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TALKINGSITES_WEB_SITE_AUDIO
| TALKINGSITES WEB SITE AUDIO
People love pantomimes because they can communicate so cleverly
without ever uttering a sound. I find them fascinating. But
imagine what the world would be like if all our entertainment,
conversation, and advertising was done in pantomime. Aside from
giving us a new appreciation for clown-white face paint, we'd
probably tire of it rather quickly. The truth of the matter is,
the Internet is still very much like the great mimist Marcel
Marceau. Expressive, colorful, animated, and stone cold silent.
Are there exceptions? Certainly. MP3 music sites, some news
sites, and a growing number of radio stations are making those
little desktop speakers come to life. But for the huge majority
of sites, including nearly all the millions of business sites,
the silence is deafening. Why is that? There are several
reasons, the greatest of which is a simple lack of awareness
about the potential that exists in web audio. Our exposure to
audio on the web has been so limited up until now that it's
difficult to even imagine how to use it. Likewise, most web
designers have not been exposed to an understanding of web
audio's power and potential, and thus, have never considered
recommending it to their clients. Another reason for the
shortage of audio is the huge number of sites which were
constructed before web audio was practical, or even a
consideration. Why be different? How is the addition of audio
content valuable to you and your company? It sells. A
well-worded, well-produced clip of audio accompanying each
clickable product on your site makes those products more
exciting, and gives the potential purchaser more reasons to buy.
It convinces. For example, imagine the power of using the actual
voices of your customers, telling their own testimonial stories
about the quality of your products and services. It builds
image. The style and delivery of a spoken message can make a
very personal statement about you as a company. In addition,
when your web visitors are greeted by a rich selection of audio
options, the impression it leaves is that your company is a
step-ahead. It is an instant distinction between your web site
and your competition's, which is unlikely to have any audio
whatsoever. It teaches. Our aural receptors stimulate our brain
to action in ways our eyes never will. That's why we're tempted
to read aloud when faced with a difficult set of instructions.
That same phenomenon occurs in all aural messages, making it
easier for customers to comprehend value and buy, remote staff
to learn over the net, clients to understand technical support
information, etc. It eliminates clutter. You may have more to
say than you can justify displaying onscreen. By letting people
click on certain points for more details, you keep clutter down,
while making your expanded points in a more compelling way. It
leverages existing resources. If you have radio ads already
produced up, get double duty out of them! There are effective
ways to put those right on your site. It encourages return
visits. Sites which visitors find more interesting are the ones
that get bookmarked and revisited. Web audio combined with a
regular refreshing of your visual content is a way to keep 'em
coming back for more. What to do? First, it's important to
understand that web audio is best supplied in liquid form. It's
what they call "streaming audio." The explanation is simple.
Generally, when we download a file from a web site, we must wait
for all of it to arrive before we can use it. In that sense,
it's rather like a solid block. "Streaming audio," on the other
hand, trickles to you across the Internet as you are listening
to it. You don't have to wait for it to download. That makes it
a quick, practical way to deliver audio over the Internet. The
last thing you want to force your visitors to have to do is
visit a web site somewhere to download an obscure audio player
plug-in before they can begin accessing sound on your site, so I
generally recommend Real Audio, which is the format most widely
playable by the web browsers currently in use. This will sound
self-serving, but I am convinced the best way to add audio to
your web site is to have someone do it professionally. Just as a
company would be mistaken to hire an inexperienced person to
design their web site itself, or to lay out a sales brochure,
it's equally unwise to attempt to add audio to your own site.
There are issues of equipment, acoustics, equalization,
encoding, and integration which are far better left to someone
who has the skill and experience to do it right. My advice is to
check around, listen carefully to the quality of what each
service offers, and consider their degree of experience and
expertise. Adding audio to your company's web site lets you
stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Unlike all the the
white-faced, arm-waving, silent clowns on the Internet, your
company's audio-rich web site demonstrates to the world that you
have something to say and you know how to say it.
About the author:
Dane Scott is a 23 year veteran voice-over announcer who has
recorded TV and radio voice work around the world. He operates a
professional production facility where he creates audio for the
internet industry. To contact Dane: sales@talkingsites.com To
check out "talkingsites.com" www.talkingsites.com
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