want to be a webmaster

Webmasters

A webmaster is otherwise known as a web architect, web developer and site author. They are basically the people who are responsible for the maintenance that is carried out on a website. For example some of the duties that a webmaster may hold is ensuring the web servers; hardware and software are operating accurately. However in many cases a website often has a few webmasters taking care of different factors. For example one may be in charge of designing the website as well as generating and revising web pages; another may have to reply to user comments as well as examine traffic that comes into the site. Webmasters play a vital role in the running and organisation of a website and this section here at Article Alley is completely dedicated to everything that webmasters
do as well as anything you may wish to know about them so why not have a look at what we have to offer.
The web analyst’s skill set
We all by now understand the importance of web analytics in the management of web properties. It not only helps us understand user interaction, but also provides valuable information to make website improvements. However this is all in theory. The hard part is becoming skilled enough to put web analytics into practice.
So what does it take to be a competent web analytics specialist – or, as I call it, a web analyst? In my opinion, web analytics as a discipline has two main components:
1. Analysis
2. Implementation
The analysis component deals with studying the user activities captured via a variety of means – such as server log files, page tags, search logs, custom-scripts, etc. The skills and tools required for this component have been widely written about.
The implementation component is about making adjustments to the website to optimise it. For adjustments and optimisation, a competent web analyst must convert raw information into actionable information. Moreover, you must elaborate on what or where fixes are needed. To achieve this, the required skill set suddenly broadens because you need to understand all the aspects that bring a website together.
Web analysts should understand the subjects listed below at least at a basic level, to have conversations with the experts in these fields and come up with solutions. Some of them include, but are not limited to:
• Navigation principles. For example gateway and category pages have high exit ratios because the labels are often unsuitable or the menu sequencing fails.
• Page layout. For example the placement of content elements on the page.
• Copy issues. I recently come across incorrectly written instructional copy which caused visitors to stop on a particular page. We changed the copy and the problem disappeared.
• Traffic issues. For example, not being able to bring well-targeted traffic – often search engine traffic is less targeted, so if the organisation is not doing a good job on SEO, you are likely to get more unwanted traffic.
• Taxonomy issues. For example, the bulk of users are interested in only one element of the taxonomy.
With these in mind, I define the skill requirements for a web analyst as follows:
• Analytical and detail oriented – exploring data, discovering patterns, meaningful relationships, anomalies and trends.
• Business – translating business needs to analytics requirements.
• Marketing and brand building – driving traffic, integrated campaigns, online branding tactics and principles.
• Information architecture – knowledge of established practices, suggesting changes to navigation, page design, task design.
• Technical – HTML and website development.
• User behaviour and habits – understanding differences, trends to develop strategies to accommodate them.
Out of the above list, two skill requirements are worth highlighting, as they are essential for adjustments and optimisation – namely information architecture (IA) and technical. In my specialist web analytics experience, I deal with IA-related issues every day, as most sites need to address the area at all times.
Technical skills are essential as well – often we find sites were structured in way that is unmeasurable, so the web analyst has to be able to communicate with developers the “technical” basics of what needs to be measured. For example, URL conventions often need adjustment to enable better tracking; or cookies are reviewed to capture the right information for integration back to the web analytics solution. New technical developments appear all the time: think of blogs, RSS and flash tracking. A web analyst needs basic understanding of how these technologies work in order to implement suitable tracking.
Finally, you need to understand the new kid on the block – multivariate testing. In addition to its technical implementation, those wanting to undertake multivariate testing need to understand, at least, the concepts of experimental design – i.e. designing tests and compiling the results.
It’s clear that web analytics is a multi-faceted discipline. So a good web analyst needs to be multi-skilled, too. The good news is that the continuing evolution of internet technology promises an exciting career for all of us.