Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Webmaster

💰 $ - $

Information TechnologyWeb DevelopmentDigital Marketing

🎯 Role Definition

The Webmaster is a hands-on technical and content-focused role responsible for the day-to-day operations, maintenance, and continuous improvement of one or multiple websites. This role combines server and CMS administration, front-end troubleshooting, SEO and analytics execution, security and backup management, and cross-functional coordination with marketing, design, and IT teams. The Webmaster ensures websites are secure, performant, accessible, and aligned with business objectives, driving traffic, conversions, and an outstanding user experience.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Web Developer or Front-End Developer
  • Digital Marketing Coordinator or Content Manager with technical skills
  • IT Support Technician with web or server exposure

Advancement To:

  • Senior Webmaster / Lead Webmaster
  • Web Operations Manager / Web Manager
  • Web Development Team Lead / Front-End Lead
  • Digital Product Manager or Technical Product Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • SEO Specialist or Digital Marketing Manager
  • DevOps Engineer (web-focused)
  • UX/UI Designer (with development skills)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage and maintain all website properties including CMS configuration (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or proprietary CMS), plugin/module updates, theme maintenance, and custom integrations to ensure reliability and consistent user experience.
  • Perform routine site audits and monitoring for uptime, broken links, 404 errors, server resource usage, and resolve incidents promptly to minimize downtime and business impact.
  • Implement and maintain front-end code fixes and enhancements using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to ensure responsive, cross-browser compatible pages and to quickly address visual or functional regressions.
  • Optimize website performance by implementing caching strategies, image compression, lazy loading, minification of CSS/JS, HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 support, and CDN configuration to reduce page load times and improve Core Web Vitals.
  • Configure, monitor, and renew SSL/TLS certificates, manage HTTPS redirects, and enforce secure headers and best practices to protect data in transit and maintain user trust.
  • Manage website security posture including patching CMS core and plugins, implementing WAF rules, malware scanning, vulnerability remediation, and coordinating penetration test results with IT/security teams.
  • Maintain and test backup and disaster recovery plans for website files and databases, perform regular restores in a staging environment, and document recovery procedures to meet RTO/RPO requirements.
  • Administer server and hosting environments (shared, VPS, cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or managed hosting), perform routine maintenance, scaling, and collaborate with DevOps for infrastructure as code deployments.
  • Oversee content publishing workflows: prepare pages, manage templates, schedule posts, ensure proper meta-data, and coordinate with content teams to maintain editorial standards and on-brand presentation.
  • Implement and maintain structured data (Schema.org), meta tags, XML sitemaps, robots.txt, hreflang (if applicable), and other SEO technical optimizations to improve search visibility and digital discoverability.
  • Configure and analyze web analytics (Google Analytics, GA4, Adobe Analytics) and tag management (Google Tag Manager) to generate actionable insights, track conversions, and support A/B testing and experiments.
  • Diagnose and resolve issues related to form submissions, e-commerce checkouts, payment gateways, and integrations with third-party APIs (CRM, marketing automation, payment processors).
  • Manage user access, roles, and permissions within CMS and hosting control panels, enforce strong password policies, and implement 2FA for admin access to reduce insider and credential-based risk.
  • Maintain accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 AA recommendations) across templates and content, run audits, coordinate remediation tasks with design and development teams, and validate assistive technology compatibility.
  • Coordinate with designers and developers to plan and execute site redesigns, feature rollouts, and iterative improvements while maintaining backward compatibility and SEO integrity (301 redirects, canonical URLs).
  • Implement and maintain internationalization and localization best practices including language-specific URLs, hreflang tags, and content workflows for multi-regional sites.
  • Monitor and improve conversion funnels by implementing tracking for clicks, forms, downloads, and micro-conversions; recommend UX adjustments and technical fixes to increase engagement and lead generation.
  • Manage and optimize media assets (images, video, audio) including responsive image sets, CDN delivery, and lazy loading strategies to balance quality and performance.
  • Create, maintain, and update technical documentation, runbooks, deployment checklists, and knowledge base articles to enable consistent operations and on-call support efficiency.
  • Liaise with legal and privacy teams to ensure compliance with GDPR, CCPA and other regional data protection laws for cookies, consent banners, and data collection practices.
  • Implement and maintain automated monitoring and alerting (uptime checks, performance thresholds, error logging) and respond to alerts or orchestrate remediation with the right stakeholders.
  • Conduct periodic competitor and market benchmarking for site features, SEO positions, and performance metrics and propose roadmap items to keep the site competitive.
  • Provide Tier 2/3 support for web-related incidents, troubleshoot complex production issues, and escalate to engineering or hosting partners as required to restore service.

Secondary Functions

  • Support content teams with batch content imports, migrations, and template updates during campaign launches and site migrations.
  • Assist marketing and product teams with campaign landing page creation, short-term microsites, and A/B test setup, ensuring tracking and performance standards are met.
  • Maintain and update integration points with CRM, email marketing platforms, CDP, and analytics systems to ensure clean data flow and attribution.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies, provide estimates for web tasks, and manage ad-hoc web requests in a ticketing system.
  • Liaise with external vendors and agencies for specialized development, hosting, or SEO projects and manage SLAs and deliverables.
  • Train content editors and internal stakeholders on CMS best practices, content guidelines, and simple troubleshooting to reduce operational bottlenecks.
  • Contribute to the organization's web roadmap, propose technical improvements, and help prioritize initiatives based on impact, risk, and effort.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert proficiency with CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, or enterprise CMS) including templating, plugin/module management, and custom post types.
  • Strong HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript skills for troubleshooting, templating, and small front-end enhancements.
  • Experience with server/hosting environments (Linux, Apache, Nginx), basic shell scripting, and familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
  • Knowledge of PHP and/or Python/Ruby/Node.js for common CMS customizations and server-side troubleshooting.
  • Proficiency with SQL and database maintenance tasks (MySQL, MariaDB, or equivalent) including backups, optimization, and simple query debugging.
  • Hands-on experience with SEO technical best practices: structured data, canonicalization, redirects, sitemap generation, Robots directives, and site architecture.
  • Experience with web analytics and tag management: Google Analytics (Universal & GA4), Google Tag Manager, Adobe Analytics, dataLayer implementation and debugging.
  • Familiarity with CDN services (Cloudflare, Akamai, Fastly) and configuration to optimize asset delivery and security.
  • Web security best practices: WAFs, intrusion detection, SSL/TLS configuration, OWASP top 10 mitigation, and vulnerability scanning.
  • Performance optimization tools and workflows: Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest, and experience implementing remediation.
  • Version control and deployment pipelines: Git workflows, basic CI/CD for web deployments, and release/revert procedures.
  • Accessibility implementation and testing (WCAG 2.0/2.1), screen reader testing, and remediation planning.
  • Experience with image/video optimization workflows, responsive images (srcset), and media management in CMS environments.
  • Familiarity with RESTful APIs, webhook integrations, and troubleshooting third-party service connections.

Soft Skills

  • Clear communicator able to translate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders and provide precise status updates during incidents.
  • Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting aptitude with a methodical approach to diagnosing production issues.
  • Project management mindset: prioritization, time management, and the ability to manage multiple concurrent requests.
  • Collaboration and cross-functional teamwork with marketing, design, product, and IT teams to deliver business outcomes.
  • Detail-oriented with strong documentation habits and emphasis on repeatable, auditable processes.
  • Proactive mindset for monitoring, continuous improvement, and proposing practical enhancements that drive measurable results.
  • Adaptability and willingness to learn new platforms, tools, or frameworks as the web ecosystem evolves.
  • Customer-focused attitude to ensure site changes improve end-user experience and support business KPIs.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate degree in Web Development, Information Technology, Computer Science, or equivalent professional experience (2+ years managing production websites).

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Web Development, Digital Media, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Web Development / Front-End Development
  • Computer Science / Information Technology
  • Digital Media / UX Design
  • Marketing with technical focus (SEO, Analytics)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years managing live websites, CMS administration, and web operations; or equivalent combined experience in web development and site administration.

Preferred:

  • 3–5+ years as a Webmaster, Web Operations Engineer, or Front-End Engineer with demonstrated experience in SEO, analytics, site security, and performance optimization.
Explore More Careers