One of the first Internet professions is webmaster. So called specialists who created websites, placed them on the network and provided technical support. Webmasters were engaged in the development of sites, their layout, design, content creation and even promotion in search engines.

Today, as a rule, a whole team works on the creation of the site: several programmers, web designer, copywriter, layout designer, tester and project manager.

Хто такий вебмастер

The term “webmaster” as “site manager” was coined by Tim Berners-Lee, author of the book “Hypertext Style Guide for the Web” (1992). The same one who in 1991 launched the world’s first website http://info.cern.ch (archived copy) and predicted the emergence of WWW – WorldWideWeb, the World Wide Web. Nowadays a webmaster is a generalist who has the skills of general website management. Webmaster has knowledge in programming, layout, web design, SEO, content management, working with databases.

There are two actual interpretations of the term “webmaster” – as a hired employee and as a specialist working for himself as a self-employed or individual entrepreneur:

  1. Webmaster as a hired employee is a specialist in working with websites, primarily a programmer-developer.
  2. A webmaster specialist is a website owner who creates simple websites, administers them and monetizes traffic by placing ad units, affiliate links and even native advertising on its pages.

Функції та зона відповідальності вебмайстра у наймі

  1. Розробка сайту із нуля.
  2. Підтримка працездатності чи оновлення сайту.
  3. Розробка технічних завдань для вузьких спеціалістів: веб-дизайнерів, верстальників, спеціалістів із SEO.
  4. Перевірка сайтів для потрапляння під дію фільтрів пошукових систем.
  5. Впровадження нових технічних інструментів та технологій на працюючому сайті.
  6. Контролює коректну роботу сервера, на якому розміщено сайт.

Options for earning a webmaster for rent

  • Full-time and salaried work. Perhaps the most stable option is to get a job in a web studio and receive, as a rule, a fixed salary. The advantages are a clear work schedule and a predictable level of income. An alternative option for salaried work is employment in a small company that has a website or plans to develop it.
  • Full-time and work with KPI. Everything is the same as in the first option, but instead of salary – KPI with payment for the result. Such a payment system motivates webmasters to work more actively, deepen and expand their competencies, and grow professionally.

KPI – Key Performance Indicators, or key performance indicators. These are measurable quantitative indicators that evaluate the work of employees or entire companies. KPI can be called a marker of efficiency. They show what results the invested efforts brought and how they paid off.

Функції та зона відповідальності вебмайстра, що працює на себе

In addition to performing technical tasks inherent in the webmaster for hire, can be able to:

  • Collect and analyze statistics of visits.
  • Work as a moderator: communicate with users, if the site provides such an opportunity, delete offensive and off-topic comments.
  • Connect and configure contextual/teaser advertising.
  • Search for advertisers, test the placement of ad units.
  • Select affiliate programs.
  • Attract traffic to the site.

Webmasters can also develop websites from scratch, assemble them on constructors or buy ready-made web resources to promote and monetize traffic.

Options for earning a free webmaster

Webmaster with own websites. Webmaster develops, assembles or buys websites, purchases domains and hosting, hosts them, promotes, administers and receives income from advertising on websites.

Webmaster on freelance. In this case, the webmaster solves local technical problems by finding projects for installing plugins, updating or improving the layout, modifying the site interface, developing or assembling sites on constructors.

What a webmaster should be able to do and study

Know web programming languages: for example, Python and PHP. This will allow you to write codes and scripts from scratch: the better the webmaster knows programming languages, the fewer technical errors and malfunctions will be on the site he develops.

Site administration. This includes payment and renewal of domain and hosting, updating plugins, working with content, removing broken links.

Know the web page markup language HTML and the style sheet language CSS. This provides cross-browser layout so that fonts are readable, images do not move and the site is displayed correctly in any browser.

Work with Google Search Console. Services help in tracking irrelevant links that have fallen out of the index of site pages, technical errors on the site.

Analyze sites using Google Analytics. This is necessary to collect and analyze statistics, information about user behavior and overall site performance.

Work with CMS. Content management systems allow you to change text and visual content, modify or change the structure of the site.

Improve the usability of the site. The convenience of the site for users and the ultimate success of the resource depends on the work of the webmaster. The more comfortable the visitors are on the site, the better the behavioral factors and the greater the trust in the site by search engines.

Working with Photoshop or other graphic editors. A webmaster should be able to not only cut and paste pictures, but also create site layouts and advertising creatives.

Understand the principles of SEO. Knowledge of search engine algorithms and the ability to work with meta tags and content will help the webmaster to promote the site to high positions in search engine results.

Create technical specifications for content. For example, for an online store, the webmaster prescribes how product cards, the main page of the site and menu sections are designed, determines the amount of text and keywords for promotion.

Analyze competitors. On the sites of successful competitors you can find interesting technical solutions, compare sites by usability, loading speed, traffic, analyze the amount of content and find the optimal one.