The Three Headed Web Monster

by Eileen Parzek
Turtle's Web Art & Design

Written in 1996 (but still relevant!)

Most of us know that the Internet is growing even while we sleep, and that there is an entire new industry devoted to it. Anyone who has invested their time or energy into developing content for this medium feels the acceleration of information, and is probably weary just thinking about all they need to know to stay hip, marketable, and knowledgeable. A scan of the online job sites indicates that Webmasters are in demand. But what IS a webmaster, and what does it look like?

Having been consumed by the World Wide Web since the summer of '95, as both a job hunter, and an independent contractor designing for the Web, I've watched the search for this rare creature unfold. I would like to share my observations, and introduce you to what I call "the Three-Headed Webmaster," lovingly referred to as the WM from here on.

When I first encountered this WM, it was quite common for a single static web site to be designed, developed, populated with data, and promoted by a individual person. But as the pace of this industry has increased, the knowledge and talents needed to be a successful WM has broadened widely. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things that have the increasingly interactive Web in the last year or two: CGI, ActiveX, Shockwave, Java, Real Audio, Javascript, VRML. HTML and some clipart just isn't enough any more. Which brings me to the Three-Headed Webmaster.*

Head Number One: The Designer
This is the one who specializes in graphics and interface. She spends much of her time conquering things like non-dithering 216 color palettes, gif animations, tricks for squeezing the stuffing out of graphics. Computer graphics software takes up most of her hard drive, and Photoshop Rules.

Head Number Two: The Programmer/Techie Type
Without this person, there is no web site. Unless someone knows how to create and feed the web server, set up mailing lists, write the scripts to create a dynamic site, and develop databases to feed the beast new data, forget it.

Head Number Three: The Marketing Guru
Say we have an ace designer, and an awesome techie type, and together they create an mind blowing web site. Then what? If someone doesn't provide some well thought out written content, it is useless. If someone doesn't let the world know that this site exists, what good will it do?

The only way for a poor Web content developer to stay sane is to find a niche, and specialize in the area they love most. While many companies and recruiters try to find the mythical webmaster in a single person, the amount of knowledge necessary to be efficient, and competent at any one of these roles is vast. It is certainly to be commended if you can be a great programmer with an eye for design, or a designer with a keen knack for marketing, but my advice would be to specialize, and learn to work well in a team. Your clients will benefit from your expertise in a specialized area, more than they will someone who knows a little bit about everything. In time, most web sites will be created by Web Teams, leaving "webmaster" as an honorary title for whoever gets to answer all the web site mail.

*Heads in no particular order. Heads may vary.