Web 2.0 - More Work for Webmasters? What is your Opinion?

Semantic Search - Web 2.0 - RSS Syndications - FeedBurner - New Content - Link Popularity - Blogrolls - Social Bookmarking - Social Networking Sites and much more... These are just some of the things a webmaster is confronted with on daily bases today. When i started to make websites in html about 17 years ago things weren't that complicated and complex. Google wasn't even born and getting an e-mail was most sensational and exciting! Bringing up a website to a number 1 spot on Altavista was a piece of cake and our clients would pay the fees without many questions. These times are over!

Today the webmaster world looks different. The competition is growing by the minute. To comply with all demands Google and other search engines are dictating us to get a good position for a website, we simply have to work double and triple as hard today than only 5 years ago. We spend much more time in front of the computer and ruin our eyesight just to additionally write meter long e-mails to our clients explaining what we are all doing and why our services suddenly are more expensive and why the customer can't actually see any difference on the website while we claim to work so hard....

What are your experiences? What is your solution? Let us know your opinion so we can all profit from your wisdom!  ;D

My Sentiments Exactly, explaining what you did when there seems nothing was done... Like optimizing the code, making it SE friendly etc...

Although I am a fairly new breed of webmaster, since I started 3 years ago, and is far less inexperienced compared to your 17 years, the only solution I found to work for me at this new requirements in things to become an effective webmaster is to learn as much as you can and apply them, and when all else fails, outsource them.

Although I am not completely amiable to outsourcing, the competitiveness of the current situation makes me feel there's too much to do on so little time. I feel squeezed in with the tight time allotments, budget and unrealistic requirements.

Although I still feel however that I'd rather be a web designer/webmaster than anything else...

Designer - me too! i wouldn't want to do anything else. SEO is much too exciting and better than any computer game. But it seems i was right about it in general. Nobody seems to find time anymore for forum entries.... Let's see what the weekend brings. ;)

So I am not sure what the fuss is about. Yes it takes time, but anything that grows in commitment takes time. If your client complains, tell them you will take two weeks off and let them see what happens. People who complain via ignorance need education. Lose the 2 page e-mails and trade them for some hard knocks. My clients appreciate me or I get new clients.

How I wish SEO was not that tricky compared today.  And the webmaster's work was not that much compared today. There are lots of things that need to perform as a webmaster to make your website quite competitive.

@ James - Looks like Webdesigners must finally earn the title Webmaster! A nice design just doesn't do it anymore today.
@ salestrainer- Harsh words but unfortunately true. Can you elaborate the "hard knocks" you're talking about?

I guess, we people on similar fields do have the same sentiments on these kind of clients... Let the discussion roll on and share your thoughts...

Yes - sales mentor dikshunairy ;)

Hard Knocks (Hard Noks) - If a client does not appreciate the work you are doing for them, let them know that you are going to stop doing the work and not charge them for the amount of time it takes for them to realize what you were doing. I teach startups how to sell, and often the results are things they thought were there own doing. Early on, when the sales team is getting results and sales start to flow, sometimes they feel the $200/hr they pay me is expendable. When this starts to happen, I either fire them or suspend them as clients (this usually comes in the form of them asking questions about why this and why that. I do not have to explain what I do, I know what I do, they can take it or leave it and this attitude usually lets them stop working with me. It takes subtlety, but you can accomplish this without burning bridges). Within 4-6 weeks, guess what happens....they come back, and all of the banter is gone. Sometimes, I am booked and they have to wait a few months for me to have time. Believe me after that there is some serious appreciation for what I bring to the table.

the webmaster world looks different. The competition is growing by the minute. To comply with all demands Google and other search engines are dictating us to get a good position for a website, we simply have to work double and triple as hard today than only 5 years ago. We spend much more time in front of the computer and ruin our eyesight just to additionally write meter long e-mails to our clients explaining what we are all doing and why our services suddenly are more expensive and why the customer can't actually see any difference on the website while we claim

I think you can safely assume newtech2008 is the laziest forum spammer ever seen! Ban for 50 years at least!

Are you kidding?

Hi, thanks for letting me take part within this discussion. so what was newtech2008 actually saying? it looks like  ::).... I vote for ban 10 years just for presenting double content here. Google would not let him get through with it.!!!!!!

I share same worries as McHow2... but, I quite like the stand posted by sales trainer. I am getting as well complaints of my customer all the time without them realizing that what I just did is what they have been asking earlier for. Now they only changed their wish list again. I should try to apply some of sales trainers strategy, making them feel and realize where they would stand without the work done already.

 ;)

"You do all the work, They get all the money"

although its getting easier and easier to make web2.0

A modern website is no longer a sum of web pages but a combination of technologies instead. A webmaster must be a technician for an innovative site, you need also for some new technology that will make your site unique.

Web 2.0 is the new revolution of design

Yes you are right, everything evolving and nobody lives today. All things which you read now there is in the past already :)
In other thing if you still in today, you will be similar to designer who couldn't slice wepbage :D