Today's tip will explain talking websites, including how it is done. I'll also share the results of my own talking website experiment...
 

So, are talking websites a Trend or a Necessity?

Probably neither. Let me explain...

Over the recent months I've seen more and more sites using audio to inject a bit of life into a normally static presentation.

No, I'm not talking about throwing a song into the background of a web page. Rather, I'm referring to a professional quality audio presentation. The best presentations combine an engaging sound byte with some soothing or energetic music.

I'm sure you've come across this if you've surfed the web at all over the last few months. It really is growing in popularity and I believe it is here to stay. When done correctly, an audio presentation can add a bit of life to a website.

So I figured I'd give it a try at my site. And it was not as simple as many make it out to be. ;-)

First, I did my research. It seems there are lots of ways to add an audio presentation to a website. And I ended up going with a combination of services.

Here are the four steps I took to complete the task...

1. First, I had to create the audio file I wanted my visitors to hear. I wrote it down on paper and when I was ready to record it I quickly learned that I needed a decent microphone. Without a decent computer mic, the quality of my sound byte would suffer.

And while you can spend up to hundreds of dollars on a microphone, I found that a simple Labtec (or comparable brand) computer microphone that costs less that twenty bucks performed surprisingly well. I learned that the best mics for PC voice recordings have a low-end frequency between 50hz and 100hz, and a high-end frequency between 10khz and 18khz. Those numbers are usually listed right on the packaging or product description. The one I used was a LabTec Axis 301 headset model that I grabbed at ebay. I simply plugged it into the mic port on my PC and it worked like a charm.

2. Next I needed to record my voice file in MP3 format. After poking around on the web I found nice shareware program called Audio Record Wizard. This clever program is designed to work directly with your sound card, so it can record audio at near-perfect quality. Audio Record Wizard can also record directly to mp3 format, saving you valuable disk space. Plus, the interface is easy to use and perfect for both novice and expert PC users.

Oh, by the way, if you are not content with the way your recorded voice sounds, you should consider hiring voice over talent to do the recording. Here's a great voice over resource you can use.

3. Once I had my MP3 voice file recorded, I wanted to snazz it up with some background music. That's a little above my realm of knowledge so I had the folks at Musical Talking Website do it for me. They took my voice file and turned it into a great audio presentation. For $47.50 they will create a custom audio presentation with musical background, and they do a wonderful job.

4. Now that I had my presentation completed, I needed to bring it all to life at my site. This was the tricky part. I wanted a seamless integration and the first few solutions I tried were not. When visitors hit my site they were presented with annoying notices to download one plugin or another, and that is something that must be avoided at all cost.

While I did not like to idea of paying for yet another monthly service, I found that no solution came close to Armand Morin's AudioGenerator for $29.95 per month.

AudioGenerator interfaces your audio presentation with your site, without the need for visitors to have flash, plugins, or any other "site interruptions". That is extremely important.

Audiogenerator also offers a wide array of features such as canned scripts, a testimonial call-in module and more. I plan to implement many of these as I go along, making this service well worth the investment.

Once I signed up at AudioGenerator I simply uploaded my completed audio presentation. Audiogenerator then generated the html code for me to paste on my site. Done.

You can see (and hear!) the finished product right now if you want. Just click the play button at the top, right of my website... www.make-a-living-online.com

So what have my results been so far?

As today's tip continues below, you'll read the results and find out if YOU really need a talking website...
 

OK, so now that you know how to make your website come to life with audio, let's talk about whether it is worth your time and effort.

First you need to ask yourself what you hope to achieve in the first place. If it is a better, more engaging website then yes, you CAN achieve that with a quality audio presentation.

If you simply want to spruce up your site and stay with the times, then again, it is worth doing.

However, and this is a BIG however, if you are adding audio to your site because you've been promised that you'll see a significant increase in conversion (some sites claim that audio can increase sales by as much as 300%) you may be in for disappointment.

My own results...

As most of you know, my websites are fairly busy. My affiliates provide a steady stream of traffic and sales on a regular basis, and changes at my site are easy to measure. So I did just that. And while my own results may not be indicative of what other websites experience, I'll share them with you anyway.

In the two months since adding an audio presentation to my website, I have seen a very tiny increase in conversion. New subscriber signups and sales at my site simply remained steady through the holidays and into the new year.

Of course, I just started my audio implementation and plan to add a few other audio enhancements. One in particular that I expect to impact conversion is the 'audio testimonials' feature where my customers phone in comments to my AudioGenerator account and I add them to the site. But I do not expect even these to have a HUGE impact.

And here is why...

It's simple really. If you have a website that already making decent sales, not much can change the fact that conversion is really a result of the quality and quantity of your traffic. And every website's conversion numbers are dependent on that. Sure, website enhancements can make a small difference, and multiple enhancements can add up to a measurable result. But you need to look at changes like this as just that, enhancements.

So if you are looking for a quick way to increase your sales, adding audio may NOT be the answer you are looking for. Instead, you should focus on on other things, such as the six items at this web sales tutorial.

That's it for today's tip. See ya in a few weeks.

To your success,
Jim Daniels
http://www.make-a-living-online.com
(The Site that Explains How to Make a Living Online.)

P.S. At that just-updated guide you'll discover some of my deepest, darkest secrets about online business. If you are not having the success you expected online, I can help you personally, just like I've helped these folks.

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