Have you noticed the latest online craze? No, it's not how to make a million dollars overnight, although that idiotic idea is still floating around... It's adding voice to your website. "Ma Bell" meets the Internet, so to speak. If you spend any amount of time online I'm sure you've seen a number of sites employing this technology.

So who's behind this phenomenon and what's the benefit of adding voice to your website? I'm so glad you asked. In the cold, impersonal world of the Net, your voice adds a touch of warmth and personalization that can increase credibility, thus raising your conversion rate. Sound good? (No pun intended.) Of course it does.

So now that you're considering adding the sweet sound of your voice to your site, where might you want to use it? Depending on your website's content and theme, there are a variety of ways to incorporate your voice into it. For example:

- You might place a welcome message on your front page, summarizing your site's highlights, informing visitors of what they'll find, and thanking them for stopping by.

- If you have an "about us" page on your site, you might want to record a brief message to accompany your background info. This will help people feel as if they're actually meeting you.

- Since testimonials are a great enhancement to any site imagine if you actually added them in your customer's own voice. If you use one of the phone recording services you could give them the number and they could easily record how they feel about your products/services.

- If your site has been featured in an online interview or radio show, imagine including this audio in our site. Just think of it as your very own live press room.

One thing to consider is the quality of your voice. If it's not all that pleasant to listen to, you may want to employ the help of a friend, or you could hire a "professional" voice-over service. Do a search at Google and you'll find plenty of options. One such service is http://www.jennifervaughn.com/

so now that you're actually thinking of recording something and adding it to your site, how do you do it? There are many different ways, some more expensive then others. Let's examine some of your choices a little more closely.

1) MP3 Sound Stream: http://mp3soundstream.com/

Creates streaming audio from MP3 or Wav files. Produces high quality output for only $39.95.

2) Audio Player Pro: http://www.audioplayerpro.com/

Starting at only $47.00. This produces a code that you can paste onto your website that will enable the viewers' default player.

3) Audio Generator: http://www.audiogenerator.com/

Streaming audio using just your browser. Easy to use, you can phone in your message or use MP3 files. Excellent sound quality. After recording your message paste some code onto your site and a button appears with your audio. $29.95 monthly.

4) SoundNails: http://www.soundnails.com/

This program converts several MP3 files into the popular Flash format. The sounds can then be played in streaming mode without the need of a player like (Windows Media Player or Real Player) in a user- friendly way. 30 day free trial is available, with two versions offered ranging from $10.00 to $65.00.

5) Sonic Memo http://www.sonicmemo.com/

Includes a step-by-step tutorial. You'll have to create your own MP3 files and upload them to your server. If you record WAV files, you'll have to first convert them to MP3 format. This software sells for $97.00.

6) Instant Audio: http://instantaudio.com/

Just record a message by phone and your website or e-mail is instantly audio-enabled. To check their sound quality call the phone number listed on the site, leave a message, then hit the play button on the site to listen. This service will cost you 29.95 a month.

Other Resources of Interest:

Free ebook that shows you how to add audio to your site at absolutely no cost to you. The book is rebrandable if you sign up for the affiliate program. http://www.novasoft-inc.com/ebook.asp

Internet Audio Guy: http://InternetAudioGuy.com

Some pretty good resources here on adding audio, and if you subscribe to the ezine, you receive a 22-page free report entitled "Web Pages with Sound and Video."

Your site has been sending non-verbal messages for years; now it's time to break free and let it send a message everyone can hear. Adding audio to your website is not only easy to do, it can help you gain the trust of your site's visitors, thus increasing your conversion rate. So stop wasting your time and money, and start getting the sales you may be missing.