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Web Designer resume example

Agencies and small businesses hiring a web designer want sites that look on brand, load fast, work on a phone and that the client can update without calling you. Show the platforms you build in (Webflow, WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify), how many sites you launched, and what changed after launch: inquiries, bookings, page speed or search traffic. Client handling counts as much as layout.

Updated

Quynh Abernathy

Web Designer | Webflow & WordPress for Local Businesses | 120+ sites launched

  • Portland, ME
  • quynh.abernathy@example.com
  • +1 (207) 555-0146
  • linkedin.com/in/your-name

Summary

Web designer with eight years building sites for restaurants, clinics, inns and trade businesses across Maine and New England. Designs in Figma, builds in Webflow and WordPress, and hands over sites clients can update on their own. Keeps mobile pages under two seconds and checks every launch against WCAG 2.2 AA. Leads the web side of a five-person studio.

Work Experience

Lead Web Designer

Sep 2020 – Present

Casco Tide Studio · Portland, ME

  • Design and launch about 25 client sites a year and lead 2 junior designers on layouts, builds and launch checks.
  • Redesigned a coastal inn's booking site, raising direct reservations by 31% in the first summer.
  • Built a Webflow starter system that cut average build time from 4 weeks to 2 and kept client styles consistent.

Web Designer

May 2017 – Aug 2020

Back Cove Marketing Group · Westbrook, ME

  • Built 60 WordPress sites for clinics, contractors and restaurants with editable menus, events and service pages.
  • Trained clients in short recorded sessions, and small edit requests to the team fell by more than half.
  • Cut mobile load times below 2 seconds on 15 legacy sites by replacing heavy sliders and compressing images.

Freelance Web Designer

Jan 2016 – Apr 2017

Independent practice · Portland, ME

  • Launched 12 Squarespace and WordPress sites for local shops, a farm stand and 2 nonprofits.
  • Set up online volunteer signups for a food pantry, replacing a paper sheet and a weekly phone list.

Education

Associate of Applied Science, Communications and New Media

2013 – 2015

Southern Maine Community College

Skills

Core competencies

  • Webflow & WordPress Builds
  • Mobile-First Responsive Design
  • Client CMS Training

Design & Build

  • Figma Mockups
  • Custom CSS
  • CMS Collections
  • Shopify Theme Edits

Launch & Care

  • PageSpeed & Core Web Vitals
  • On-Page SEO
  • GA4 Reporting
  • Accessibility Checks

Certifications

  • Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) · International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), 2022
  • Google UX Design Professional Certificate · Google (Coursera), 2020

Languages

  • English · Native
  • Vietnamese · Conversational

The full sample as text. Rendered in the Canopy template, a layout applicant tracking systems read in order.

Fictional person: the name and contact details are invented. Any resemblance to a real person is coincidental.

Web Designer resume summary examples

Pick the one closest to your level and replace the specifics with your own.

  • Entry level

    Web designer with a graphic design certificate and a year of freelance work for local shops and nonprofits. Builds responsive sites in Webflow and WordPress from Figma mockups, writes clean custom CSS and sets up simple CMS pages clients can edit. Launched 8 sites so far, including a food pantry site that now takes volunteer signups online.

  • Mid level

    Web designer at a small marketing agency, building 25 to 30 client sites a year in Webflow and WordPress. Designs mobile first, sets up CMS collections and trains clients to update their own pages. Recent restaurant and dental redesigns raised online bookings by a third and cut load times below two seconds on mobile.

  • Senior

    Senior web designer and studio lead with eleven years designing sites for professional services, hospitality and retail brands. Runs projects from discovery and sitemap through launch and training, manages 2 junior designers and sets the studio's accessibility and speed checklist. Has launched more than 150 sites and keeps long-term clients on care plans.

Common mistakes on a web designer resume

  • Listing sites without saying what they did for the business

    Fix: A list of URLs tells the reader you were busy. Add what each site was meant to do and what happened: more booking requests, a lower bounce rate, faster pages or better search rankings for a local term. Even a simple before and after, such as "contact form leads went from 6 to 19 a month," turns a link into proof.

  • Ignoring mobile and speed

    Fix: Clients often see the site first on a phone. Mention that you design mobile first, test at common breakpoints, compress images and keep layouts light. If you track Core Web Vitals or PageSpeed scores, give a before and after number. Speed and mobile layout are part of design, not only a developer's job.

  • Forgetting the client handoff

    Fix: Small business clients need to update menus, blog posts and prices on their own. Write about CMS collections you set up, editor training you gave, short how-to videos and the support requests that dropped afterward. A site the client can run alone is a strong selling point for an agency.

  • A portfolio link that does the whole job

    Fix: Some applicants paste a portfolio link and leave the resume thin. The reader may not click before deciding. Write the platform, industry and result for your best four or five projects right on the resume, then link the portfolio for visuals. Check that the link works and opens to your strongest piece.

What should a web designer resume include?

A web designer resume should open with a two or three line summary of your focus, then show each role as results rather than duties. Name the skills the posting asks for, such as Webflow, WordPress and Elementor. Start bullets with verbs like Launched, Redesigned and Built, and give each one a number where you honestly have one. If you hold a credential such as IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS), list it in its own section.

Site builders and CMS

  • Webflow
  • WordPress
  • Elementor
  • Squarespace
  • Shopify Themes
  • CMS Collections
  • Headless CMS Basics

Design and layout

  • Wireframes
  • Figma Mockups
  • Sitemaps
  • Responsive Breakpoints
  • Brand Style Guides
  • Hero Sections
  • Landing Pages

Front-end basics

  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • Flexbox & CSS Grid
  • Custom Code Embeds
  • Image Optimization
  • Web Fonts

Performance and search

  • Core Web Vitals
  • PageSpeed Insights
  • On-Page SEO
  • Meta Titles & Descriptions
  • Google Analytics 4
  • Google Search Console

Client work

  • Discovery Calls
  • Project Scoping
  • Client Revisions
  • CMS Training
  • Website Care Plans
  • Launch Checklists

Action verbs

  • Launched
  • Redesigned
  • Built
  • Mocked Up
  • Optimized
  • Trained

Certifications

  • IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS)
  • Google UX Design Professional Certificate
  • Adobe Certified Professional (Adobe Photoshop)

Match these against the job posting you are applying to: the free resume checker shows which keywords your resume is missing.

Web Designer resume bullet examples

The numbers are illustrative. Keep the structure (verb, action, measurable result) and use figures you can back up.

  • Launched 28 small business websites in a year in Webflow and WordPress, each with a CMS the client could edit alone.
  • Redesigned a 3-location dental practice site, and online appointment requests rose from 40 to 65 a month.
  • Cut mobile load time on a restaurant site from 6.1 to 1.8 seconds by compressing images and removing 4 unused plugins.
  • Built a reusable Webflow starter with 30 sections and a style guide, shortening new builds from 4 weeks to 2.
  • Mocked up 3 homepage directions in Figma for a law firm and finished the chosen design with only 1 round of revisions.
  • Trained 45 clients to update menus, events and blog posts, reducing small edit requests to the studio by 60%.
  • Optimized page titles, headings and local landing pages for a roofing company, moving it onto page one for 6 city terms.
  • Fixed contrast, alt text and keyboard focus across 12 client sites after an accessibility review, meeting WCAG 2.2 AA.
  • Designed a Shopify theme update for a candle shop, and the store recorded 14% more completed checkouts over the next quarter.
  • Set up GA4 and Search Console for 20 client sites and sent monthly one-page reports on visits and form leads.

How to stand out as a web designer applicant

Tailor every application to the posting: the resume, the cover letter and the answers you prepare for the interview.

  • Match the platform and the client type

    A web designer posting at an agency may want Webflow and fast turnarounds, while an in-house role at a college wants WordPress and accessibility. Put the platform and industry from the posting near the top, lead with projects that match, and trim builders the employer does not use. Keep your strongest result in the first bullet. Tailor your web designer resume

  • Use the cover letter to show one site story

    Choose one project that fits the employer and tell it briefly: what the client needed, how you designed and built it, how you trained them, and what changed after launch. Add a portfolio link to that project. If you are applying to an agency, mention the number of sites you can carry at once. Write a web designer cover letter

  • Prepare to walk through a project live

    Expect to share your screen and tour a site you built. Explain the sitemap, the layout choices, how it behaves on a phone and how the client edits it. Prepare answers on handling difficult feedback, scoping a project and keeping a site fast. Some studios also give a small paid or unpaid design task. Practice web designer interview questions

  • Pick a template that reads as designed but parses cleanly

    A web designer's resume is judged on taste, but it also passes through applicant tracking systems. Choose a single-column layout with one accent color, real text headings and clear dates. Show visual range in the portfolio, and let the resume show restraint, spacing and hierarchy. Browse resume templates

Salary (official data)

Official pay statistics for the occupation that matches this role, copied exactly as each statistics office publishes them.

  • United States

    Median gross annual pay: $104,000 a year · Median gross hourly pay: $50.00 an hour

    Middle half of earners: $73,290 to $158,820 · 10th to 90th percentile: $53,750 to $201,550

    Official occupation: Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255)

    Gross wages of employees in all industries, before deductions; excludes the self-employed.

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Public domain.

  • United Kingdom

    Median gross annual pay: £50,963 a year

    Official occupation: Web design professionals (SOC 2020 2141)

    Gross annual pay of full-time employee jobs (employees on adult rates in the same job for more than a year).

    The publisher marks this estimate as less precise.

    Provisional figures: the publisher revises them a year later.

    Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, tax year to 5 April 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

  • Canada

    Median gross hourly pay: CA$50.48 an hour · Median gross weekly pay: CA$1,923 a week

    Official occupation group: Professional occupations in applied sciences (except engineering) (NOC 2021 212)

    Usual gross wages of full-time employees (30 hours or more a week) at their main job, including tips, commissions and bonuses.

    Source: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0417-01 Employee wages by occupation, annual, 2025. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

  • Ireland

    Mean gross annual pay of the whole major group: €70,522 a year

    Major occupation group: Professionals (ISCO-08 2)

    Mean gross annual earnings, including bonuses, for the whole major occupation group in enterprises with 10 or more employees. Eurostat publishes no median by occupation.

    Source: Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_28), 2022, CC BY 4.0. Ruubu matched the role to an ISCO-08 major group; Eurostat is not responsible for this use of its data.

Figures cover everyone in the official occupation, at every experience level. They are not a job offer, a forecast or a Ruubu estimate. Ruubu matches each role to the closest official occupation. An official occupation can include related jobs.

How we choose and show official salary data

Web Designer resume questions

How do I list freelance web design clients on a resume?

Group them under one entry, such as "Freelance Web Designer, 2021 to present," and write bullets about the work across clients: number of sites launched, industries, platforms and results. Name a client only if they agreed or the site credits you publicly. Otherwise describe them, for example "a three-location dental practice," which is still specific and protects the relationship.

Do web designers need to know how to code?

It depends on the employer. Some roles build entirely in Webflow, Squarespace or a page builder, while others expect theme editing. Still, knowing HTML and CSS well helps you fix layout problems, edit themes and talk with developers. List the level honestly: "Custom CSS in Webflow and WordPress themes" is accurate and useful. If you write JavaScript or PHP, keep it in a separate line.

What should I do when an old client site has changed?

Sites get redesigned or edited after you leave them, so a live link may no longer show your work. Keep screenshots and short case studies in your own portfolio and link that instead. On the resume, describe the site as it was at launch, with the year, so nobody is confused by what they see today.

Is web design the same as web development on a resume?

Not quite. Designers own layout, visual identity, content structure and the build in a site tool. Developers own custom code, integrations and performance work at a deeper level. If you do both, say which you lead with in your headline, and split your skills into design and build groups so a reader can match you to their split.

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