A Day in the life of a Webmaster

When I get into work a go through a process of checks in the morning.

Check my email (for enquiries, sales orders, etc.). I keep my work email address separate from my personal address, otherwise I'd just be wading through joke emails and spam all day!

Check the website (it's always good to have a look from time to time and make sure it's still there!). I also check the previous days statistics (no. of users, referrers, etc).

Log on to whichever discussion forums I subscribe to (for Webmaster related stuff and I also moderate my own forum at http://www.weeboab.co.uk/, and here obviously). I also check up on industry news and the competition.

When all my regular checks are done in the morning, the rest of my day consists of these bits and pieces depending on the time of the month and the state of development my site is in.

Web Design - I use Dreamweaver to set up my sites. This may involve designing a new site or updating an existing site.

Graphic Design - I use Photoshop for my graphics work.

Web Marketing - depending on the time of the month, the work that this requires differs. As I launch a site, I have to register it with many search engines and also try to get it listed in various directories. There's more to do, but I'm not going to reveal all my secrets!

Continue checking up on my site, and my email.

I spend as little time as possible in meetings, but they are sometimes necessary.

Surfing the web (see below).

I spend a lot of my day surfing the web. Chances are most of it is unnecessary, but here's how I justify it to myself!

I need to keep up to date with current developments.
I need to check my sites.
I need to check up on the competition.
I need to network and make contacts.
I need to explore and generate ideas for my site.
I need to find bits and pieces for my site.
I need to register my sites in various places.
(feel free to use any of these excuses to get rid of your boss!)

OK, so why be a Webmaster?

Well, unless you happen to work for an IT company (where you know they'll be watching you), you can pretty much get away with spending all day surfing the web. Everyone else doesn't really know what your doing and you can easily make it look more complicated than it actually is, so they don't ask!