Gone are the early days of world wide web when, the typical website was a set of static HTML files that had some text wrapped around images and a number of links connecting one another that looked much the same way. You won’t probably find such sites these days simply because, they have been left far behind by search engines whom a lot of people depend to find websites or they are deemed obsolete by visitors who trash them for their vintage look and poor information delivery capabilities.

Convergence of media that aids or supplements information in a single web page symbolizes the new order in website design and it is up to you in deciding where your website should belong which also directly impacts the its traffic and monetizing potential. Streaming audio is a wonderful yet grossly misunderstood functionality which has been proved to come up with drastic changes in traffic and conversion if properly implemented. Your website acquires a whole new dimension with streaming audio that can counsel, educate, clarify and close a sale much faster than through the conventional text and image mediums.

So what exactly is streaming audio?

The most simple answer is that streaming audio is NOT conventional audio where users download a file to their computer and then plays it. This sounds simple but what if the user is using a public computer restricted from saving files or when the file is a one hour long interview which he or she does not want to download. The end result is that you lose a visitor and more importantly this is can lead to bad publicity or word of mouth.

In streaming audio, there is no question of the user downloading a file to the computer and the audio which is compressed up to a fifth of the original size is streamed which the user can hear instantaneously. So in a sense, the user is only streaming part of the file and he is at liberty to hear to the extent he wants to. They can pause or stop the streaming audio and is able to resume whenever they wish. Since there is no downloading of file, your content is secure and does not get downloaded and forwarded in emails with you losing valuable traffic.

It has been the privilege and luxury of multi-million dollar corporate websites and music companies BUT NOT ANYMORE, thanks to advancements in streaming audio software that has literally brought level playing field. It is now possible to add unlimited streaming audio to any basic website without any expensive hardware or special streaming servers if you are willing to shell out less than $ 50 once and for all.