Top 12 Content Strategist Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's digital age, content strategists play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative and engagement strategies of businesses across various platforms. A well-crafted resume highlighting key skills can set you apart, showcasing your ability to drive content creation, audience engagement, and strategic planning to potential employers.

Content Strategist Skills

1. SEO Optimization
2. WordPress
3. Google Analytics
4. Content Management
5. Social Media
6. HubSpot
7. Market Research
8. UX/UI Principles
9. Adobe Creative Suite
10. A/B Testing
11. Data Analysis
12. Storytelling

1. SEO Optimization

SEO optimization involves enhancing website elements and content to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results pages, aiming to increase organic traffic and user engagement. For a Content Strategist, it involves strategically crafting and structuring content with relevant keywords, quality information, and user intent in mind to meet search engine criteria and audience needs.

Why It's Important

SEO optimization is crucial for a Content Strategist because it ensures content is highly visible and ranks well in search engine results, driving more organic traffic to the website, increasing engagement, and enhancing the effectiveness of the content strategy.

How to Improve SEO Optimization Skills

To improve SEO Optimization as a Content Strategist, focus on:

1. Keyword Research: Identify relevant, high-volume keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner. Incorporate these into titles, headers, and body content strategically without keyword stuffing.

2. Quality Content Creation: Produce valuable, engaging, and original content that satisfies user intent. Tools like Grammarly can help ensure readability and grammatical accuracy.

3. On-Page SEO: Optimize page titles, meta descriptions, header tags, and images. Use Yoast SEO for WordPress sites as a guide.

4. Mobile Optimization: Ensure your site is mobile-friendly with Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.

5. Page Speed: Improve loading times using Google PageSpeed Insights for recommendations.

6. Internal Linking: Create a web of links within your site to keep users engaged and distribute page authority.

7. Backlink Building: Gain authoritative backlinks through guest blogging, collaborations, and producing shareable content. Tools like Ahrefs can help track your backlink profile.

8. Social Media Engagement: Share content on social media platforms to drive traffic and engagement.

9. Regular Updates: Frequently update your content to keep it fresh and relevant.

10. Analytics Monitoring: Use Google Analytics to track performance and adjust strategies accordingly.

Focusing on these areas will help improve your site's SEO, driving more organic traffic and enhancing user engagement.

How to Display SEO Optimization Skills on Your Resume

2. WordPress

WordPress is a flexible and user-friendly content management system (CMS) that enables content strategists to create, manage, and publish digital content on websites without needing extensive technical knowledge.

Why It's Important

WordPress is crucial for a Content Strategist because it offers an intuitive, flexible platform for creating, organizing, and optimizing content efficiently, enhancing the overall content strategy and digital presence.

How to Improve WordPress Skills

To improve WordPress for a Content Strategist, focus on these key strategies:

1. Content Organization: Use categories and tags efficiently for better navigation and SEO. WordPress Codex on Categories vs Tags.

2. SEO Optimization: Leverage plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO for optimizing content, improving readability, and ensuring your site is search engine friendly. Yoast SEO.

3. Performance Optimization: Enhance site speed and performance with caching plugins like WP Rocket and image optimization tools like Smush. WP Rocket, Smush.

4. Content Calendar: Plan and schedule your content effectively with an editorial calendar plugin like Editorial Calendar. This helps in maintaining a consistent content strategy. Editorial Calendar.

5. Analytics and Reporting: Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your site's performance and make data-driven decisions. Integrate with plugins like MonsterInsights for easier access within WordPress. MonsterInsights.

6. Security Measures: Keep your site secure with plugins like Wordfence or Sucuri to prevent hacking and ensure your content's safety. Wordfence, Sucuri.

7. Quality Content Creation: Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that provides value to your audience. Use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway for editing and readability improvements. Grammarly, Hemingway.

8. Feedback and Engagement: Engage with your audience through comments, social sharing, and feedback tools. Plugins like Disqus or Akismet can help manage comments effectively. Disqus, Akismet.

Implementing these strategies can significantly enhance the effectiveness of a WordPress site from a content strategy perspective.

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic and user behavior, providing valuable insights for content strategists to optimize content strategies and improve user engagement.

Why It's Important

For a Content Strategist, Google Analytics is crucial as it provides insightful data on audience behavior, content performance, and engagement trends, enabling informed decisions to optimize content strategy for better reach and effectiveness.

How to Improve Google Analytics Skills

Improving Google Analytics for a Content Strategist involves focusing on specific metrics that align with content goals, setting up custom reports, and integrating with other tools for enhanced insights. Here's a concise guide:

1. Define Clear Goals: Begin by setting SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This will guide what you track and analyze in Google Analytics. Setting up goals in Google Analytics.

2. Focus on Content-Specific Metrics: Track metrics like page views, average time on page, bounce rate, and exit rate to gauge content performance. Additionally, monitor the behavior flow to understand how users navigate through your content. Understanding Content Analytics.

3. Use Segmentation: Create segments to analyze specific types of users, such as those coming from social media or those who engage with a particular type of content. This helps tailor your strategy to different audience needs. How to create segments in Google Analytics.

4. Set Up Custom Reports: Tailor reports to focus on the information most relevant to your content strategy, saving time and providing clearer insights. Custom Reports in Google Analytics.

5. Integrate with Google Search Console: Linking Google Analytics with the Google Search Console provides insights into how your content performs in search results, including keywords that drive traffic to your site. Integrating Google Search Console.

6. Leverage Content Grouping: Group your content into categories to see which types of content perform best. This helps in understanding what resonates with your audience. Content Grouping in Google Analytics.

7. Regularly Review and Adjust: Continuously monitor your analytics to identify trends, and don't hesitate to adjust your strategy based on data-driven insights. Regular reviews ensure your content strategy remains aligned with your goals.

By focusing on these steps, a Content Strategist can effectively leverage Google Analytics to refine and improve their content strategy, making it more data-driven and aligned with audience needs.

How to Display Google Analytics Skills on Your Resume

4. Content Management

Content Management involves overseeing and organizing digital content (text, multimedia, documents) to ensure it is stored, accessed, and published effectively, aligning with strategic goals and enhancing user engagement.

Why It's Important

Content Management is crucial for a Content Strategist as it ensures the organized, efficient, and strategic creation, storage, and delivery of content. This facilitates consistent messaging, enhances audience engagement, and optimizes content for search engines, ultimately supporting the achievement of business goals.

How to Improve Content Management Skills

Improving content management involves a strategic approach focused on organizing, storing, and delivering content efficiently. Here are concise steps for a Content Strategist:

1. Audit Content: Regularly review your content to identify gaps, redundancies, and outdated information. Use tools like Screaming Frog for SEO and content audits.

2. Define Goals: Align your content management strategy with your business objectives. Setting clear goals helps in creating relevant and targeted content.

3. Adopt a CMS: Choose a Content Management System (CMS) that fits your needs. Platforms like WordPress and Drupal offer flexibility and scalability.

4. Implement Content Governance: Establish guidelines and standards for content creation, publication, and archiving. Tools like GatherContent can help streamline this process.

5. Optimize for SEO: Make your content easily discoverable by optimizing for search engines. Use Google's Keyword Planner for keyword research.

6. Leverage Analytics: Use analytics to understand how your content performs. Tools like Google Analytics provide insights into user behavior and content engagement.

7. Continuous Improvement: Adopt a culture of testing and learning. Use A/B testing tools like Optimizely to experiment with different content strategies.

By focusing on these steps, Content Strategists can enhance their content management practices, ensuring that their content reaches the right audience at the right time and through the right channels.

How to Display Content Management Skills on Your Resume

5. Social Media

Social media refers to digital platforms that facilitate the creation, sharing, and exchange of content, ideas, and communication among users, serving as a crucial channel for content strategists to engage and expand their audience.

Why It's Important

Social media is crucial for a Content Strategist as it provides platforms to distribute content widely, engage directly with audiences, gather insights through social listening, and adapt strategies based on real-time feedback, thereby enhancing brand visibility and driving targeted traffic.

How to Improve Social Media Skills

Improving social media as a Content Strategist involves a blend of creativity, analytics, and strategic planning. Here's a concise guide to enhancing your social media presence:

1. Understand Your Audience: Dive deep into analytics to understand who your audience is. Tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Insights can provide valuable data on your audience's demographics, interests, and behavior.

2. Content Calendar Creation: Develop a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts. This ensures consistency and relevance. Tools like Trello or Asana can help organize your content strategy.

3. Engaging Content: Create content that resonates with your audience. Incorporate a mix of formats such as videos, infographics, and blogs. Websites like Canva offer easy-to-use templates for creating visually appealing content.

4. Leverage SEO: Use SEO strategies to increase your content's visibility. Tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush can help identify relevant keywords to include in your social media posts and content.

5. Engage with Your Audience: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and mentions. This builds a community and encourages more interaction with your content.

6. Analyze and Adapt: Regularly review your social media analytics to understand what's working and what's not. Platforms like Hootsuite or Sprout Social offer comprehensive analytics to measure your social media performance.

7. Paid Advertising: Consider utilizing paid advertising to extend your reach. Most social media platforms offer targeted advertising options to help you reach a broader or more specific audience.

8. Influencer Collaboration: Partner with influencers who align with your brand to reach new audiences. Platforms like BuzzSumo can help identify influential figures in your industry.

By implementing these strategies, you can significantly improve your social media presence and effectiveness as a Content Strategist.

How to Display Social Media Skills on Your Resume

6. HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing, sales, and service platform that offers tools and resources for content management, automation, and optimization, helping Content Strategists to create, distribute, and analyze content to achieve their marketing goals efficiently.

Why It's Important

HubSpot is crucial for a Content Strategist because it integrates content management, SEO, analytics, and automation tools in one platform, enabling efficient planning, execution, and optimization of content strategies to drive engagement and conversions.

How to Improve HubSpot Skills

To improve HubSpot as a Content Strategist, focus on:

1. Leveraging SEO Tools: Utilize HubSpot's SEO tools to optimize content for search engines, ensuring your content reaches its intended audience.

2. Content Personalization: Use personalization features to tailor content to different segments of your audience, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.

3. Analytics and Reporting: Regularly analyze performance data using HubSpot's analytics tools to understand content impact and refine strategy accordingly.

4. Content Calendar Management: Implement a structured content calendar within HubSpot to plan, execute, and monitor content consistently. This helps in maintaining a steady flow of content and aligning it with marketing goals.

5. Integration with Other Tools: Leverage HubSpot's ability to integrate with other tools (e.g., social media, CRM platforms) to streamline workflows and enhance content distribution strategies.

6. Educational Resources: Utilize the extensive range of tutorials and guides available on the HubSpot Academy to stay updated on best practices and new features for content strategy optimization.

By focusing on these areas, a Content Strategist can effectively leverage HubSpot to drive better content performance and achieve marketing objectives.

How to Display HubSpot Skills on Your Resume

7. Market Research

Market research, in the context of a Content Strategist, involves gathering and analyzing information about target audiences, industry trends, and competitive content to inform and optimize content creation and distribution strategies.

Why It's Important

Market research is crucial for a Content Strategist because it provides insights into audience preferences, behaviors, and trends, enabling the creation of targeted, relevant, and engaging content that meets the audience's needs, enhances user experience, and drives successful content strategies.

How to Improve Market Research Skills

Improving market research, especially for a Content Strategist, involves a few focused steps. First, clearly define your objectives and know your target audience. Use a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods to gather comprehensive insights.

1. Leverage Analytics Tools: Use tools like Google Analytics to understand user behavior and preferences on your website.

2. Utilize Social Media Listening: Platforms such as Brandwatch allow you to monitor mentions of your brand, competitors, and industry trends.

3. Conduct Surveys and Interviews: Tools like SurveyMonkey or Typeform can help collect direct feedback from your audience.

4. Engage with Online Communities: Join forums and social media groups relevant to your industry to tap into ongoing conversations and gather unfiltered opinions.

5. Analyze Competitors: Tools like SEMrush offer insights into competitors’ strategies, helping you identify gaps and opportunities.

6. Keep Abreast of Industry Reports: Websites such as Statista provide access to a wealth of industry-specific data and trends.

Remember, the goal of market research is not just to collect data but to derive actionable insights that guide your content strategy to better meet the needs of your target audience.

How to Display Market Research Skills on Your Resume

8. UX/UI Principles

UX (User Experience) principles focus on optimizing the overall experience of users when interacting with a product or service, ensuring it is engaging, intuitive, and satisfying. UI (User Interface) principles concentrate on the design and layout of the product interfaces, aiming for visual coherence, clarity, and ease of use. For a Content Strategist, these principles guide the creation and organization of content to ensure it is user-friendly, accessible, and effectively meets the users' needs and goals within the context of their interaction with the product or service.

Why It's Important

UX/UI principles are crucial for a Content Strategist as they ensure the content is presented in an intuitive, engaging way, enhancing user satisfaction and accessibility. This leads to improved user retention, conversion rates, and overall effectiveness of the content strategy.

How to Improve UX/UI Principles Skills

Improving UX/UI principles involves a strategic approach focused on optimizing the user experience and interface design. Here are concise guidelines tailored for a Content Strategist:

1. User-Centered Design: Prioritize your audience's needs and preferences by conducting user research and creating personas. This helps in making informed decisions about content and design. Nielsen Norman Group offers insights on user-centered design.

2. Consistency: Ensure a consistent look and feel across all pages by using a coherent color scheme, typography, and layout patterns. Consistency improves usability and user satisfaction. Adobe Blog discusses the importance of consistency in UX.

3. Accessibility: Make your content accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. This involves using alt text for images, ensuring keyboard navigability, and using ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides guidelines on how to make web content more accessible.

4. Simplicity: Keep your design simple and intuitive. Avoid unnecessary elements that don’t add value to the user experience. Simplicity helps users accomplish their goals more efficiently. Interaction Design Foundation elaborates on the importance of simplicity in design.

5. Content Hierarchy: Structure your content logically using headings, bullets, and paragraphs to improve readability and scannability. Clear hierarchy guides users through your content effortlessly. HubSpot Blog provides tips on creating content with clear hierarchy.

6. Feedback and Interaction: Provide immediate feedback for user actions to enhance interaction. For example, visual cues for clickable elements and confirmation messages for form submissions. Smashing Magazine discusses the significance of feedback in design.

7. Mobile-First Design: Design with mobile users in mind first, ensuring content and navigation are optimized for smaller screens. Mobile-first design improves the experience for a growing mobile user base. Awwwards showcases examples of mobile-first design.

8. Load Time and Performance: Optimize images, use web fonts judiciously, and minimize JavaScript and CSS files to enhance your site's loading time and performance. Fast loading times contribute to a positive user experience. Google Developers explains why performance matters.

By focusing on these principles, content strategists can significantly contribute to improving the UX/UI of digital products, offering a more engaging and efficient experience for users.

How to Display UX/UI Principles Skills on Your Resume

9. Adobe Creative Suite

Adobe Creative Suite is a collection of software tools designed for graphic design, video editing, web development, and photography, essential for content strategists to create, manage, and optimize engaging digital content across various platforms.

Why It's Important

Adobe Creative Suite is crucial for a Content Strategist because it offers a comprehensive set of tools for creating, editing, and optimizing diverse content types (graphics, videos, web pages) efficiently, ensuring engaging and visually appealing content that aligns with strategic goals.

How to Improve Adobe Creative Suite Skills

Improving Adobe Creative Suite for a Content Strategist involves streamlining workflows, enhancing collaboration, and leveraging integrations. Here are concise strategies:

1. Customize Workspaces: Tailor Adobe Creative Suite interfaces to your specific needs, focusing on tools most relevant to content strategy. Adobe’s guide on customizing workspaces can enhance efficiency.

2. Utilize Adobe Stock: Integrate Adobe Stock to quickly find and use high-quality images, videos, and assets without leaving the Creative Suite. This saves time and ensures consistency. Learn more about Adobe Stock.

3. Leverage Creative Cloud Libraries: Share and manage brand assets across all Adobe applications for consistency in your content strategy. This Creative Cloud Libraries tutorial outlines how to streamline your workflow.

4. Collaborate with Adobe XD: Use Adobe XD for wireframing and prototyping user experiences, enhancing the collaboration between content and design teams. Adobe offers a comprehensive Adobe XD guide.

5. Automate with Adobe Sensei: Take advantage of Adobe’s AI, Adobe Sensei, for automating repetitive tasks and analyzing data, allowing for more strategic content decisions. Explore Adobe Sensei for more insights.

6. Engage with Adobe Analytics: Integrate Adobe Analytics to gain insights into content performance, helping to refine and optimize your strategy. Start with Adobe Analytics to understand your audience better.

7. Stay Updated and Train Regularly: Adobe frequently updates its suite with new features and tools. Regular training and staying up-to-date with the latest capabilities can significantly improve productivity and content strategy outcomes. Adobe’s training resources can be a great help.

By focusing on these areas, a Content Strategist can significantly improve their use of Adobe Creative Suite, leading to more efficient and effective content strategies.

How to Display Adobe Creative Suite Skills on Your Resume

10. A/B Testing

A/B testing, for a Content Strategist, is a method of comparing two versions of web content (A and B) to determine which one performs better in engaging the audience or achieving specific goals, e.g., higher click-through rates, based on measurable data.

Why It's Important

A/B testing is essential for a Content Strategist because it allows for data-driven decisions by comparing two versions of content to see which performs better, optimizing content strategy for engagement, conversion rates, and overall effectiveness.

How to Improve A/B Testing Skills

Improving A/B testing, especially for a Content Strategist, involves a strategic approach to experiment design, execution, and analysis. Here are concise steps to enhance A/B testing:

1. Clearly Define Objectives: Start with a clear hypothesis that links directly to measurable outcomes. Optimizely provides a guide on setting up effective hypotheses.

2. Segment Your Audience: Ensure tests are relevant by segmenting your audience. Tools like Google Analytics can help identify meaningful segments.

3. Choose the Right Metrics: Focus on metrics closely aligned with your business goals. HubSpot offers insights on selecting impactful metrics.

4. Ensure Statistical Significance: Use tools like VWO’s A/B Test Calculator to determine when results are statistically significant, thus more reliable.

5. Test One Variable at a Time: To understand the impact of changes accurately, limit each test to one variable. Crazy Egg elaborates on the importance of controlled testing.

6. Use the Right Tools: Employ robust A/B testing platforms. Optimizely and Unbounce are popular choices for content strategists.

7. Analyze and Act on Data: Post-test analysis is crucial. Tools like Hotjar offer insights beyond basic metrics, helping understand user behavior.

8. Iterate Based on Learnings: Apply learnings from each test to continually refine and improve future content strategies. Content Marketing Institute provides resources on evolving content strategies based on data.

Incorporating these practices will enhance the effectiveness of A/B testing, making it a more powerful tool in a content strategist's arsenal.

How to Display A/B Testing Skills on Your Resume

11. Data Analysis

Data analysis for a Content Strategist involves systematically examining content performance metrics to identify trends, measure effectiveness, and guide strategic decisions to optimize content creation and distribution for targeted audience engagement and achievement of organizational goals.

Why It's Important

Data analysis is crucial for a Content Strategist as it enables the identification of audience preferences, content performance metrics, and engagement trends, thereby guiding strategy adjustments for improved relevance, reach, and effectiveness of content initiatives.

How to Improve Data Analysis Skills

To improve data analysis as a Content Strategist:

1. Understand Your Goals: Clearly define what you aim to achieve with your content strategy. This could be increasing engagement, driving sales, or improving SEO rankings. Setting SMART goals can provide a strong foundation.

2. Leverage the Right Tools: Use tools like Google Analytics for website traffic analysis, SEMrush for SEO and competitive analysis, and BuzzSumo for content research and social media engagement data.

3. Analyze Your Audience: Understand your audience's demographics, interests, and behavior. Tools like Google Analytics’ Audience Reports and Facebook Insights can provide valuable insights.

4. Content Performance Review: Regularly review which content performs best in terms of engagement, shares, and conversions. Use this data to refine your content strategy, focusing more on what works.

5. Learn from Competitors: Analyze your competitors' content strategy to identify what works for them. Tools like Ahrefs can help you understand their top-performing content and backlink strategy.

6. Iterate and Optimize: Use the insights gathered to continuously refine your content strategy. Test different approaches and measure their performance to optimize your strategy over time.

By following these steps and leveraging the right tools, you can significantly improve your data analysis capabilities, thereby enhancing your content strategy’s effectiveness.

How to Display Data Analysis Skills on Your Resume

12. Storytelling

Storytelling, in the context of a Content Strategist, is the art of crafting and conveying narratives through various media to engage, inform, and connect with audiences, ultimately influencing their perceptions and actions.

Why It's Important

Storytelling is crucial for a Content Strategist because it engages audiences emotionally, making messages resonate more deeply. This fosters a stronger, more meaningful connection between brands and their audiences, enhancing recall, loyalty, and ultimately driving action.

How to Improve Storytelling Skills

Improving storytelling, especially for a Content Strategist, involves honing narrative skills to engage and retain audience interest. Here are concise tips:

1. Understand Your Audience: Tailor your story to resonate with your audience's needs, interests, and emotions. Creating personas can help. HubSpot’s Guide on creating marketing personas provides a comprehensive approach.

2. Structure Your Story: A clear structure with a beginning, middle, and end keeps the audience engaged. The Storytelling Arc by MasterClass outlines the importance of narrative arc in storytelling.

3. Show, Don't Tell: Use vivid descriptions and details to show the story unfolding rather than merely telling the audience about it. The “Show, Don’t Tell” principle is crucial for immersive storytelling.

4. Use Relatable Characters: Characters should be relatable and have clear motivations. This character development guide from Well-Storied discusses creating compelling characters.

5. Incorporate Conflict: Conflict drives the narrative and keeps the audience interested. This article on incorporating conflict from Now Novel explains its significance in storytelling.

6. Practice and Analyze: Regular practice and learning from others are key. Analyze effective stories in your field, noting structure, tone, and engagement techniques.

By focusing on these areas, Content Strategists can enhance their storytelling skills, creating content that captivates and resonates with their audience.

How to Display Storytelling Skills on Your Resume