Today I opened a website and not only did it play sound…it actually had a radio station playing. A radio station that was right in the middle of a morning show conversation. I had no idea where this conversation was coming from!! There was a tiny strip at the very top of the page declaring the station and what was playing, but…what the heck were they thinking?
We are adamantly opposed to having music or any sound playing automatically on a website. It’s a huge data suck, and it’s intrusive. What if you are sitting in your cubicle on your lunch break and suddenly the whole office knows you are on the web, and what you are looking at? Not cool. A radio station takes that intrusiveness AND adds an element of “What the…???” to the experience. Honestly, I don’t even remember what I came there for. I just closed the page and said, “Forget it”.
Choose what’s important
Sound is not vital to your website user’s initial experience. In fact, it could cut their visit short. If you got your visitor TO your site, the last thing you want to do is chase them off. It normally takes a lot of time and money to create traffic to your site. Don’t waste the money and a potential sale because you think everyone needs to hear “We are the Champions” to understand your message. There are other ways. Believe us.
Sound can come later
While we don’t recommend blurting out music/sound/radio stations as soon as your visitor accesses your site, we do think there is a time and place for sounds. Band websites will obviously have visitors expecting music available somewhere on the site. News website users will expect video (with sound) that they can watch. There are instances where sound is totally expected, so focus on those! How are you going to present your music? Are you a musician and need a pay to download option? Are you giving it all away to get your name out there? Setting up a user-friendly way to share your amazing sound is the goal for a website like that. There are apps, plugins, third party software, etc. that can offer you the exact features you need.
Do you want to discuss your ideas?
We are available for consultations, as well as to discuss creating your website. You can contact us at 833-326-7357 or use the contact form below:
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