Bloggers are not Webmasters
Here is the hard truth for all of you bloggers out there. Bloggers are not webmasters. According to reference.com a webmaster is:
A person whose occupation is designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining websites.
source: reference.com
By that definition a blogger is not a webmaster and here is why.
Design
Look at the number of blogs on the Internet with the default theme or with themes that have been download from blog theme websites. If the blog actually has a unique theme then often the blogger has paid someone else to do it for them. Face it bloggers are not designers.
Website Development
Considering most decent web hosts offer a control panel that will install WordPress with the click of a button bloggers are not developers. Bloggers have no clue how to make small changes to even the simplest things on their own blog. If there is no plugin for it then it simply can’t be done. Bloggers don’t do development. In fact I suspect that most bloggers could not even tell you what FTP is.
Marketing
Marketing is all about customer service. Most bloggers know nothing about customer service, since they are to busy bragging about themselves and telling the world how great they are. Having a huge ego and talking about how much money they make by abusing their readers is not marketing. Face it, if a store clerk treated you the way some bloggers treat their readers you would be talking to the manager of the store asking for that person to be fired. Perhaps bloggers know knowing about marketing because they don’t actually offer any type of service or product. Sure they say they will give you advice or information on _____, but the reality is they never really give any information on their topic.
Blog Maintenance
Considering the number or WordPress installs that are never updated it is quite obvious that bloggers do not know how to maintain their own blog. Not to mention checking links, making sure contact forms work and making sure feeds work properly.
Bloggers might be great people, but face it, the average blogger is not a webmaster. They just don’t have the technical, artistic and social skills to be competent webmasters.
Join me for part two later this week to discover why webmasters are not bloggers!
Comments
Kmuzu
Bloggers provide content. We fill da pipes. Webmasters build da pipes.<br/><br/>Kmuzu
Rhett
Can I be a webmaster?<br/><br/>Haha how did I miss this post?! You sir, are looking for a fight, aren't you?<br/><br/>I do all of those things except not "full-time".<br/><br/>And point 3. Hilarious. So true. I have a huge ego and I am awesome. I am going to go write a post about my awesomeness.
LGR
Yes I am looking for a fight. I thought a blogger was to be controversial. ;)<br/><br/>You might do all of those things but you are the exception to the rule. Look at the number of bloggers that never move past the default theme. The reality is most bloggers have no clue that there is more to the internet than the web. If a person does not have an FTP client or know what SSH stands for and how to use it, they can't be a serious webmaster.<br/><br/>You have to admit there are a large number of bloggers out there that sit and write about how great they are, how much money they make from telling people how great they are and honestly never actually give any solid information about what their blog is suppose to be about. Personally I am sick of those crappy blogs and I do not understand why people read them.
Rhett
I agree that's why we have our little plan. Muahaha...
Mary-Ann
I do all the above. Rhett is not THE exception, there are plenty of exceptions, and making a generalized statement like "bloggers don't do X" is either a sign of poor thinking skills or a poor grasp of english.
LGR
Mary-Ann,<br/>First, thanks for visiting and commenting. I must admit that I don't think I suffer from either poor thinking skills or a poor grasp of english. While I admit there were moments when my children were younger that I did have some issues with speaking clearly, but that was more a lack of sleep than anything else.<br/><br/>As for my "generalized statement like 'bloggers don't do X', I think it has been very effective since this is one of the most commented and popular posts on this blog.
High Desert Wanderer
It's not impossible to be both a blogger and a designer. Chances are good though that you're much better at one than the other.<br/><br/>I've found that blogging has made me a better designer. It has, among other things, made me spend more time thinking about design. I've not however, found anything, that's made me a better blogger.
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