Web content manager

Web content managers ensure that the content of a website is well-structured, easy to find and meets the needs of its users

As a web content manager, you'll make sure websites are accurate, up to date and easy to use. You'll manage a mix of content - from pages, images and videos to blogs, articles and reviews - ensuring it's optimised for SEO, accessible to all users, and compliant with copyright and data protection laws.

On smaller sites you may create and edit content yourself, while on larger ones you'll act as a coordinator and project manager, commissioning work and overseeing writers and editors. You'll plan content schedules and audits, train staff, and be the in-house expert on your organisation’s content management system (CMS).

You’ll also collaborate with developers, IT teams and digital marketers, and run user testing and research projects to make sure content meets audience needs and supports wider digital campaigns.

Responsibilities

As a web content manager, you'll need to:

• manage your company CMS, working with developers and editors to ensure it's meeting the needs of your organisation
• conduct content audits to identify gaps and redundancies in the site content
• create and implement content schedules for people to produce or update content
• produce maps and visualisations of the site to help staff understand the structure and function of the website
• write and edit web copy
• source, commission and sometimes edit images and videos
• develop policies relating to your organisation's web content, such as a house style
• analyse analytics data to learn how users interact with your site
• survey users and hold focus groups to learn about how they view your site
• train staff in writing and producing content for the web
• occasionally update HTML, CSS and JavaScript on your site
• stay knowledgeable about your site's subject area
• optimise content for search engines (SEO) and accessibility standards (e.g. WCAG 2.2)
• ensure compliance with copyright, data protection and privacy requirements
• collaborate with digital marketing teams on cross-channel campaigns.

Salary

• Starting salaries for web content assistants or coordinators are £23,000 to £28,000.
• Web content managers and digital content managers can earn between £30,000 and £45,000.
• Senior web content managers, website managers and heads of digital can earn £45,000 to £60,000+

Salaries usually depend on the size and importance of the website, as well as on whether you have any extra responsibilities, such as managing writers and editors. London salaries and those in large organisations are usually higher.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

You'll typically work a 9am to 5pm week. Occasional evening and weekend work may be necessary to coordinate with large marketing campaigns, events, product launches or the development of a new website.

Part-time work and job sharing are possible for web content managers, as you'll usually put in place policies, content plans, and schedules for your organisation to follow in your absence. Companies may hire on a fixed-term basis if they're looking for a web content manager to come in and set up guidelines, or to complete a specific project, such as migrating content to a new website.

What to expect

• You'll be based in an office, with regular meetings, presentations and training sessions with website contributors and other stakeholders. You may have a chance to work with users directly, running focus groups, for example.
• You'll coordinate the work of different web contributors, who might have different priorities or ideas. This can be challenging but also a good opportunity to understand the needs of the whole organisation.
• In smaller companies, you'll be expected to produce a lot of the content yourself, so you can expect a lot of independent, computer-based work.

Qualifications

You don't need a formal qualification to become a web content manager, however, a degree can provide useful experience in writing, editing, presenting and group coordination, particularly if it's mainly assessed through essays and presentations.

A degree or qualification in a similar subject to the website you are managing can be advantageous as you'll be able to apply your knowledge to identify gaps and inaccuracies in the content.

Sometimes employers look for candidates with a qualification in information management, media management or digital communications. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) provides a list of accredited qualifications, which includes undergraduate and postgraduate courses, foundation degrees and short courses. See the list at CILIP - Getting Qualified.

Other valued qualifications include digital marketing and content-focused courses from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI).

Skills and experience are most important, and these can be gained through education, work experience and volunteering opportunities.

Skills

You'll need to be:

• highly organised, with the ability to work on multiple projects at once
• experienced with one or more CMS
• strategic, and able to oversee large projects and coordinate the work of others
• an excellent writer and editor, with good spelling and grammar and the ability to adapt to house styles
• able to research, collate and summarise information from different sources
• logical and analytical, with an ability to spot patterns, gaps and repetitions in web content
• able to communicate confidently and clearly with a variety of stakeholders
• technically minded, with an understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other web technologies
• knowledgeable about the website's users and industry
• willing to stay up to date with developments in your subject area and in developments in the digital world
• skilled in SEO, content optimisation and analytics (e.g. Google Analytics GA4, Data Studio)
• aware of accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive content practices
• able to adapt content for mobile-first and multi-platform environments.

Work experience

If you don't have direct experience managing websites, start by experimenting with content management systems such as WordPress or Drupal to build your own site or blog. Focus on organising content into clear, user-friendly sections and use tools like Google Analytics to track and interpret visitor data.

Volunteering can also be a great way to gain experience - for example, helping a student society, charity, or small business update and maintain their site. Offer to carry out a content audit, set up content schedules and guidelines, or create new copy for out-of-date pages. This gives you hands-on experience working with real stakeholders.

Employers also value transferable skills such as project management, teamwork, problem solving, research, and clear written communication. You can build these not only through internships, part-time jobs and volunteering, but also through university projects or personal activities where you've had to plan, coordinate, or communicate effectively.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Not every website requires a web content manager. The demand for such a role is usually confined to large websites or those which are content-heavy. It's more common to find vacancies in public sector organisations and large private sector organisations, than in SMEs and start-ups.

Typical employers include:

• charities, museums and heritage organisations
• educational institutions
• large commercial organisations, which need to provide a lot of information to their customers, such as banks
• professional and government bodies
• digital marketing agencies, publishing and media organisations, ecommerce companies and tech firms.

If an organisation doesn't have an in-house web content manager, they may use a digital agency to hire a temporary web content manager or consultant to carry out a large update to their site, implement a CMS, or set up future content plans and schedules. Digital agencies can therefore be a good source of vacancies.

With experience, you could consider freelancing and approaching companies yourself to implement content management solutions. Freelancers have full responsibility for sourcing and completing their work and it can be difficult to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

If you're interested in working for a particular employer or in a certain sector look for jobs in the specialist press and journals.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Bubble Jobs
• Campaign Jobs
• MW Jobs
• The Drum Jobs

Agency work is likely to be a lot more varied than working in-house, though often an agency will still specialise in one industry or type or organisation, as their clients' content needs are likely to be similar.

Professional development

Early on you'll receive in-depth training on your employer's CMS, as this knowledge is often difficult to transfer between companies.

Often CMS providers offer courses and assessments, which you can take to become a certified user and trainer. Large CMS companies may also hold annual meet ups and conferences, which you can attend to stay up to date with any developments and to network and share ideas with other users.

Other training that your employer may fund or provide includes:

• project management, perhaps specialist training in the methodologies your organisation uses, such as Scrum and Kanban
• front-end web development training, such as programming with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• writing for the web
• web accessibility
• negotiating, persuasion and influencing skills
• analytics, data analysis and market research
• information classification and management
• user experience and user interface design.

Career prospects

If you're lacking experience, you'll usually start your career as a web content assistant, writer or editor of the website, company blog or social media account.

After a couple of years, your next step up may be to an intermediate level where you'll fulfil a role such as web content coordinator. At this level you could also manage a section of the website.

You'll need three or more years of experience before you can take on the management of an entire website, though this may vary depending on the size of the site.

Once you've achieved a web content management role you could take on more responsibility and become a digital content manager, which typically includes working on social media accounts, blogs and digital marketing campaigns. You may gain more strategic responsibility and become a website manager or head of digital in your organisation, where you'll be responsible for helping to steer the direction of the company's digital strategy.

The skills you acquire as a web content manager lend themselves to a sideways career move into areas such as project management, digital marketing, and digital publishing and archiving. Other common progression routes include content strategy, UX design, digital experience management, and product management.