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Audio Books - 5 Reasons to Love Them
The typical hardcover or paperback book is not going anywhere.
The format shows no signs of ever dying off, even after
considering the many technological advances made in recent
years. It would, however, be foolish to deny the obvious and...
How to Organize your Digital Audio Collection
If you have been collecting audio files for even a short while, you probably have a fair number stored on your computer. Finding a specific song by clicking through directories can be tedious and time-consuming, so you really need a way to find what...
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD: The Four Pitiful Pitfalls that Can Kill Even Your Most Promising Audio Product Ideas
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD: The Four Pitiful
Pitfalls that Can Kill Even Your Most Promising Audio Product
Ideas
I received a huge surprise a while back when I went to update my
website.
I scarcely recognized my own...
MOLD AUDIO TO YOUR WILL
In addition to great features that rip, convert, and organize
music files, Music Morpher Gold comes with an impressive set of
audio effects to make any music geek giddy. Think Britney Spears
could do better as a baritone? This application lets...
Streaming Video and Audio In the Internet
Entertainment is a necessity! And thank god we belong to the digitalage when almost all our needs are readily available right in the comforts of our own home. And now that the Internet is here, the focus is not merely on the issue of merely...
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The Ten Commandments of Using Streaming Audio on Your Website
The Ten Commandments of Using Streaming Audio On Your Website
When it comes to placing audio on your website there are Ten Commandments you absolutely must follow. Break one of these Commandments and you can watch your website drive visitors away faster than the speed of sound. Fortunately, if you follow the Ten Commandments you can get people to stay at your website longer, inquire about your product or service more often, and even buy more of what you are selling. Doesn’t that sound good?
So without further ado, here are the Ten Commandments you must follow when placing audio on your website.
Commandment #1
Don’t set your audio to play automatically when people arrive at your website. Your visitors all have different computers with different speakers, some have the volume turned all the way up, some are already listening to music, some don’t even have speakers to begin with. If you start playing your audio automatically you risk losing potential customers. It’s much easer to leave a website or hit the back button then it is to search around for how to turn off your audio. One exception to this Commandment is the use of pop-up windows. Pop-up windows can be closed by the visitor yet they still leave them at your website. The same goes for exit pop-ups, these windows can be very effective at grabbing the visitors attention, although some people may not like it, it has proven to be very successful in some uses.
Commandment #2
Sounding like a Pro! You must have professional sounding audio on your site. Anything else will make you look like an amateur. If you are showcasing your own poetry, or telling a personal story, or marketing yourself, then you should use your own voice. But, if you are trying to sell something and your voice doesn’t quite cut it, then have a professional voiceover person record your audio. It will make all the difference. WebAudioReviews.com has a list of several affordable voiceover professionals.
Commandment #3
When using audio to sell or promote, keep it short! Long audio messages have their place online and rarely are they on the main page of a website. Keep your messages short, concise, to the point, and easy to follow. This can make all the difference in your audio message. Try to keep your promotional audio message around 30 to 90 seconds. Commercials are only 30 seconds and get their point across very well, follow their lead and do the same thing.
Commandment #4
Be prepared! If you or someone else is recording your audio then write out a script. Write out a complete word for word script, practice it out loud and change it as necessary. If you just “wing it” then it will sound like it. Have others listen and critique your script before you record it. Fine tune your script by removing unnecessary wording, trimming down the overall length, and wording it for maximum impact.
Commandment #5
When recording your own audio, smile! It will come across in your voice. But remember, if you don’t sound like a pro even when you smile, then get one!
Commandment
#6
Don’t overload your site with audio. If you have too many audio buttons to choose from most people will choose none. Whereas when you only have a few audio buttons on your website it will encourage people to listen to your audio message. A single audio button done right is usually enough to get your point.
Commandment #7
Use music! Using music in addition to your voice will make your audio sound 100 times more professional and engaging. Add some easy listening intro music that fits the theme of your site, even sound effects if done right can make a tremendous difference in the way your message sounds. Remember to use music that is royalty free music or music you have created and own rights to. Placing your favorite Beatles song on your website could get you in trouble.
Commandment #8
Have a point! This may sound obvious, but many people place audio on their website just because they can and for no other reason. No one cares about how fancy your audio is if it doesn’t have much of a point to it. Have a purpose and reason for using audio.
Commandment #9
Tell people to listen to your audio! Just having an audio button on your website isn’t good enough. You need to tell people what they will hear, what it’s about, how long it is, and where to click to listen. Don’t assume people will figure it out on their own, people need to be told what to do online, and the same goes for telling them to listen to your audio. Also, by telling visitors the length of your message they won’t be afraid to listen to it because they will know how long it is. Research has shown that sometimes people will not listen to an audio message in fear that it may be too long. If it is a long message then tell your visitors so they will be prepared for an hour long audio message.
Commandment #10
Test your audio! Don’t just place audio on your website thinking it will increase sales. Test it out, get opinions from your visitors, friends, and family, and then do split testing. Find out if the sales are greater with your audio. If you don’t split test your site with different audio messages and without audio then you will never know if it’s helping or hurting your website.
To place streaming audio on your site, as well as find a wealth of information, voiceover professionals, hosting, tools, and more, visit Web Audio Reviews
Copyright 2005 Digital Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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These guidelines should NOT be included when re-publsihing this article.
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| Yahoo! Search - Audio Search |
| Submit your audio content - including podcasts - to Audio Search with Media RSS ... Find audio files from across the Web including music, podcasts, ... |
| audio.search.yahoo.com |
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| AltaVista - Audio Search |
| Search for MP3s, WAVs and streaming audio files on the web and on FTP sites. |
| www.altavista.com |
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| Rhapsody & RealPlayer — the best audio and video players — Real.com |
| The standard for audio and video streaming online. |
| www.real.com |
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| SuperPass — premium audio and video programming — Real.com |
| RealNetworks cross-platform multimedia player. Supports RTSP/RTP with H.261, u-Law, a-law, MP3, DVI. [Client] |
| www.real.com |
|
| The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Audio |
| List of major online audio resources; part of the WWW Virtual Library, maintained by Prof. Jonathan Bowen, London South Bank University, UK. |
| archive.museophile.org |
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| More audio reports | Audio archive | Guardian Unlimited |
| Special report: Europe's far right. More audio reports ... Audio, 'It will achieve a great deal of injustice' February 17, video: The Conservative candidate ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
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| Internet Archive: Audio Archive |
| Non-English language collections contributed to the Open Source Audio collection ... You are invited to view or upload audios to the Open Source collection! ... |
| www.archive.org |
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| M-AUDIO |
| Manufacturers of MIDI and audio devices for the PC or Mac. Product catalog, company information, news and support center. |
| www.m-audio.com |
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| Audio - Salon |
| Free spoken word recordings from hundreds of authors. Includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and live author events. |
| www.salon.com |
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| Audio Engineering Society |
| The leading professional association worldwide for professionals involved in the audio industry. Extensive and well maintained site, including online member ... |
| www.aes.org |
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| Sound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| HyperPhysics: Sound and Hearing · Audio for the 21st Century · Conversion of sound units and levels · Sounds amazing a learning resource for sound and waves ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Audio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Windows Media Audio, Microsoft's proprietary digital audio format. ... "I hear" in Latin. Audio, magazine covering high fidelity music reproduction. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| AudioREVIEW.com - Home Audio and Home Theater resource |
| Consumer reviews on home audio and home theater equipment. |
| www.audioreview.com |
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| CBC.ca - Listen to CBC Radio |
| Audio Plug-ins & Assistance. Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player 9. Frequently Asked Questions, Frequently Asked Questions. Ogg Vorbis Format ... |
| www.cbc.ca |
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| CBC.ca - Listen to CBC Radio |
| From 7:00 p.m. AT Friday, December 1st to 7:00 p.m. AT Saturday, December 2nd, the Fredericton audio stream will be unavailable due to a power shutdown in ... |
| www.cbc.ca |
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| Audio - Creative Commons |
| Features a pool of Creative Commons licensed audio. You may submit your MP3s · OYEZ Years of Supreme Court proceedings available as licensed MP3, ... |
| creativecommons.org |
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| Audio Adrenaline |
| Audio Adrenaline is an award winning Christian Rock Band that writes, records, sings and performs songs like Big House with Gospel driven messages to ... |
| www.audioa.com |
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| Audio Bible Online |
| Audio Bible, The King James Version narrated by Alexander Scourby is on-line. |
| www.audio-bible.com |
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| Audio - ebaumsworld.com |
| hilarious audio sound files file mp3 mp3s audios. ... Shocking audio of a man getting shot. Tags: ghetto · Blondestar Blondestar ... |
| www.ebaumsworld.com |
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| AudioFind.com - multimedia internet search |
| Searchable MP3 directory with thousands of files. Browse alphabetically by filename, master artist, or date. |
| www.audiofind.com |
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