In the web's early days, knowledge of HTML and an eye for graphics were all a webmaster needed to succeed. Now, a top-notch webmaster must be a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in server and application programming, graphics design, e-mail marketing, media development, site security, social media integration and more.
Here's what you should be looking for in an outstanding webmaster:
A diverse portfolio demonstrating knowledge and skills in visual design, web graphics and programming.
Knowledge of standards, technologies and tools. The ideal webmaster knows what is possible and required to implement certain features, but also knows that the latest and greatest craze may not be suitable for a specific company or client.
Efficiency. Webmasters who really know their trade build sites more efficiently. They may cost more per hour or charge a higher retainer, but if they accomplish more per hour and deliver on schedule, you save money.
Positive references or testimonials from previous clients.
Diverse portfolio that proves an ability to build an attractive site and implement the features you need, such as secure e-commerce, user registration, automated technical support.
SEO results of existing sites. How do other sites managed by the webmaster rank in comparison with competing sites?
Performance of existing sites. Check other sites the webmaster has designed using tools like Page Speed or YSlow for the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Total cost. Hourly rates are a poor comparison. Compare cost per page or total cost of a project or engagement comparable to yours.
Project management expertise. Rarely does a single individual possess all the knowledge and skills required. On large, complex sites, a webmaster is primarily a project manager who works closely with designers, programmers, writers, editors, artists and others.
Social media savvy. Your website is just a start. Establishing a strong brand presence online requires a blog and a following on social networking venues. Since webmasters today surely will be involved with the technical requirements of these once ancillary areas, they must possess a working knowledge and proficiency in these areas.
Comfort and confidence in serving as a vendor. Assuming you know what you want to do from a marketing perspective, your webmaster's job is to execute the plan, not spend the bulk of their time trying to persuade you otherwise. You or your marketing or corporate communications department should have the final say in decisions related to branding, site design and copy.
Expertise in developing non-web templates, such as those for e-newsletters and e-mail marketing materials using third-party marketing platforms such as iContact, MailChimp and Constant Contact.
Ability to configure servers and to host sites, unless you have your own IT department for managing the servers.
Responsiveness. At the very least, your webmaster must acknowledge all of your requests in a timely manner or have a help desk environment that captures, organizes, schedules and reports on request submissions.
Like this article? Get this issue right now on iPad, Nook or Kindle Fire.
This article was originally published in the March 2011 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: The Master of Your Domain.
Life insurance as low as $14/mo for $250,000 or $21/mo for $500,000 of coverage. Contact MetLife®
Comments:
Number one rule for hiring a webmaster: don't hire someone who calls themselves a webmaster. Unless it is 1990-something. Otherwise a decent list. It is hard to hire for the position you describe - no one can be an expert on both sides of the server anymore, but there are people who know where to find those experts. Also, not one word about mobile in this article? Anyone in web marketing, development, design or anyone having anything to do with a website better know mobile too.
Interesting, there is no reference to writing content. Many of my clients have been surprised after they've inked the deal with a "web development" shop to find that the webmaster looks to the client to provide the content. Most clients do not have this capability in house and believe that it's part of the package. This should be addressed up front.
Nice article.... all points are very important. This article is very much important for one who is in need of a webmaster as well as for webmasters also. One should really work & patientefully analyse before hiring a webmaster for his company. A webmaster should be capable of brand building only then the exact purpose of developing a website is completed. I am a webmaster. Although I am capable to cover all these points, I do not have complete portfolio or expertixe for all these points. This article is going to help me for sure. Thanks for the article
A lot of really good points in this article. Here are just a few more points from this old web developer. In terms of gauging the performance of existing sites, we don't always have a choice as to where the client will host the site. Many times, they'll choose that really big web hosting service that overloads their servers since they are the cheapest. Other times, they'll want to host the site on an shared internal server where the bandwidth and performance are not adequate to handle the traffic. You brought up the point that sometimes the web master will just act as a project manager, but you should ask whether or not the person or company will be handling the work internally or just subcontracting to someone less expensive. It's a very common practice and we certainly do love those large firms that subcontract to us since we might have the specific area expertise that they don't have internally, but we sign an NDA saying that we will not contact the client directly so that they do not know that it's happening. Whoops. Did I just share an industry secret? If they are not just acting as a project manager and will not be subcontracting, you should ask whether they can actually write the code for the website or if they just try to jerry-rig an existing Drupal or WordPress plugin? Don't get me wrong, these and other content management systems have made it so that we can deliver a polished finished product to the client so much faster and with less cost, but seriously, we have to clean up so many sites where it was clear that the web master was well outside of his/her area of expertise when there wasn't a plugin to do exactly what the client needed. Last question to ask: Can you protect our customer information in our databases? SSL connections will certainly not help at all to prevent identity theft if someone gets access to the database. Again, great article with a lot of good points that will benefit a lot of people.
Lucius, maybe you should take another look at the URL of this page. The main theme of this site is not "What it takes to make it in corporate America."
Clueless. If by top-notch you mean some kid that can slap together all the varied pieces of a web site then what you said is correct. If you mean top notch corporate level webmaster that somehow is an expert in all the fields you mentioned, you couldn't afford him in your wildest dreams. Things have changed since the 1990's. There are new laws that deal with handling of electronic records, payments, and privacy that require massive amounts of security and legal training. Just to be an expert in configuration management, version control, testing, and deployment is another college degree. Add a computer science degree in server and database administration, network management, a degree in project management, an advanced degree in application programming, n-tier development, parallel processing for web farms, automation, and langauages like JAVA, C#, and LINQ. (Gone are the days of VBscript, PHP, and PERL). Add a legal degree to handle section 508 compliance, and the thousands of new rules if you deal with the government. Then add an electronic media/ art degree, and finally and simplest of all - a business management degree. That's about $500K per year in today's dollars.
Great post. It's true, you need to make sure the webmaster or company that you hire has expertise in these various subject matters. Make sure you as the entrepreneur consider things outside the scope of "development", like social media, when considering a team. Macro Design Group www.macrodesigngroup.com
Hi All, I am a webmaster for my organization. Can you help me with social marketing so the same can be implemented at my end. Thanks in advance.
Checking references, asking for testimonials, and reviewing performance metrics - as you mentioned - should absolutely be part of your process in hiring a webmaster. If you're a marketing- or sales-oriented entrepreneur, you may not understand a lot of the jargon that webmasters may use, so be sure to ask questions if you don't understand things, and go talk to their other clients. It's critical to get references and actually contact them. Ask questions regarding timeliness of responses (What happens if your site goes down? How long can it be down without making a impact on your business? Most businesses would say, "Not long."), timeliness in completing the site, and overall satisfaction with the performance and capabilities of the site. All webmasters are NOT created equal! Ask for referrals from business owners whose sites you like and be sure to interview several different candidates before awarding your business to one of them. This is an incredibly important partnership, and you definitely want to be sure that there's a good fit between the individual (or firm) that you hire and your business. Lisa www.StartYourOwnSmallBiz.com
As for my website, I got someone who really knows the circuits on the social media machine. Well, also I get someone who also knows how to make non-web templates for added and better web experience.;
Thank you Mikal for describing such a complete webmaster's profile. I started studying web design a couple of months ago and was wondering what would be my next steps. I finally found here in your article.
Thank you for your article. As someone who picked up web design as a teenager, I have constantly been trying to figure out what it was that I needed to take myself to the next step as a web designer and web master. I will use this article as a template for my success. http://www.tearyne.net
This article helped me to become a good webmaster, thank you
Don't forget Logo Design. Every company has & needs one. It's step one after idea has been born. www.LogoMaker.biz
Thank you Mikal for your article. Everyone with an online presence looking to hire a Webmaster should follow the points in your article. As a Remote-eCommerce Developer myself, I know how important it is for my clients to check my references and work history. Clients always value when you can provide a well rounded skill set. -Daniel O. http://www.shoppingcartsforwebsites.com/?p=650
You can't have all this for free, but you can have a nice website. Promoting your site is what is the most expensive and time consuming. Most webmaster are programmer and it's a mistake. www.telltheworldaboutyourbiz.com