Content manager job description these days typically includes such responsibilities as creating content, editing and proofreading content, building a brand identity and brand presence online, collaborate with marketers and designers to optimize content, updating CMS, analyzing website traffic, publishing content, identifying new content opportunities, following deadlines. The candidate must be well versed in content management systems, editorial software, social media platforms, latest search engine updates and technology trends. Before going into an interview for the position of content manager, get prepared with the following basic questions and answers.
- What is a CMS and which ones do you know?
CMS stands for 'content management system' which is a special software application used to manage content. With it one can publish, manage, edit content in a user-friendly interface, customize the design and functionality of a website, and manage user roles. A CMS is composed of two key parts: a content management application (CMA) and content delivery application (CDA). The three most popular systems today are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, although there are dozens more decent CMS, e.g. Sitecore, Magento, WebGUI, Hubspot, Kentico, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Blogger, Grav.
- What are the benefits of CMS?
For content management, it is virtually impossible to work without a CMS today. Applications like WordPress or Squarespace are packed with useful features and options, for instance user roles and permissions, ability for multiple users to work at the same time, plugins and extensions, SEO tools (page titles, meta descriptions, URLs, XML sitemaps, image alt texts, redirects, etc.),
pre-designed templates and customizable appearance, blogging features, content scheduling. And last but not least, no coding skills are required to work in CMS!
- How to make content appealing?
Many factors influence content presentation. Of course, it should be well-written, proof-read, informative, and provide value to readers. It also should be visually appealing, organized and easy to read. The author should understand and know the audience and their preferences, and then produce engaging content accordingly. One more crucial factor is relevance - outdated information kills the interest, so regularly updating content is highly important.
- How is content performance measured?
One option is to evaluate the audience engagement by the number of page views, time spent on pages, the number of social interactions (shares, likes). Another option is to analyze lead generation, in other words how many visitors/subscribers have taken action after reading/viewing content, such as subscribing to the email list, clicking embedded links, etc. More rarely but also an extra option, is to look into general revenue generated for a company/brand/business.
- How would you improve company website SEO?
Search engine optimization is a process aimed at enhancing the visibility of a website. The first step would be reviewing the current website state and all the SEO elements. Second step is identifying weak sides and possibilities to fix/improve it. Then removing or rewriting pages with low-quality content, which should raise the quality score of a website. Canonical tags, relevant keywords, title tags, meta descriptions and properly working URLs are essential as well.
- What is your content strategy process?
All the content should be aligned around business goals and target audience, therefore things like keyword research, competitor analysis, customer journey map, market research are crucial. Keywords are the topics your audience is searching and interested in, thus after identifying those, it should be included into blog posts, infographics, videos, etc. For competitor analysis tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs could be used to research competitors' content. Customer journey mapping has the sole purpose of providing personalized content at each stage, from discovery to purchase. Content reviews, especially with internal teams, are helpful to ensure it is unique, relevant and engaging.
- What are the elements of content audit?
Benchmarking (business objectives, target audience), grouping the content based on purpose and relevance to various audiences, analysis (bounce rate, session duration, traffic source, conversion rates, etc.), identifying gaps and improvements, monitoring the performance of various pages regularly.
- How do you stay up-to-date with trends in content management?
Keeping eyes open to the latest trends and best practices is crucial to be able to deliver the best work. It can be done in several ways such as following popular publications (Content Strategy, CMSWire), online communities (Reddit threads, Facebook groups), participating in webinars and online courses, networking with other content managers.
- How to approach content for different platforms?
Online (digital) content should be tailored depending on target audience and a platform ( website, blog, social network). Same format content simply does not work for various platforms anymore. Shorter posts with more visuals is the approach for social media, while longer form specific content is good for websites.
- What tools would you use to manage content?
To organize and manage digital content, I'd use CMS like WordPress or Drupal, Adobe Creative Suite to produce graphics/visuals/videos, Shopify or Magento for ecommerce websites, Google Analytics, Semrush and Ahrefs for analysis, keyword research, topic ideas generation, email marketing app like MailChimp, grammar and spell checker applications like Grammarly, Scribbr, Hemmingway, plagiarism tools like Duplichecker or Copyleaks, social media management apps like HootSuite and Loomly, and finally Trello for internal organization.
- How does Google rank content and/or websites?
Although it is quite an undisclosed issue from the world's largest and most popular search engine, Google says their main analysis of any search query is the intent behind it, and to find it out they apply language models. The biggest element they analyze is keywords, and then put them along aggregated data to check for relevancy. Other significant factors are content novelty, quality, context, usability, page rank, spam detection, etc. The biggest challenge is that Google often changes how they rank websites and are not telling anything about it.
- Can A/B testing be applied to content marketing?
Sure. A/B testing is pivotal for content optimization. Two or more versions of the same content varying in just a single element should be created. Then a manager could measure content metrics such as CTR, conversion rates, engagement and/or interaction and in that way establish what version brings best results.
- How important is social media in content strategy?
Nowadays it is integral to digital marketing, overall marketing, and content strategies in particular. Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook/Meta engage the audience the most these days, as well as are the optimal way to promote content, product or services and receive real user feedback. This is also the #1 place to determine audience interests which could change quickly and drastically.
- How would you incorporate video content?
Video is the most engaging medium today for all sorts of businesses, communication and social interactions. For companies trying to engage with customers, videos could be used to showcase products in detail, explain complex concepts, share customer success stories. One basic example is a series of tutorials on how to use a product/service.
- Where would you look for remote copywriters to hire?
Freelance copywriters can be found, evaluated and hired on various niche web platforms including Upwork, Fiverr, Indeed, Writing Studio, Scripted, Copify, Guru, and even LinkedIn.