Building Better Websites for Home Buyers
Having been in business for over 12 years building over 600 websites nationally we have had numerous customers request music, audio and video to automatically play on their websites. While many website design companies do this without thought (the customer asked for it) few consider the problems this will cause the customer. Statistically speaking having music or video automatically start on websites will lose business since the large majority of Internet Users consider it annoying.
Technically having music or video on a website will keep 58% of all potential home buyers from ever viewing your website since they are still using Dial-up internet connections which cannot properly facilitate this. Many website designers fail to focus on what their customers customer is looking for when creating a home builder website nor the technical numbers.
Home buyers want a visually and cosmetically appealing website that downloads fast and is easy to navigate so they can find a new home. Anything else is a distraction that loses the customer and the potential sale on a real estate website. When Internet Users want to be entertained they visit www.YouTube.com and even that website does not automatically play music or videos until the customer requests!
The overwhelming majority of home buyers who visit your website are doing so at their office during the week. Considering this fact most of the home buyers who visit a website at the office that starts playing music from their work computer will instantly turn the website off so not to be caught. Builder Consulting spends between 20-30 hours a week (myself and our Internet Marketing staff) researching online usage trends, technical changes, home buyer studies and Search Engines to ensure the websites we build produce the proper results for the customer.
Below are a few articles and feedback on the use of audio/video on websites:
Business Community comments and information about music on websites:
www.startupnation.com/pages/community/forum_posts_SEO.asp?TID=322&PN=4&TPN=1
Nifty new service from Yahoo enables consumers to provide direct feedback and answers to questions such as music on websites:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070113153650AABqZMz
What other website companies say about music on websites:
http://www.oakridgewebdesigns.com/musicweb.htm
Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
http://www.BuilderConsulting.com
913-814-8844 Office
