Adding Audio To Your Web Sites

When it's done right, audio is a very effective sales tool to add to an existing web site.  Most people do not like to read large volumes of text, they would rather be lead through the web site by an audio.   There are however, several key rules to follow:

1. Use a drop down audio box so people are aware of it.

By using a drop down box you instantly make people aware of the audio capability of your web site.  otherwise they may not even notice that audio is available.  Some people cure this by having the audio begin automatically, but then you will cause problems for people who are at work or in a library.  So it's best to let people "click to play" the audio manually.  This gives them a chance to adjust their speaker volume prior to pressing play.

Alternately, if you want your audio to auto-start you can leave 5 seconds of blank space at the beginning and put a note on the drop down box that says "audio will begin in 5 seconds".

2. Your audio quality needs to be crisp and clean.

Use a high quality head set microphone to ensure that there is no crackling or hissing on the audio.  Nothing will turn off your audience faster than poor audio quality.  If you can't get a high quality recording, then you are better off without the audio.   Example:  Some people record conference calls which normally contain background noise or echos.  These are fine to post for educational purposes, but do not make them part of your marketing presentation.  It's much more effective to call participants individually and record them on a quiet line.  Then simply edit the final results and put the call together manually.

3. Make sure the volume of your audio is not too loud or too soft.

It's important to start out the audio at a standard level, if it comes on too loud people will instantly hit the "close" button and that's not what you want.  If you have recorded your presentation in several pieces, make sure you adjust the volume on all individual pieces prior to putting them together to make sure the volume is consistent.

4. Keep the audio as short as possible simply highlighting key points.

On the initial page of a marketing web site your audio should only be 2-3 minutes long (the same is true for video).  If you find your audio is over 3 minutes, you are trying to say too much.  Limit your number of key points to 4 or 5 and only spend 30 seconds on each key point.

5. Use a natural tone of voice, don't try to imitate "Radio Guy".

One thing I have found over the years is that people are generally turned off by commercial advertising, they want to talk to a normal person.  In fact, I believe the biggest mistake marketers are going to make in the next 5 years is trying to bring the TV model to the internet.  People are buying TIVO and DVR services in order to skip commercials on television, so they certainly aren't going to sit and watch them online.

Be yourself and have a meaningful conversation with them!

Resources:

Click Here to add audio to your web site.

Click Here for the software to make audio drop down boxes.