Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A website manager runs the marketing site as a product: the roadmap, the request queue, vendors, analytics and the number the site is accountable for. Portfolios show what a site looks like, not how it was run, so we screen for releases with a measured result, vendors managed and tracking that matched the CRM.
A new website manager is judged on whether changes ship in a sensible order, the site is tracked and fast, and its main number moves. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 to 3
Every page type, template, plugin and integration listed. The request backlog, the vendors and developers involved, who can publish what, and the analytics and tracking setup reviewed.
On track looks like a written inventory of the site, its owners and its risks, and a backlog sorted by effect on the site's main number.
How we test for it before you meet them
A site review in our screen: a live site we point them to. We score what they find about speed, tracking and ownership before they recommend a redesign.
Weeks 4 to 6
A quarterly roadmap with the site's main number at the head, one intake for requests, a rule for what gets done and a release routine with a rollback.
On track looks like a roadmap leaders agreed to, requests triaged in one place and a release process nobody works around.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they said no to a request and who accepted it, then check with a former head of marketing.
Weeks 7 to 10
The highest-effect fixes shipped: speed, broken forms, tracking gaps and confusing high-traffic pages. Each change tested, released and measured.
On track looks like three to five improvements live on high-traffic pages, each with a before-and-after measurement.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a release and its measured effect, and check the number with the analytics owner.
Weeks 11 to 13
Analytics and conversion tracking verified against the CRM, uptime and speed monitored, backups and access reviewed, and developer or agency scopes written with deliverables.
On track looks like tracking that matches the CRM, a monitored site and vendors working to written scopes.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask about a vendor they replaced or re-scoped and why. A former colleague on the vendor side or the marketing lead confirms.
After day 90
Strong website managers publish a roadmap, review the site's main number every month and retire pages and plugins that no longer earn their place.
On track looks like a published roadmap, a monthly number reviewed with marketing and sales, and pages removed on purpose.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they removed from a site and what happened. Removing something on evidence predicts someone who will not let the site sprawl.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mostly building, it is a front-end or WordPress developer; if it is mostly testing pages for conversion, it is a CRO specialist.
What changes on the site, in what order, and who decides.
The leads, signups or revenue the site is accountable for, reviewed monthly with marketing and sales.
Scopes, deliverables, access and the relationships behind the work.
Conversion events, tag management and a match between the site and the CRM.
Hosting, updates, backups, access control and page speed, owned even when others do the work.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a website manager search ends with a builder who cannot set priorities or a planner nobody can hold to a release.
That seat ownsTesting pages and flows for conversion: research, hypotheses, experiments and results.
Hire it instead whenthe site works but converts poorly and nobody tests.
That seat ownsBuilds and maintains the site: themes, plugins, templates, performance and integrations.
Hire it instead whenyou need someone to build and the roadmap is already set.
That seat ownsDay-to-day site operations: updates, publishing, forms, redirects and fixes, often across several sites.
Hire it instead whenthe site needs a steady hand on updates, not an owner of the roadmap.
The title stays the same; the site does not. Pick the one that matches what yours has to do.
Runs a lead-generation site for a sales-led company: forms, content, integrations and the CRM handoff.
Runs a site that takes orders or signups: catalog, checkout, speed and tracking.
Runs several sites or brands with shared components, governance and many contributors.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Site results | Traffic figures with no conversion number. | A conversion or lead number the site produced, confirmed by the marketing lead. |
| Technical judgment | Cannot say how the site is built or hosted. | Can explain the hosting, plugin, performance and security choices they made. |
| Vendor and developer management | Has only worked alone, or only through one agency. | Written scopes, delivered work and a vendor change they led. |
| Tracking and measurement | Relies on a dashboard they did not set up. | Set up tracking and checked it against the CRM. |
| Fit with your site | A different platform, traffic level or number of contributors. | Has managed a site like yours, on a similar platform and scale. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Website manager pay is mostly base: Salary.com’s employer-reported band is $105,085 to $133,591 with a median of $120,631. Built In has no page for the title, so every seat shown is a Salary.com band. Whether the seat manages developers, owns conversion targets or runs an ecommerce site moves the number most.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salary
Website Manager
Salary.com base benchmark
$105,085 to $133,591 base
Web Manager
Salary.com base benchmark, a separate and higher-paid title
$135,399 to $160,351 base
Conversion Rate Optimization Manager
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$112,868 to $134,885 base
Web Producer
Salary.com base benchmark, the seat below
$63,836 to $71,315 base
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026, for Website Manager, Web Manager, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Manager and Web Producer. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A website manager runs the marketing site as a product: the roadmap, the request queue, developers and vendors, analytics and tracking, and the number the site is accountable for, such as qualified leads or revenue. They decide what changes and in what order, and keep the site fast, tracked and secure, even when others do the building.
Salary.com puts a website manager at $105,085 to $133,591 base, with a median of $120,631 (October 2026). Its separate web manager band runs $135,399 to $160,351, so confirm which title your seat matches. Built In has no page for either title. Whether the seat manages developers, owns conversion targets or runs an ecommerce site moves the number.
A website manager owns the roadmap, the number and the vendors. A web developer builds what the roadmap needs. A webmaster is the traditional title for the person who keeps a site running day to day. Hire a website manager when nobody decides what changes on the site, a developer when the plan is set and the work is building, and web operations when the need is steady updates.
When the site matters to revenue and requests reach developers by chat, email and hallway, with nobody deciding the order. A website manager needs authority over priorities, access to analytics and a budget for developers or vendors. If the site rarely changes, a contractor or agency may be enough; if every page change needs a debate, the seat is overdue.
We run a site review on a live website, asking what the candidate would check in the first week, ask them to walk a request from intake to release, and confirm results with the marketing lead or the analytics owner. Every candidate is scored on the five criteria on this page, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included.
Not always, but they need to read a site’s structure well enough to scope work, judge a developer’s estimate and spot a risky change. A manager who has built or edited sites in WordPress, Webflow or a similar platform makes better decisions than one who has only commissioned them. We test judgment with a live site review rather than a coding exercise.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with a site review scored and past releases checked with a former marketing lead. Interview speed decides the rest: website managers with a record usually have several processes open, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us the platform, who builds today and what the site is accountable for. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for web roles, or send your CV and a link to a site you ran and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The website manager is one of nine seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.