Web Developer resume

A good web developer summary names the kind of sites or apps you build, your core stack and one result that a business would care about, such as faster pages or more sign-ups. Two or three sentences is enough.

Example (fictional): "Front-end web developer with four years building responsive React and Next.js sites for retail and hospitality brands. Improved Core Web Vitals across a 300-page catalogue site, moving most pages into the 'good' range. Comfortable working from Figma designs and with headless CMS platforms."

Another example (fictional), for WordPress work: "WordPress developer who builds custom themes and WooCommerce stores for small businesses, with a focus on page speed, accessibility and easy editing for clients."

Change the summary for each type of role. Agencies, in-house marketing teams and product companies look for slightly different strengths.

The skills that matter most are the core web languages, the frameworks named in the job advert, and practical skills such as responsive design, accessibility and performance. Group them so a reader can scan them quickly.

Example skills section (fictional):

• Core: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+), TypeScript
• Frameworks: React, Next.js, Vue, Tailwind CSS
• Back end: Node.js, PHP, Laravel, REST APIs
• CMS and e-commerce: WordPress, Shopify, headless CMS
• Quality: responsive design, WCAG accessibility, Lighthouse audits, cross-browser testing
• Tools: Git, npm, Vite, Figma, Chrome DevTools

Put the group that matches the job first. For a Shopify agency role, CMS and e-commerce skills should lead; for a React product team, frameworks should lead.

Yes. Good web developer bullets connect your code to what users or the business experienced: speed, conversions, accessibility, fewer errors or easier content updates.

Examples (fictional, change the details to match your work):

• "Rebuilt a restaurant group's site in Next.js, cutting average page load from 5 s to under 2 s on mobile."
• "Created a reusable component library in React and Storybook used across three client projects."
• "Fixed accessibility issues found in an audit, adding keyboard navigation and alt text across 120 pages."
• "Built a custom WooCommerce checkout step that reduced abandoned carts reported by the client."
• "Set up staging and deployment through GitHub Actions, so content changes went live without manual FTP uploads."

Start with a verb, name the technology and finish with the result. If you lack figures, describe who benefited and how.

Yes. For web developers a portfolio is often the first thing a hiring manager opens, so put the link in your contact details and make sure it works on mobile.

A strong portfolio:

• Shows three to six projects, each with a screenshot, your role, the stack and a live link or repository.
• Loads quickly and passes basic accessibility checks, because reviewers will judge your own site.
• Explains client work you cannot link to, with permission, or uses screenshots instead.

On the resume itself, add a short Projects section for the best two or three pieces, especially if your job titles do not show web work clearly.

Example (fictional): "Portfolio: three client sites and a booking app; each case study lists my role and the tools used."

Do not include sites that are now broken or changed beyond recognition by someone else.

Give the before and after measurement and name the method you used. Performance work is one of the easiest web results to measure, so use it.

Common measures:

• Page load time or Largest Contentful Paint on mobile.
• Lighthouse performance score.
• Page weight or number of requests.
• Server response time.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Lazy-loaded images and split JavaScript bundles, raising the mobile Lighthouse score from 48 to 91."
• "Moved product images to a CDN with WebP conversion, halving total page weight on category pages."

Say which pages or how many, so the scale is clear. If a client measured sales or bounce changes after your work, you can mention them, but only if they were reported to you and are not confidential.

Lead with projects and skills, then training, then any other work history. Employers hiring junior web developers look for proof you can build and finish real sites, and your projects are that proof.

Structure:

• Summary naming your stack and the type of site you want to build.
• Projects: two to four, each with a live link, stack and what you built.
• Skills, grouped.
• Training: bootcamp or online courses with dates.
• Previous experience, focusing on transferable skills such as client contact or deadlines.

Example project line (fictional): "Built a responsive booking site for a local yoga studio with HTML, Tailwind CSS and a small Node.js API; the owner now takes bookings online."

Real users, even a small business or a charity, make a project far more convincing than a tutorial clone.

Yes, if you built custom themes, plugins, integrations or performance fixes, not only installed templates. Many agencies and small businesses hire specifically for these platforms.

Make the depth clear:

• WordPress: custom themes, Gutenberg blocks, PHP plugins, ACF, WooCommerce, hardening and backups.
• Shopify: Liquid templates, theme customisation, apps and API integrations, Shopify Plus checkout work.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Developed a custom Gutenberg block library so the client's marketing team could build landing pages without code."
• "Wrote a Liquid theme section for product bundles on a Shopify store with 2,000 SKUs."

If you are applying to product companies that use React or Vue, keep CMS work but lead with the JavaScript skills they ask for.

Name the standard, the checks you ran and what you fixed. Accessibility is a growing requirement for many organisations, and specific evidence stands out.

Include:

• Standards such as WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 at AA level.
• Tools such as axe, WAVE, Lighthouse and screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver.
• The changes: semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, colour contrast, ARIA labels, form errors.

Example bullet (fictional): "Led an accessibility clean-up of a university admissions site against WCAG 2.1 AA, fixing form labels, focus order and contrast across 80 templates."

Do not claim a site is "fully compliant" unless an audit confirmed it. Say what you improved and how you tested it.

They are worth listing if they are relevant and recent, but for most web roles your portfolio and experience matter more. Put them in a Certifications section with the issuer and year.

Examples web developers list:

• Meta Front-End Developer or Back-End Developer certificates
• Google UX Design certificate, for developers who also design
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, for those deploying their own sites
• freeCodeCamp Responsive Web Design or JavaScript certifications

Example (fictional): "Meta Front-End Developer Professional Certificate, Coursera, 2025."

If you are new, a certificate shows commitment, but pair it with a project that uses what you learned. Avoid listing many short course badges; choose the few that match the job.

A web developer resume focuses on websites and web apps users see in a browser: layout, performance, CMS, accessibility and client delivery. A software engineer resume usually stresses systems design, back-end services, algorithms and scale.

In practice:

• Web developer bullets mention pages, templates, browsers, Core Web Vitals, CMS platforms and client launches.
• Software engineer bullets mention services, APIs, data stores, reliability and architecture.

Example web developer line (fictional): "Launched 15 marketing sites for agency clients on WordPress and Next.js, each passing a pre-launch accessibility and speed check."

Use the title the job advert uses. If you do both kinds of work, keep two versions of your resume and lead each with the matching strengths.

Keep one employer entry for the agency and pick the three to five most impressive or relevant projects as bullets. Listing every site you touched makes the section long and hard to read.

Tips:

• Summarise volume in the first bullet: "Built and maintained 30+ client sites across retail, real estate and healthcare."
• Then give specific bullets for the strongest projects.
• Mention sectors and platforms rather than client names if you do not have permission.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Led the front-end build for a property portal with map search and saved listings in Vue."
• "Delivered a multilingual English and Arabic hotel site with right-to-left layouts."

Link to the best examples in your portfolio for readers who want more.

Use the framework, language and practice names the job advert repeats, in the same spelling. Front-end adverts often look for a specific framework and a few quality practices.

Common front-end keywords:

• React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, TypeScript
• HTML5, CSS3, Sass, Tailwind CSS
• Responsive design, mobile-first, cross-browser
• Accessibility, WCAG
• Unit testing with Jest or Vitest, end-to-end testing with Cypress or Playwright
• REST, GraphQL, state management such as Redux

Place them in both the skills section and your bullets. For example (fictional): "Built typed React components with TypeScript and tested them with Jest and Playwright."

Do not add frameworks you have never used just because the advert lists them. Running the job-description comparison in the builder shows which frequent terms are missing so you can decide honestly.

The most damaging mistake is a portfolio or resume that contradicts the skills claimed, for example a slow, broken personal site from someone who lists performance optimisation. Reviewers will check.

Other common mistakes:

• Listing every library ever installed, from jQuery plugins to old build tools.
• Bullets about "making websites" with no stack, scale or result.
• Links that are dead, private or point to someone else's work.
• Fancy, graphic-heavy resume layouts that applicant tracking systems cannot read. Save design flair for the portfolio.
• Not naming the CMS or framework for each job.

Example fix (fictional): change "Made websites for clients" to "Built five Shopify stores with custom Liquid sections and integrated a stock feed from the client's ERP."

Usually no. A clean, single-column resume is safer, and your portfolio is the place to show visual creativity. Many employers use applicant tracking systems that can struggle with columns, icons and text inside graphics.

What works better:

• A simple layout with clear headings and a short skills section.
• A link to a portfolio that shows design sense and polished code.
• Tidy typography and consistent spacing.

If you apply to a small studio that invites creative applications, a well-built personal web page can be your "creative" resume, with a plain PDF version alongside.

Example (fictional) heading line: "Ali Rahman | Front-End Developer | portfolio and GitHub links".

Give back-end work its own bullets with the language, database and integration named, so readers do not assume you only handle the interface. Full-stack roles want evidence on both sides.

Back-end details worth naming:

• Languages and frameworks: Node.js with Express, PHP with Laravel, Python with Django.
• Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB.
• Integrations: payment gateways, CRMs, email services, third-party APIs.
• Hosting and deployment: Linux servers, Docker, Vercel, cPanel.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Built a Laravel API for event bookings with a Stripe payment integration and email confirmations."
• "Designed MySQL tables and indexes that brought a slow search query from 6 s to under 1 s."

Balance the bullets roughly according to the role: an advert stressing APIs needs more back-end lines.

Show that you set standards and guide others, not only that you build pages. Senior and lead web developers are hired for judgement: architecture, code quality, estimates and helping the team deliver.

Highlight:

• Technical choices you led, such as moving to a headless CMS or a design system.
• Code review, mentoring and hiring.
• Working with designers, SEO specialists and clients on scope.
• Delivery: launches on time, fewer post-launch bugs.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Led a team of four developers through a re-platforming from a legacy PHP CMS to Next.js with a headless CMS."
• "Introduced a pull request checklist and automated accessibility tests, reducing post-launch fixes."

Keep the last eight to ten years in detail, with the most recent lead role first.

List it as one entry, such as "Freelance Web Developer" with your trading name if you have one, and give the full date range. Then add bullets for your strongest client projects and the overall volume.

Example (fictional):
"Freelance Web Developer, Ridgeway Web Studio, 2022–present

• Designed and built 20 sites for small businesses on WordPress and Webflow.
• Built an online ordering system for a bakery with WooCommerce and local delivery zones.
• Provide monthly maintenance, backups and security updates for eight retainer clients."

Retainer clients and repeat work show reliability. If you also held a job during the same period, list both; overlapping dates are normal.

Lead with your web skills and projects, then show how design experience makes you a stronger developer. Employers value developers who understand layout, typography and design files.

Steps:

• Change your headline to the role you want: "Front-End Developer with a graphic design background".
• Add a Projects section with live sites you coded yourself.
• In past design roles, highlight any web work: building landing pages, editing HTML emails, preparing assets for developers.
• Group skills so HTML, CSS and JavaScript come first, with Figma and Adobe tools after.

Example (fictional): "Turned Figma designs into responsive HTML and CSS landing pages for five product launches while working as an in-house designer."

Keep your real past job titles.

Yes, if you have done technical SEO work as a developer. Many employers want developers who build sites search engines can crawl and understand.

Developer-side SEO work includes:

• Semantic HTML and heading structure.
• Structured data (schema markup).
• Clean URLs, redirects and canonical tags.
• Sitemaps and robots settings.
• Page speed and mobile friendliness.

Example bullet (fictional): "Added product and FAQ structured data and fixed 400 broken redirects after a site migration, working with the client's SEO agency."

Avoid claiming ranking results you did not control. Search positions depend on content and many other factors, so describe the technical work you delivered.

A good order for a junior web developer is: contact details with portfolio and GitHub links, short summary, skills, projects, experience, education and training. Projects come before experience if they show more web work than your jobs do.

Why it works:

• The portfolio link is visible at once.
• Skills tell the reader your stack before they read details.
• Projects provide proof for those skills.

Example project heading (fictional): "Travel Journal App – React, Firebase, Netlify (live link)".

Once you have a year or two of web development jobs, move experience above projects. Keep the resume to one page at this stage.

Mention the languages, the technical approach and any testing you did, because multilingual and RTL work is a specific skill many Gulf and international employers need.

Details worth including:

• Arabic or Hebrew right-to-left layouts using CSS logical properties or RTL stylesheets.
• Internationalisation libraries, such as i18next or WPML for WordPress.
• Handling fonts, dates, numbers and form validation in more than one language.

Example bullet (fictional): "Built an English and Arabic e-commerce site with mirrored RTL layouts, language-aware URLs and translated checkout emails."

If you speak the languages yourself, list them in a Languages section as well. If you worked with translators, say so; it shows teamwork.

Describe what you kept safe, fast and working, and any improvements you made during maintenance. Maintenance is valuable work, but "updated plugins" alone sounds routine.

Show:

• How many sites or users you supported.
• Security updates, backups and uptime monitoring.
• Bugs fixed and response times.
• Improvements you suggested and delivered.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Maintained 12 WordPress sites with monthly updates, daily backups and uptime alerts; restored a hacked site within the same day."
• "Reduced support tickets by adding clearer form validation messages on the client portal."

If you handled a ticket queue, mention the tool, such as Jira or Zendesk.

Keep the official title, and add a short clarifier and web-focused bullets so readers see the real work. Changing a title to something your employer did not use can cause problems in reference checks.

Options:

• Title line: "IT Officer (website and intranet development)".
• First bullet stating the share of your role: "Main responsibility was building and maintaining the company website and intranet."
• Summary headline using the target title: "Web developer with three years building company sites in PHP and JavaScript."

Example bullet (fictional): "Rebuilt the corporate website on WordPress with a custom theme, and created an online leave request form used by 150 staff."

This approach is honest and still matches searches for "web developer".

Yes. Git and a basic deployment workflow are expected for most web developer roles, and naming them shows you can work in a team without breaking live sites.

Worth listing if you have used them:

• Git with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, including pull requests and branching.
• Hosting and deployment: Netlify, Vercel, AWS, cPanel, Docker.
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions or GitLab CI.
• Package managers and build tools: npm, Yarn, Vite, webpack.

Example bullet (fictional): "Moved the team from manual FTP uploads to Git-based deployments with staging previews on Netlify."

Put these in a "Tools" line in your skills section, and prove one or two in bullets.

Show it through specific collaboration in your bullets: who you worked with, what you agreed and what was delivered. Web developers sit between design, content and business teams, so this skill is often judged in hiring.

Ways to show it:

• Turning Figma or Adobe XD designs into working pages, and giving feedback on what was technically possible.
• Working with marketing on landing pages, tracking tags and A/B tests.
• Running client handover sessions and writing simple editing guides.

Example bullets (fictional):

• "Worked with two designers to build a shared design system in Figma and React, so new pages took days instead of weeks."
• "Trained the client's content team to update pages in the CMS, cutting their change requests to the agency."

Avoid listing "team player" as a skill; the examples prove it better.