All For HIM Marketing Solutions Inc.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

A Site With A Beat

Does your website have music on it?  If so, please pay attention.  

We've all clicked on a link to a site and music began to blare through our computer's speakers.  What was your reaction?  Chances are, it was the same as mine usually is.  After flinching from the startling surprise, I mute the music as fast as I can, then look around to see who else around me I disrupted.  Some times I don't mind the music, but for the majority of sites with a beat, it's just a nuisance.  

The first thing you should be sure of when designing your site is that everything there serves some sort of purpose.  What purpose does your music serve?  If your site is for your band, music store, or some other thing like that, then the music probably needs to be there so that your potential customers can get a small taste of what you're selling.  If your site is a MySpace or FaceBook page, that page is there to tell about you and what you like, so, that shows surfers what music you like.

I would encourage anyone with a website to consider these things about their site.
  • What type of site is it?  This is important whether a personal site, business site, non-profit organization, church, or whatever it may be.  
  • What are the site's goals?  Is the goal just to tell about you?  Sell products?  Encourage click-through traffic?  Prompt a visit from potential customers or clients?  
  • Who do you want to visit your site?  Are your visitors going to be people seeking a vacation?  A future bride looking for a wedding venue?  Husband searching for an anniversary gift?  The single mom who visited your church last week and is looking to learn more?  Friends & family keeping up on you?  
  • Will ALL of the people visiting your site like the same music as you?
  • Will the majority of your sites visitors turn down the music volume or delete it?  If so it's probably because they're inconvenienced or annoyed by it.
  • If your last answer was yes, will your site still reach it's goals?  Chances are, if your site is a tool that generates business, a yes answer to the previous question could effect your bottom line and therefore hinder your sites ability to accomplish it's goals.  
If your site doesn't reach it's goals... you don't need the site.

Comments?
JC

2 comments:

Zac Christian said...

That is soo true... The funny thing is our church has music on the site and I loved it at first now I mute my computer before I go there... Great Points...

Z

Anonymous said...

When people put music on their site that plays automatically, they demonstrate that they fundamentally don't understand the web. The web is not a passive medium, like TV. You don't just turn it on, select a channel that looks interesting, and then set down the remote. By its very nature, the web is interactive. They had to DO something to get there, even if it was as simple as clicking on a link. You should never think that your website is an opportunity for you to push your agenda on people who haven't chosen to receive it. If your music is really important to you—say, if you're a band—then it makes much more sense to make your music available on your home page, just one click away from playing. But let the user decide. Take iTunes, for example. People have to really want it to get it. They have to download the whole software package and then install it. And when you go to the iTunes Store—arguably, its home page—what do they play automatically when you arrive? Exactly. Nothing. Apple is better at marketing than I am. I'll take cues from them any day.