Continue reading »]]> Back in the early days of the internet you were lucky if your computer and modem were able to handle a simple graphic, but these days you can expect to see all kinds of animations and videos on the sites you visit. As the web 2.0 generation continues to grow and come to grips with the latest technologies on offer, website features are also on the rise. With this expansion has come a whole new variety of entertainments and enjoyable aspects, from sophisticated images to online videos.

Videos on web pages have all kinds of uses, anything from sharing music or funny clips to showing customers how to use a product or item. These are the kind of extra features that can encourage people to stick with one site over another, but there are also a number of sites that are dedicated to nothing but sharing video online. The king of online video sharing has to be YouTube. The site was created in 2005 and has since been bought by Google and is designed to allow users to watch all kinds of user generated content online.

YouTube was the first site to make watching videos online extremely simple and to also make creating an easy interface for uploading videos of your own. This means that anyone can create and upload a video as long as they make an account with YouTube. This ability has spawned a rise in all kinds of applications, but namely comedic ones. From funny clips of people making fools of themselves to spoof remakes of popular films, many people have used online video to make other people laugh.

Another popular use for sites like YouTube is as a place to host a video blog, or vlog. These offer people the opportunity to share their thoughts online in a new and more immediate way than through text and some people have amassed an extensive following for their online diaries. In a similar vein, some individuals create informational channels for themselves on YouTube where they show people how to apply make-up or create certain cards.

On the other hand, many bands make use of YouTube as a way to share their own music videos and keen filmmakers can start showcasing their work online easily and potentially expose videos to a wide audience with very little effort or overhead.

As video sharing sites encourage user generated content, so too have many corporations and businesses embedded videos online to help people have a better online experience – however, you’ll need a good internet connection or package like Sky broadband or similar to be able to view online videos smoothly.

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About the Author:
Andrew Regan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
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Continue reading »]]> I remember when streaming audio software first became readily available, back in 2003 if memory serves me. This was a big deal, because it made it easy to put audio on your website, and it would stream smoothly, even for folks on a dial up connection, which is what most of us had back then.

The first program I bought was Sonic Memo… eventually I would end up buying or downloading the trial version of just about every knock off that came down the pike… but Sonic Memo was my first. And it’s still one of the best.

Jay Jennings (the Mohawk Man!) was the creator. I was looking at his program for $97 and MP3 Sound Stream, which was around $39. The only difference I could see from the demos on their websites was that the Sonic Memo clip started playing right away, where the Sound Stream audio had a bit of a delay. Other than that, they both streamed smoothly and sounded good.

Jay had his phone number on his website so I called him up and asked him why his software was worth two-and-a-half times what his competitor’s cost. His answer was straightforward: “I’ve never tried MP3 Sound Stream so I can’t comment on it. But I know what Sonic Memo is worth and I stand behind it. Buy them both, and if you like MP3 Sound Stream better, I’ll give you your money back, no questions asked.”

I bought Sonic Memo and loved it.

Then the knock offs began hitting the market. They were cheap — some were even given away as bonuses — but very basic. On some, the quality outright sucked.

If all you wanted to do was a add a simple play button for a welcome message or testimonial, they’d be OK. But if you wanted to seriously impact your marketing with audio, you needed something with some features.

Website Jukebox is my new favorite. It has some amazing features.

Here’s the most incredible one:

You can trigger timed visual events at precise moments.
In other words, as your audio is playing you can have pictures or even different text appear on your webpage to coincide with what you are saying.

Watch this demo
Opens in a new window

Website Jukebox is part of the Total Web Audio package. With this package you get:

• Website Jukebox
• Audio Visual Tour Creator
• Audio Postcard Creator
• Video Postcard Creator
• Intro & Exit Music Mixer
• Streaming Ogg Vorbis Player

Plus, some great bonuses! (The Audio/Video Ebook Creator is one of them, but get it while it’s still available.)

If you want to see an example of how I used Total Web Audio on one of my websites, take a look at this.

So if you’re ready to get serious about audio on your website, get the Total Web Audio package. No other software package offers many of the functions and abilities Total Web Audio has. (Disclosure: compensated affiliate)