I can't really say just how many seminars, webinars or on-line tutorials I've been to or seen in the last several years on building and maintaining web pages.
The one thing that stands out as common among all of them is the use of automatic audio and video players that begin playing as soon as the page loads.
The second thing that remains a constant among all of them is the negative impact such players have on your viewership statistics.
The thinking is that the auto-play mode was once a clever gimmick to get a message across. However the time for this feature has come and long ago passed its point of usefulness. What's worse is that now that it's not useful it actually becomes harmful to your cause.
Many web users find it annoying or even worse, offensive. The day has come when more of your fans, readers, viewers etc. are using their computers for their own sound needs and when your audio comes out blaring above theirs it becomes problematic and causes a “Click-Out”. In radio we used to call this the “tune-out” factor and it means a lot more than just physically turning the channel or volume knob. It can also cause a “mental tune-out” which means that every other element of your page could be lost as far as they are concerned.
What is even worse is the fact that those who may be trying to do double-duty on their computer and record other online audio will have their recording ruined if your page begins to blurt out your audio. This has harmed more unsuspecting computer users than you would care to know.
The negative for you is that they may actually block your web-page from loading in the future. Then you get wise and remove any auto-play functions, but your viewer doesn't know it and never will now that they have your page blocked. You've lost them forever.
In this day where everyone is scrambling to make the ends meet financially, can you really afford to LOSE any fan, reader, or viewer? Every one of those lost folks has the potential to become a “buyer” of your product; and, even more so, they have the ability to recruit others for you. But they can't help your cause if they're “lost to you”.
Now...how fast can you change your webpage and get the auto-play audio and video changed over to user-controlled? No matter how fast you think you can do that, I'll bet I can get to your page and click OFF even faster. So before it's too late for any more of your fans to be saved from becoming part of the “lost,” save your auto-play functions for your own personal MP3 player. There are much better and more acceptable ways to get your music heard. You don't have to shove it in their ears.
The fans have been speaking loud and clear on this matter in survey after survey. So if we want them to listen to us, isn't it time we listened to them?
At work (public library where I am right where the patron is) I have had the auto play start up. I did once email someone about it and they did turn it off, but like you said they had probably lost many people. I find that people who have ReverbNation accounts do this more in order to gain more listens, which means better stats.
ReplyDelete