Can I Hear Your Web Site?

By Garland Coulson
Posted Wednesday, July 28, 2004

A web site makes great eye candy, but can your web site engage senses other than sight?

Believe it or not, there are actually companies working to add smell and taste to your web sites and emails! For fun, check out (www.trisenx.com).

At this time, adding smell requires that your web visitors have special hardware, but adding audio to your web site, e-mails or newsletters can be enjoyed by nearly everyone because most computers already have sound cards and speakers.

The good news is that it is very inexpensive to add audio to your web site, emails and newsletters and you may already have all the tools you need!

Finding or creating sounds.

You can search for sound effects to add to your web site using the sound search engine, (www.findsounds.com).

Windows 98 and newer computers come with a program called Sound Recorder that you can find under the [start], then [accessories] then [entertainment] menu. If you have a microphone for your computer, only a $10 - $99 purchase, you can use Sound Recorder to record audio clips you can add to your web site. I’ve used this system to create audio versions of my Internet marketing articles as well as audio introductions to different areas of my site.

Sound Recorder saves as a .wav file by default, but you can also save it as an .mpeg file

Adding the sounds to your web site.

Adding the sounds to your web site can be done easily using one of the many popular editing programs available. These editing programs let you work on your web site in a “what you see is what you get” format similar to Microsoft Word. So you don’t have to learn html to add sounds to your site.

Here are two of our recommended programs for editing your web site:

* For existing sites - Macromedia Contribute allows beginners to update their own web site without learning web design, in an easy-to-use “what you see is what you get” interface similar to Microsoft Word. At a cost of only $99 US, it is affordable for most entrepreneurs. (http://affiliates.macromedia.com/t.asp?id=2017&p=go/dr_text_aff1)
* For new sites - BuilderSpot enables you to quickly build your own professional website, complete with hosting, email, pictures, newsletters, shopping cart, message boards, forms and much more in just a few short minutes. Very affordable at under $20 US per month. For a FREE trial, visit (http://www.qksrv.net/click-971014-8073214).

This is the easiest to use template web building system we’ve found, with the widest range of features. One of our clients used this service and had her web site up in the first week of our coaching program.

Adding sound to your web site can have a great impact. One entrepreneur in a discussion group I belong to said his sales went up 30% when he added audio to his site. My own web site has received many comments about the audio files I have available.

So add sound effects or a friendly voice to your web site and make your web site come alive!

About The Author
Garland Coulson, “The E-Business Tutor” is an acclaimed speaker, author and coach in the field of Internet marketing for small business and home business. For more information, visit The E-Business Tutor web site at (www.ebusinesstutor.com) or call toll-free in North America at 1-866-413-0951.
gcoulson@ebusinesstutor.com