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It's easy to become a webmaster. But, to become a really good webmaster
takes a lot more. And this takes a lot of work and study.
Many years ago, I started yacht racing in the Caribbean. I had been
sailing since the age of 11. I thought that I was an "expert" sailor,
but I found that I was really a novice. It's easy to teach someone to
sail from point A to point B. BUT, getting from point A to point B in
the shortest possible time is a whole new story. It took me a full year
before I won my first race in a field of 10-12 boats.
Webmastering is very similar. Sure, anyone with more than three brain
cells rubbing together can learn HTML, and with all the free editors
out, it doesn't even take that much effort. (Like learning to sail from
one point to another.)
As my own webmaster, being retired, an ex-digital engineer (before
psychologist), and computer guru, ex-sales engineer/sales manager, etc.
I thought that I had the tools to do the job.
After having a web site for over a year, I found that I have put
thousands of hours of just plain study in to all facets of this
fascinating job. Having spent my "retirement" money in sailing around
the Caribbean for several years, I don't have much money, so had to
learn it all on my own. (I don't regret the cruising years at all, by
the way.)
So, what did I learn about webmastering? It's a very complex job,
requiring several levels of completely different areas of basic
knowledge. I've been studying it intensely for well over a year, and
have set up four web sites for different types of sales, (free health
advice, a yacht company, a travel company, and a personal site). When
starting a web site, what is necessary?
First, the webmaster (and you if you have decided to hire one), have to
analyse just what you are selling. After that analysis, decide how to
present what you are selling, and how to do that on a website. All too
many people just jump into a web site using one of the fancy editors
such as Front Page. Using their "flashy" setups is easy, but is it
really the way you want to present your message?
How about graphics and salemanship? If your graphics are too big and
take too long to load, people will click off before they get to your
real message. So, you have to know (or learn) a lot about how to make
graphics effective - not just flashy - and how to condense them so that
they load as fast as you can get them to. You have to
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