Streaming Real Audio files from your website is easier than you might think.

The first thing you'll need, of course, is a Real Audio file.

Real Audio files are created with a program called "Real Producer" which is available on the RealNetwoks Website at http://www.realnetworks.com/.

With Real Producer, you will produce audio files which end with a .rm extension. For example - myfirstaudio.rm. Once you have a .rm audio file, upload it to your website. Many people prefer to create a unique folder to contain all of their audio files.

With your audio file online, you now need to create a link on your website for your visitors to click on.

This is where things get a bit different.

Instead of linking directly to your audio file, you'll link to an intermediate file which contains a reference to your audio file. This intermediate file is called a "Meta File".

To create a Meta File, open up Notepad and simply type the url of your audio file on one line like so:

http://mysite.com/audio/myfirstaudio.rm

That's all you need - one line in a notepad file, and that one line simply contains the url to your .rm audio file.

Now, save the notepad file using an easy to remember name with a .ram extension - for example: myfirstmetafile.ram - then upload the meta file to your website.

Now you can create a link on your website by linking to the metafile. When a visitor clicks on the metafile link, this opens up Real Player. Real Player will then download the meta file, find the reference to your audio file, and begin playing it as a streaming audio.

John Pierce is the webmaster of cheapwebhostinginfo.com and the Customer Service Manager for Gold Zero Web Hosting - http://goldzero.com.