The webmaster (feminine: webmistress) is often known as: system administrator, author or website administrator. The range of activities that a webmaster performs can be estimated using the concept of Website scale. On a smaller site, the webmaster will typically be the owner, developer and/or programmer, in addition to the author of the content. On larger sites, the webmaster will act as a coordinator and supervisor to the activities of other people working on the site and is usually an employee of the owner of the Website.

Webmasters are generalists who manage all aspects of Web operations:

• Designing and developing
• Marketing
• Regulation and management of access rights of different website users
• Appearance and website navigation setup
• Reading users' feedbacks and complaints about site functionality
• Management of content, advertising, marketing
• Order fulfillment for the Website

The current model is more team-oriented with a website manager leading a team consisting of web developers, designers, programmers, QA lead, Adobe Flash developers, usability experts or a UI/UE team. In the web development companies existing since the 90s, the term senior officer of the company or "Webmaster-in-chief" is often used instead of webmaster.