There are many perils associated with videos and audio tracks that autostart on websites. You know the sites that you arrive at and suddenly, without warning or choice, the video or music begins to play. Humour me while I humour you:

You’re a good dad and you took 3:00 AM diaper-duty (no pun intended). Your up now so why not check your email … in the same room as the baby. Oh look, your friend Bob has sent you a link to a site he thinks will change your life. “Change is good,” you say, and you click. It didn’t occur to you that your oldest child, who happens to be boy-genius on the PC, was also the last one on the computer and turned the speakers up really loud!

You have just settled into a nice Latte at the local coffee spot. What’s up with the WiFi – is it working or not? Seems that website you were clicking on isn’t loading. Nature calls and you count on your friend to watch over your stuff. That website … it’s loading now and the whole Sad Cafe is about to get it’s groove on!

Did I mention choice? You have decided for me, that I am going to hear your video or music track because you think I should. Your friends thought it was “cool” that Enya was playing while they surfed your meditation site. However, trying to find the elusive pause/stop button is ruining my Karma!

So consider the alternatives:

• When you have a link to an audio track or video, that’s a good time for it to autostart
• Provide a countdown for your video so I know it’s coming – 5 seconds is plenty of time to check my volume (provided I’m not in the restroom)
• Run a scrolling text banner or similar to get my attention with a message that persuades me to click on your video
• Have a really great looking website with a well placed video that just calls out to me to “click”!

Maybe you think it works and causes customers to opt-in. Be sure to research this before you make that assumption. Let me know if I’m on the right track or not.