How To Become An Online Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an online editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Bradley Shreve,

Gayle Rogers

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an online editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.41 an hour? That's $57,023 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an online editor?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScoreOnline EditorUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,023

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.30%

Black or African American 3.61%

Hispanic or Latino 8.19%

Unknown 4.59%

White 76.04%

Gender

female 49.04%

male 50.96%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an online editor

Explore online editor education requirements

Most common online editor degrees

Bachelor's

81.6 %

Master's

9.3 %

Associate

6.0 %

Start to develop specific online editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Web Content	25.91%
Video Content	11.69%
Edit Content	6.89%
Facebook	4.58%
Twitter	4.09%

Complete relevant online editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New online editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an online editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real online editor resumes.

Research online editor duties and responsibilities

Develop SEO strategies to increase profitability and manage social media to spread brand awareness and bolster readership.
Edit and format Facebook chats to feature on website as articles.
Locate useful links and used basic SEO to drive traffic to the Facebook fan page.
Produce, edit, and post videos to various websites, including YouTube, Vimeo and rt.com.

Prepare your online editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your online editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an online editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable online editor resume templates

Build a professional online editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your online editor resume.

Apply for online editor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an online editor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do online editors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Online editor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Cons

people not providing accurate information

Pros

I love hearing stories from other sources.

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019