploring before you start.

  2. Advanced Search: Use operators to narrow results and surface authoritative sources.

  3. Source Evaluation: Prefer primary data, reputable publications, and subject-matter experts.

  4. Toolbox: Use resources like Google Scholar, industry reports, and trusted data platforms.

  5. Organize Notes: Keep citations, quotes, and links tidy in a notes app or reference manager (e.g., Evernote, Zotero).

  6. Cross-Verify: Confirm key facts with multiple sources.

  7. Critical Thinking: Look for bias, context, and sample size. Don’t oversell shaky data.

  8. Track Sources: Record references as you go to avoid backtracking.

  9. Stay Current: Set alerts for topics you cover frequently.

  10. Peer Feedback: Share findings with a colleague to expose gaps and blind spots.

Good research makes writing faster and arguments stronger.

How to Display Research Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Research Skills on Your Resume

12. Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop lets you edit and create images that elevate articles, landing pages, and social posts. Thumbnails, illustrations, quick fixes—done.

Why It's Important

Compelling visuals boost time on page and shareability. The right graphic can explain what a paragraph struggles to say.

How to Improve Adobe Photoshop Skills

Focus on practical, repeatable techniques:

  1. Guided Learning: Work through structured tutorials from Adobe and respected educators.

  2. Consistent Practice: Schedule short weekly sessions. Recreate designs you admire.

  3. Templates: Start from high-quality templates to learn layout, spacing, and hierarchy.

  4. Community: Share work-in-progress and request critique in design communities.

  5. Shortcuts: Memorize keyboard shortcuts for tools you use daily. Speed matters.

  6. Follow Pros: Keep up with new features and workflows via blogs and video channels.

  7. Plugins: Add plugins or extensions that streamline routine tasks.

Over time, you’ll build a quick, clean workflow that supports the story rather than overshadowing it.

How to Display Adobe Photoshop Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Adobe Photoshop Skills on Your Resume
Top 12 Content Writer Skills to Put on Your Resume