How to hire a digital editor

How to hire a digital editor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step digital editor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a digital editor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new digital editor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a digital editor do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your digital editor job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a digital editor for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect digital editor also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of digital editors.

   Type of Digital Editor	Description	Hourly rate
   Digital Editor	Editors plan, review, and revise content for publication.	$20-40
   Content Writer	The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites... Show more	$19-40
   Staff Writer	A staff writer is a professional who works in the television (TV) or entertainment industry to provide standard content such as news reports, reviews, and features. Since writing content is important, staff writers must be able to collaborate and brainstorm ideas with other staff members in the production process... Show more	$13-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Digital Content
   • Instagram
   • Facebook
   • Digital Platforms
   • Twitter
   • Video Content
   • Web Content
   • Digital Marketing
   • WordPress
   • HTML
   • Google Analytics
   • Editorial Content
   • Search Engine Optimization
   • Content Strategy

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop SEO strategies to increase profitability and manage social media to spread brand awareness and bolster readership.
   • Create Facebook posts to alert readers to upcoming breaking news stories.
   • Use front-end web development technologies such as HTML, CSS and Javascript to develop special pages.
   • Coordinate, schedule and curate Facebook ads.
   • Apply knowledge of SEO techniques and upload blog content using WordPress platform.
   • Design and develop a modern, responsive WordPress website to fit the content management requirements.

   More digital editor duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your digital editor job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A digital editor can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, digital editors' average salary in nebraska is 55% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level digital editors 49% less than senior-level digital editors.
   • Certifications. A digital editor with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a digital editor's salary.

   Average digital editor salary

   $60,710yearly

   $29.19 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level digital editor salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average digital editor salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$78,024	$38
   2	Connecticut	$75,481	$36
   3	District of Columbia	$68,081	$33
   4	Virginia	$65,398	$31
   5	California	$62,916	$30
   6	New Jersey	$62,802	$30
   7	Illinois	$62,731	$30
   8	Minnesota	$62,565	$30
   9	Maryland	$62,456	$30
   10	Massachusetts	$60,377	$29
   11	Pennsylvania	$60,046	$29
   12	Washington	$56,582	$27
   13	Texas	$55,555	$27
   14	Nevada	$54,862	$26
   15	Ohio	$54,649	$26
   16	Colorado	$54,456	$26
   17	Arizona	$53,307	$26
   18	Florida	$50,051	$24
   19	Oregon	$41,701	$20
   20	Missouri	$38,723	$19

   Average digital editor salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	ServiceNow	$98,548	$47.38	11
   2	FTI Consulting	$73,249	$35.22
   3	The Boston Globe	$72,982	$35.09	4
   4	Dow Jones	$68,988	$33.17	3
   5	NBCUniversal	$67,326	$32.37	64
   6	Columbia University in the City of New York	$61,563	$29.60	3
   7	Marsh & McLennan Companies	$60,147	$28.92	5
   8	WarnerMedia	$59,949	$28.82
   9	Metric Theory	$59,913	$28.80
   10	MultiLingual Solutions	$59,884	$28.79
   11	Journal of World History	$59,853	$28.78
   12	The Consortium	$59,558	$28.63
   13	Warner Bros.	$57,885	$27.83	49
   14	Robert Half	$57,790	$27.78	11
   15	Nexstar Media Group	$57,278	$27.54	88
   16	Robb Report	$56,993	$27.40
   17	Spectrum	$54,093	$26.01
   18	TEGNA	$53,620	$25.78	12
   19	National Basketball Association	$52,699	$25.34
   20	American Public Media Group	$52,124	$25.06	6

4. Writing a digital editor job description

   A digital editor job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a digital editor job description:

   Digital editor job description example

   Works as part of the Site Operations team who is the champion for the customers visiting the site and handles the day to day execution of customer experience and sales performance on JTV websites. The Digital Editor will rationalize not only the "what" but also the "why" we select and deploy certain content, to really define the purpose for the content. This requires skills across multiple areas including branding, editorial, content management systems, multiple content delivery platforms, content migration, SEO, metadata and taxonomy strategies, site metrics and information architecture.
   
   From a management perspective, this individual provides direction on administration of the internet sales channel, serves as the main advocate and expert on brand voice and tone for all digital platforms, and works with other teams to help drive brand voice, content development, and publishing. This individual also serves as the senior member of the content team and provides content strategy, guidance, and editing to other copywriters and web producers.
   RESPONSIBILITIES:
   Plans for the creation, aggregation, and distribution of content (establishing strategy and guidelines) that adds real value to the user while contributing to tangible brand goals and business objectives. Synchronizes content strategy with the user experience design to fully realize meaningful, interactive experiences. Works with subject matter experts to ensure grammatical quality and optimal comprehension of published online content. Ensures brand voice is present across published content. Develops the content publishing calendar for JTV websites. Produce online content using text/video/audio/photo archives available at JTV. Works with SEO specialists to identify ways and develop long-term plan to improve and maximize Search Engine Optimization. Uses site analytics and SEO to improve content readership and helps to drive the content planning and development. Defines business requirements for new content features. Power user in the business tools focused on JTV websites. Works to improve the presentation of JTV sites through content including informational and key word rich content. Manages the team focused on content placement is the subject matter expert for business tools to support JTV websites. Provides mentorship to individuals within the group to maximize their effectiveness and career growth. Serves as advisor, co-manager and mentor of the content team internship program. Reviews, edits, and publishes content and site updates from other departments, such as Legal, Education, Marketing, HR, PR, Customer Service, and others as needed. Researching of other brands or products within our industry to stay abreast of industry trends and best practices.
   
   QUALIFICATIONS
   2-4 years of professional copy writing experience in creative, advertising, strategy and/or marketingis preferred. 2 years Management experience in E-Commerce is preferred. Experience in an eCommerce and/or Brand Marketing workflow is preferred. Ability to lead employees in a fast-paced environment. Strong history of quickly building relationships, gaining credibility, and partnering with various departments and teams. Knowledge of HTML, CSS. and experience with popular content management systems. Experienced and knowledgeable in SEO. Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Meticulous approach to work with an eye for detail. Writing for the web. Four-year college degree or equivalent experience. Proficient in MS Office with strong internet skills. Strong communication and interpersonal skills is required.
   
   JTV Perks:
   Weekly pay periods Outstanding employee benefit program with medical, dental and vision coverage available 401(k) matching contributions Generous personal/vacation accrual policy Great employee discount program through local vendors Exceptional employee discount on JTV product 24-hour private Fitness Center for all JTV employees and their immediate family (Knoxville Campus) On-site Medical Center (Knoxville Campus) Our employee park features a Walking Trail, Frisbee Golf, Volleyball and MORE! (Knoxville Campus)
   
   Overview:
   
   Jewelry Television® (JTV) is one of the leading retailers of jewelry and gemstones in the United States. Privately-held with a proven 29-year history, JTV leverages an omni-digital strategy designed to elevate the customer experience through holistic, digitally-driven touch points, including broadcasting live programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week to 86 million U.S. households, an industry leading mobile optimized e-commerce platform, and a robust social media presence. As part of its commitment to the development and distribution of educational content and consumer satisfaction the company employs numerous Graduate Gemologists and Accredited Jewelry Professionals. The company's website, JTV.com, is one of the largest jewelry e-commerce websites in the country according to Internet Retailer's Top 500 list for 2015.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find digital editors for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your digital editor job on Zippia to find and recruit digital editor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting digital editors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new digital editor

   Once you've decided on a perfect digital editor candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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