Continuing Survey: What is a Webmaster?
Wednesday March 5, 2008
This month I received 35 submissions to the "What is a Webmaster" survey. What do you think a Webmaster is? What do you use as your job title? Most people who read this site don't like the title "webmistress", but beyond that there isn't a lot of consensus. The following comments are some of my favorites, but you can read all of them in What is a Webmaster 4 - Reader Comments.
- "Companies are trying to economize, so they want IT people who are cross-trained in web programming and repair/maintenance." - Maura
But are Webmasters always in IT? - Jennifer - "[The webmaster is the person who] to this day finds it necessary to constantly fiddle with it whether it needs it or not." - Todd
Man, is that ever for sure! - Jennifer - "Leonardo DaVinci didn't paint the Mona Lisa with a paint by number canvas and neither should the webmaster." - Richard
- My first position in this industry was that of "Web Producer", which I felt was just a vague as "Webmaster"." - Thomas
I worked with a Web producer, I was never really sure what his job was. :-)" - Jennifer - "The webmaster does it all." - Bob
- "I think of 'Webmaster' as a catch-all title, one that means different things depending upon the organization using it ..." - c
But isn't that a different question? I asked what YOU think webmaster means, not a random organization. - Jennifer - The executive manager of a website." - Gary
- "I'm a 73 year old woman. As part of my computer lesson and support business, I design some websites. I like the term "webmaster" because it expresses the elements of magic involved. There is no "gender neutral" term that fits as well." - EmmaLadd
Personally, I still think that "master" (in the sense that you know more than others) is gender neutral, but I think I'm in the minority there. :-) - Jennifer - "The word has a certain Dungeons & Dragons feel to it." - Cathy
What's wrong with that???? ;-) - Jennifer
Comments
Web publishing is another advertising & marketing medium; that’s my job.
Hi there !!!
To my mind a webmaster is someone who does one of, but possibly all of the below.
Manage/Maintain, Develops websites.
However it does not imply that he/she has any mastery/skills relating to any of the above
“Personally, I still think that “master” (in the sense that you know more than others) is gender neutral, but I think I’m in the minority there.
”
I agree with you, Jennifer—the term master fits well and is gender neutral.
A webmaster it the person who manages all aspects of web pages.
As generally used, it is a term that is non-specific. It also has no level of certification and doesn’t imply any proficiency. My experience shows that it includes people who understand every technical report w3c issues to those who publish a content-only site with whatever tools that they can download. While I detest most IS certs, I wish there was some range of titles and means of showing what a ‘webmaster/subtitle’ can do. Portfolios that some people tout. imply that it is an artistic only endeavor. Much harder to show back-end design and dynamic function of most web pages.
There are many different aspects in designing a website each requiring certain talents and skills.
Designer: Develop the over-all look and feel of the site, pick the color scheme, pictures, graphics, and the basic design.
Layout Manager: Once the design concept has been established, the layout manager is responsible to making it work on each of the pages. This includes a good navigation system for the entire site.
Copy Writer: Writing good text is a key to good Search Engine placement as well as holding your viewer’s interest.
Editor: Checking the text for content, grammar, spelling, and continuity. Eliminating redundant and superfluous text and making the written word flow.
Graphics Specialist: Have the ability to edit photos and create custom graphics, such as logos or specialty drawings. Optimize the graphics for fast loading.
Technical Consultant: Ensure that the pages are written with the latest standards-compliant code, create the proper meta-tags, titles, and alternate text tags for every graphic, as well as to verify all scripting code and server-side code that is used within the site.
Quality Control Manager: Make sure that the web pages work in the various browsers such as FireFox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari and ensure that the site is user friendly. Check each page for compliancy.
Programmer: If your site requires e-commerce, special forms, or a data base, the webmaster needs to have some programming skills. Most of the time these items need a programming language not found in the web authoring software.
Analyst: Track the web site in the search engines and determine what can be done to improve the ranking.
There are more, especially for the Webmaster who works alone and not part of a team.
To me the term “Webmaster” is like the top level, just like in martial arts, craftsmen, masons, etc….you’ve become a specialist in web design and all it entails.