Websites are no longer just static pages of information. Current web surfers want sites with considerable additions, such as interactive content opportunities, video, and audio feeds.
Interactive Web Visitors
Web visitors who read a good – or bad – article now expect to be able to tell the author about her feelings on the subject. Interactive website building means considering how users can comment on articles. Commenting is done most often through allowing comments in blog-style posts, though many news-related sites also allow article commenting. Another way to permit readers to participate in content is through wiki-based sites. Though Wikipedia is the most popular, it is only the largest example using this language. Wiki allows even the most novice user to write and edit articles on a site.
Video Links
With the growth of YouTube and similar video-sharing sites, having content available through video feeds is fast becoming a vital part of website building. Indeed, almost all popular blogs and sites now have video entries on a regular basis. These entries often highlight the point of a blog. A blog devoted to a particular political topic, for example, may have portions of speeches by activists on that topic. Readers can view the video and then comment, making the site interactive and adding an audio-visual element to the site.
Podcasts and Other Audio
Podcasting came onto the scene in the last two years, and now website building projects typically include some plan for adding podcasts to their site. These podcasts are usually short audio clips that add the blog or site owner’s thoughts on a subject. A podcast may include an interview with a popular person related to the topic, or they may include instructional material for how to complete a project, or they may be ramblings about the niche area. Podcasts make the person behind a site real, which makes it an important tool in website building. Rather than just “Sue the Hardware Blogger,” Sue can become a real entity for the people who visit her blog through audio casts.
Rules About Extras
While commenting, video, and audio have a place in website building, they do not replace the old-fashioned information portal purpose of the web. A site without fresh content for readers will not hold the attention of most readers for very long. While video feeds can make a great quickie post, they also should not form the bulk of the posts for a site. Because these feeds are turn-offs to a minority of readers, website building plans must include true content additions as well as these multimedia presentations.
Rather than viewing these elements as the core of a website, then, the website owner should view the content as the core and the multimedia elements as accessories. When considering whether to include a video or audio feed, ask yourself why you are putting it on the site. If you find yourself unable to answer that question, then reconsider whether that element will add something valuable to your visitors.