How to Become a Content Developer?
Content developers write and publish all types of content.
What is a content developer?
Content developers research, create, publish, and distribute content for websites and publications.
While the responsibilities of the role vary by company, content developer may work on:
What do content developers do?
Here are some typical tasks for a content developer:
Content writer vs. content developer
Many people refer to “content writer” and “content developer” interchangeably, but they describe two distinct roles.
Content writer:
Content writers create written content for brands (typically adhering to SEO best practices). They write many types of content, including blog posts, white papers, case studies, etc.
But in most cases, content writers won’t be involved in the entire content creation process. They oversee just the written copy.
Content developer:
Content developers are responsible for the entire production process.
In addition to writing and proofreading, they research, publish, optimize, and track the content. This could include written content, graphics, video content, podcasts, and other formats.
Because of this, content developers should have a wide range of skills.
What skills do content developers need?
They should have a mix of technical and writing skills.
They need to create content that will resonate with their target audience. But they also need to publish the content and fix formatting errors within a content management system (CMS).
Here are main skills to becoming a content developer:
Research
Research is a large part of a content developer’s job. The content they produce needs to be up to date and accurate.
And accurate, helpful content helps build a brand’s credibility.
“Research” is an umbrella term that encompasses digital research, customer interviews, surveys, and more. Content developers may need to get creative depending on their assignments.
Writing and Editing
Writing is a large part of the role for content developers. Announcements, product changes, and sales offerings happen quickly in the world of marketing.
A content developer needs to write compelling copy that matches a company’s tone of voice.
It’s crucial that they are comfortable writing because they’ll likely be producing a wide range of writing content formats.
It’s also important that content developers have editing skills. They’ll need to proof their own copy, plus spot errors and inaccuracies on live content that could interfere with user experience.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of improving your site’s ranking on search engines like google. Because content developers produce web content, they should be familiar with SEO basics.
Whether you’re optimizing website copy, publishing a blog, or writing product descriptions, you need to follow SEO best practices if you want your site to rank.
Multimedia content creation
Web content developers don’t just create written content.
The best content developers are also familiar with creating graphics, video content, and audio content.
If you’re still expanding your skill set, use a tool like Canva to get started. They have templates for still ads, social media graphics, infographics, and other images that you may need.
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And find professional, free stock photos from sites like unsplash, pexels, and pixabay.
CMS and HTML proficiency
Content developers spend a lot of time in the backend of their company’s website. And they’ll need to post content directly to the site’s CMS.
So it’s important to understand common CMSs, like WordPress and wix. This way, content developers can publish error free content, spot technical bugs before they become a problem, and, eventually, teach team members to do the same.
Most CMSs don’t require deep coding knowledge to operate. However it’s can be useful to know basic HTML if you’re going to publish content.
Knowing basic HTML allows you to fix all sorts of CMS bugs and issues. So it’s a useful skill for any content developer.
How to become a content developer
Here are few tips-
Study a related discipline
Many companies require a degree or equivalent certification for marketing roles. Marketing, writing, or graphic design degrees can help you get a leg up. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a formal degree.
There are plenty of free online resources you can use to learn more about writing, editing, publishing, visual content, etc.
Get hands on experience
Hands on experience through an internship or freelance position will help you:
Create a portfolio
A portfolio is a collection of documents that represent a creative professional’s work.
Keep track of everything you work on. And keep in mind that webpage copy isn’t forever so be sure to grab screenshots and save articles of work you are proud of in case they are updated later.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have any professional samples yet. Get creative and publish your own samples.
You don’t need to have a business on even a website, either. Come up with a fake business and publish samples for it in your portfolio. Or id you really want to impress a company you are applying to, you can create a sample for their brand.
Network
Anyone can network these days thanks to LinkedIn and other social network sites.
Start by following people and companies you are interested in. Engage with their content and keep an eye out for open positions.
You can also use LinkedIn’s job search feature to find roles you are interested in. Then reach out to the hiring manager if they are listed. If they aren’t navigating to the company’s LinkedIn page to try and find someone in a related role or department.
Content developer job description
Every company has different requirements when searching for a content developer, but some job requirements are more universal.
I analyzed some of the most competitive content developer job posting to create a description for your reference:
Duties and responsibilities
Requirements and qualifications
Grow your content developer skills
Whether you want to get a content developer job or you already have one, it’s important to keep working on your skill set.
First and foremost, stay up to date with trends in marketing and SEO. And if you have time, earning certifications and familiarizing yourself with new tools and software will only help.
No matter your background, you can become a strong content developer if you have the right skills.
Best of Luck.
Dhananjay Kadwa
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