Webmaster: what it is and what it does

Who is a webmaster? What’s her job? Is “Webmaster” an obsolete term? Find out how one of the most famous professionals on the web has evolved

The term webmaster for someone like me who started working on the web in 1993 (Google was born on 4 September 1998 while WordPress on 8 August 2005) has sounded for years like a name more like a science fiction novel than a title from a post on a job board or LinkedIn.

But strange as it may seem, this somewhat dated job title has had its moments of glory and then, in recent years, transform like all digital professions into a broader field of insurance tech employment.

Webmasters came into play for the first time to manage many different aspects of a website at the same time. Although some employers today still seek “webmasters”, the job has morphed into many different titles that pack the same basic role. 

The Topic Of This Post

  • 1 Webmaster meaning
  • 2 Is “Webmaster” an obsolete term? Yes it is
  • 3 How to become a webmaster
  • 4 What does a webmaster do today?
  • 5 What skills does a webmaster need?
  • 6 What education and experience do webmasters need?
  • 7 Webmaster salary

Webmaster meaning

Who is a webmaster? What’s her job? The simplest answer is that a webmaster is a professional who performs many different tasks for the maintenance and optimization of a website.

Over time we have become more and more accustomed to refined and sophisticated websites, often with a revolutionary appearance, but not so long ago websites were only used to provide information content for companies and organizations.

When this job was sought, the activity of the webmaster often included all aspects of the development, design, and maintenance of a website or e-commerce.

Today everything has changed: companies want their online presence to be functional, attractive, and easily available to users on the internet.

The latest generation sites need to load quickly and be compatible with mobile devices. Websites are also a giant platform for marketing, which means that serious businesses and professionals must constantly maintain, update and improve their websites.

Given the increased complexity of modern websites, this all-rounder approach and job title have become less common as these tasks are split between specific roles.

As stated by Ovi Demetrian, founder of Blocks Edit, ” and companies want to hire a webmaster to improve their web site or to build and maintain a new one. If you are the only one responsible for the construction and care of the website, you can also take another staff working in other roles related to digital marketing, such as creating newsletters and landing page

Is “Webmaster” an obsolete term? Yes it is

The versatile webmaster still exists as to professional organizations that want to make the most of their online presence.

A webmaster can keep an eye on everything related to a website. It monitors its performance in search engines, functionality, speed, and design, but we can certainly say that, as it was conceived, it is certainly an obsolete job.

The handyman webmasters are forced daily to also keep track of the contents, campaigns and track your marketing efforts. In addition, webmasters can devote themselves to information technology such as server configuration and administration.

As it is well understood, managing all these different disciplines can easily lead to falling into error, not to mention that, today more than ever, the more one is specialized in a single sector, the easier it is to find work but above all the easier it is to obtain results. prefixes.

How to become a webmaster

One of the fundamental pillars of a webmaster’s job is understanding how to code and design websites, an activity often attributed to web developers. Simon Ponder, SEO manager for Image Freedom, says he has held several roles that could all fall under the role of the webmaster. ” I think I was called in every possible way by the online producer  at SEO

Job titles that may overlap with those of a webmaster could be:

  • front-end developer
  • backend developer
  • SEO specialist,
  • Web designer
  • Server administrators

What does a webmaster do today?

So how do you become a webmaster? What specific studies should be done?

“I spend most of my time as a project manager, working with development teams and designers to make projects, ” says Ponder. ” Also, I solve problems, look for solutions and create content as needed .”

” A webmaster’s day-to-day business can be quite flexible, ” says Ponder. In recent years the webmaster’s job has been a “let’s jump in and get our hands dirty. For example, today I wrote analytics-based reports, solved problems for clients, emailed a programming team for a status update, and designed a website “.

Website changes and/or updates and marketing strategies tend to be where  Stephanie Rosenfield, owner of Cleveland Marketing King, spends the most time. ” If there is a change in a website, a lot of times it has to do with a marketing initiative,” says Rosenfield. ” Communication with the customer (phone calls, emails, and meetings) also takes a good amount of time .”

” My activities vary from day to day, but I usually update all my plugins and make sure the website security is up to date, as well as check SEO to make sure everything I’m doing is working,” he says.  Moises Cardenas, webmaster at Mountaineer Technology Consultants.

“I also check my  Google Search Console  and  Google Analytics  as well as the  Sitemap  to make sure there are no broken links .” Cardenas also performs regular site audits using tools like SEMrush and creates new landing pages for the campaigns his clients’ websites need.

What skills does a webmaster need?

Since webmasters handle so many different types of web maintenance and optimization, there are some useful skills for the job.

We at Studio Samo believe that the main skills that a webmaster must have are:

WordPress and HTML

Webmasters do their fair share in the web development of a site. Learn basic HTML and know the plugins we use on WordPress, like on any other CMSA Content Management System, often abbreviated to CMS, is software that helps users create, manage and modify the contents of a site …is critical. Looking for other tools, platforms, or online tools that can make your life easier will help us to devote our time to more complicated and interesting jobs rather than repetitive and unprofitable tasks.

To read: WordPress: the complete guide

Graphic design

Webmasters also do a good deal of their work in Graphic Design. Learning the graphic design of a website will increase the quality and speed of work.

Technical optimization for search engines (SEO)

The SEO technique is also important for webmasters and understanding how Google (or any search engine) classifies a Web site and what content might be adversely affected is essential.

This part of the job is also usually a source of high expectations from most clients. Certainly one of the most frustrating things about this job is dealing with clients who have unrealistic expectations, such as wanting to immediately rank their website on the first page of Google for the keywords they want.

This is why it is good to be clear right from the start and make it clear to the individual customer that the objectives to be achieved are often utopian or require a budget

If a webmaster understands the technical side of SEO, they will be able to explain some aspects to key clients, as well as produce meaningful results for their website.

Must Read: Three SEO Management Tips for Non-SEOs

Writing

I was born as a webmaster and at the same time in 2005, I became a freelance journalist. Over time, dealing with SEO and link building as well as being a blogger, I realized the importance for a webmaster of knowing how to optimize content for search engines.

Always in the SEO field and not only it is said that ” Content is the king ” and those who work for the important brand. A combination … he knows well that within them there are not always professionals who are dedicated exclusively to the creation of optimized content.

That’s why SEO and copywriting skills can also be of great help to a webmaster. It’s much more common than you think to step in with light copywriting support for campaigns, including website copy and social media campaigns.

To read: Copywriter: what it is and what it does

Content strategy

Having a basic idea of the content strategy to be implemented is also important for webmasters. Whenever our clients rely on us for the marketing aspects, we must be ready to give explanations or even be able to advise them on the best content strategy to implement.

Customers make inquiries all the time but it is up to us to understand or research what is best to advise them.

To read: Content Strategy: Here’s Why It Matters For Your Business

What education and experience do webmasters need?

The webmaster freelance almost always has to look up their potential customers, while companies that are large enough to employ domestic webmasters to manage their sites.

If we do a quick search on job postings, both in Europe and abroad, we see that among the job offers for webmasters and related titles, as an educational requirement, about 85 percent are looking for a candidate with a degree. 

Employers and clients are often looking for a webmaster who has some experience with web programming software.

However, this shouldn’t scare you. There are plenty of opportunities to update your resume and gain new skills with online training as well.

Also, thanks to the gig economy, there are sites where you can grab small opportunities as a freelancer and earn some secondary income while still studying.

Because then, in the end, the customer always wants to achieve the desired results and academic qualifications alone are not enough but, as always, it is the experience in the field and continuous training that make the difference.

Salary Webmaster

Who is a webmaster? We understand that he is a professional who can satisfy a large variety of different needs within a website. 

Still different is the fee of a freelance webmaster who can work on a project or hourly basis.

The stipulation of a webmaster in America, if the activity is carried out full-time, has a fee that varies between 30 and 80 thousand dollars a year, while the hourly rate varies between 15 and 40 dollars.

Salaries vary and not a little, especially in Europe where some professionals who deal with digital are still undervalued and underpaid.

The stipulation of a webmaster in Europe varies between 18 and 30 thousand euros gross a year with an hourly rate that varies between 18 and 40 euros gross.

Certainly the qualification, but above all the know-how and skills acquired over time make the difference especially if you are looking for a permanent job in a large company.

This career involves technical aspects but also a lot of creative thinking. If this mix of work appeals to you, then you might want to consider working as a webmaster (or one of the many job titles that fall under its scope).