How to Add Video to Your Web Pages in 3 Easy Steps

Adding video to your website might seem overwhelming at first - but technology has caught up to the point where anyone can create and showcase videos on the web quickly and easily.  If you have a video recorder and something to say, you too can put yourself out there among the video-watching crowd and promote your business at the same time!  Here’s how:

1. Getting your video on the computer - Most newer video cameras have a built-in connection - often USB or FireWire - that will let you connect your camera directly to your computer.  From there, it’s a matter of taking what’s on your tape or camera disc, and converting it to a format the computer can read.  This process is called “capturing”. 

   To get started quickly, you can use existing programs on your computer, such as Windows Movie Maker or Apple iMovie.  You’ll want to save these in a format such as .avi (Windows) or .mov (Mac).  The file might be quite large at this point - but that’s not a problem when we go to…

2. Optimize your video for the web -  The fastest way to do this is using a software program called Flash Video Studio (For a free trial version of this program, click here).  With it, you can convert the movie files you made in step 1, into Flash (among other formats), which can be downloaded quickly and easily by your viewers.   Most computers today already have Flash pre-installed, so your viewers already have everything they need to watch your video.  Once it’s converted, you’ll just need to…
3. Add it to your website - Again, Flash Video Studio makes this very simple by giving you the right code to copy and paste into your page. You can use your favorite HTML editor (such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage/Web Expression) or have your web designer add it for you.  That’s all there is to it! 

Just these three easy steps are all it takes to add stunning, fast-loading video to your website.  As an added bonus, the finished videos you create through Flash Video Studio can also be used on popular video sites like YouTube, Google Video and many others.  Click here to download your free trial and see what you can create!

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