Online newsletter can benefit from the multiple advancements in web technology, such as supporting HTML, Flash movies or audio files. Many webmasters consider that inserting an audio file in the newsletter makes it more recognizable and more dynamic. This is true, as long as a few technical issues are very clear to the newsletter publisher.

Sound Format Selection

Whenever you are using a sound format for your newsletter, keep in mind the following characteristics it should have:

* Find a cross-platform audio solution that doesn't require the visitor to install additional audio codes or software in order to be able to play it.

* If you cannot find such a solution, make sure the required components for installation are free, easy to access and fast to download.

* The time from recording the audio file to posting it in the newsletter should be as short as possible.

* Find a streaming audio format that is well compressed, for two reasons. First of all the newsletter has to load quickly, even with the added size of the audio file. Secondly, the file should play without interruptions even on slower Internet connections.

* If you don't have your own server, make sure the sound format doesn't require any special software installation on any special ports.

WAV files seem to be the best choice, since they are the universal playback format for audio files. The problem with WAVs, however, is that they are large in size, so you will have to limit your audio file to a few dozen seconds, at most. Real player or Quick Time formats are only available on about 50% of users. MP3 files are great as far as quality and size are concerned, but few players have the ability to stream them directly. Keep all these thing in mind when adding audio to your newsletter.

Finding Alternate Solutions

One very smart idea is to use the SWF format specific to Macromedia Flash Player. It has the advantage of being able to compress sound files. However, its biggest quality is that most computers already have a Flash player installed. Macromedia claims that 98% of computers have an installed version of Flash Player - so chances are that most of your subscribers will be able to play the SWF file without additional downloads. You can create the SWF file in an older version of Flash, maybe up to version 5, so that your users don't have to download the latest Flash Player software in order to make the audio file active. You can easily embed MP3 files in the Flash file and even add images if they are relevant to the context of the newsletter.

The Benefits of Web Audio Files

While some of your newsletter subscribers won't play the audio file or won't have their speakers on, the other part of the subscriber group will enjoy the added element of audio files. After getting over the technical issues, try to create a professional and relevant audio file. It takes a little bit more effort, and possibly some financial investments, but the response of your subscribers should justify all of those in no time.

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Balwant Gohil
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