ProClickExchange BlogPro Click Exchange News/Updates and general traffic exchange tips

About 5 days ago, I asked a question of all Pro Click Exchange members. Would you like to see auto playing audio allowed on Pro Click Exchange? While I’m not sure we have gotten everyones opinion to date, would like to give the results so far and offer more opportunities for discussion here.

First the overall results.

75% voted No to auto playing audio…..25% voted yes to allow it on Pro Click Exchange.

These numbers do not surprise me in the least, since I experimented with a similar test on Soaring4Traffic last year. But, we did have some interesting comments and suggestions.

Of the 25% that said yes to allow it, over half said it really didn’t matter because they have to surf traffic exchanges with their sound muted anyway, mainly because surfing with 3-5 tabs open, auto playing audio becomes a real nuisance. Of those that voted no, a great percentage also stated that as their main reason for voting no.

Some comments were:

“yes auto audio gets my attention but only to look for the pause or stop button”

“Auto playing audio is the reason that I don’t surf traffic exchanges with my ’speakers on’…”

“If someone wants an audio file on their site they can make it clickable or place it on a follow up page. The first page you see should be *short *simple *lightning fast to load on a slow connection and *get your attention to stay on site and click to the next page. People try to put way too much on the first page.”

“I would be curious as to where these people that get results with sound, are truthfully getting the results….and if everyone is turning off sound, the results just may be coming from the page itself.”

“If they want audio then it should have to be clicked on to start it, NO AUTOMATIC AUDIO”

“When surfing TEs, auto-playing sites represent a serious disturbance. I have disabled all use of audio and video in my browser, and for site owners who are using this, they are throwing away their energy, time and money.”

“I say yes allow them. If you don’t want to hear them just shut off your volume.”

“People have mute buttons on their computers and can turn off the speakers if they don’t want to hear sound. It’s their choice but to ban them for everyone is wrong. Allow them and then let your members decide on their end what action they want to take, Same goes for video. The future of traffic exchanges is video and sound!”

“My opinion is to leave it like it is. When I click on a link, if the page has audio on it I close the page. If there is something I want to read, audio is irritating.”

Comments above are not necessarily the entire email, just excerpts from each. Those are just a few from those that did make a comment, many just voted with a simple yes or no.

Now, for some personal thoughts.

First, I do believe that audio and video on web pages can be more effective advertising. Wow, believe that.. and yes there is a but…well actually more questions. No expert here, just some thoughts to ponder.

Should it be of the auto playing variety or have a start button? Should auto play be used in traffic exchanges? Are those reporting increases of 33% or better results from audio of the auto playing variety and are those results strictly from traffic exchanges?

With the encouragement from so many to add audio to your sites actually mean that more TE users will mute their sound? Will so much audio on traffic exchanges mean that more people will get annoyed and not surf at all?

Do the people that use auto playing audio in traffic exchanges actually surf or just buy credits?

Funny thing, audio is certainly not something new. Websites have had audio for several years now, but it does seem that more and more are putting those pages in traffic exchanges. As one member stated above, when I surf 3 or 4 exchanges at once which is my normal, many times every site will have an auto playing audio file. Sorta jumbles things up for me…lol

This is one of those subjects that always seems to get a lot of attention and opinions on both sides. Neither of which I feel are wrong. I will be testing some audio and possibly video on certain web pages soon, but not of the auto playing type.

When I purchased Pro Click Exchange, not allowing AUTO playing audio/video was two fold. First, I wanted to encourage members to be creative, use fast loading splash pages, lead capture pages, and pages that would not annoy other members, yet be effective.

Secondly, it was my intention to be different, to offer a smooth fast loading system without interruptions so members could relax and take the time to read what other members were offering.

We have always allowed and encouraged the use of audio and video files that do not automatically play. We feel they can be very effective, yet allow members to listen or view as desired. This of course means you need to give them valid reasons why they should click the play button.

In reality, I believe that well done professional audio files are not annoying at all, rather most times very informative, interesting, and sometimes funny. However for the most part, the ones I’ve seen in traffic exchanges do not fit in that category.

You the members have spoken, so for now Pro Click Exchange will not be changing its policy. We will not allow audio and video of the AUTO playing variety.

Thanks for the time you spend with Pro Click Exchange, and many thanks to those that have given your opinion to date.

As always, we encourage more discussion and your comments below. Let your voice be heard.

P.S. Speaking of professionally designed splash pages, did you download the free graphics pack from Justin Ledvina yet? If not, you really should, unless you are a pro yourself. See this: Free Graphics Pack!

Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 10:11 pm and is filed under News-Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.