Flash Embed Plugin for WordPress

I had been using PodPress to embed video into one of my sites, but it was pretty annoying to have to click to activate the player, and then click again to play the video.  I was looking for a solution to have a one click video player for my WordPress site and came across Kimili Flash Embed Plugin for WordPress.

You can see an example of how I used it to embed an .swf video file into a WordPress post at WordPress Academy.

Am I Green Enough?

In one of my recent articles, I talked about creating a green web design company.  But I wondered, am I green enough?

Although I’ve subscribed to TEP’s green energy program, I also have several personal projects I’m working on, and I run dedicated servers for those websites. The hosting company I work with didn’t have a “green” hosting option, so I decided to create one myself using green tags to offset my carbon emmisions.

Bonneville International is one of the Green-e certified providers for carbon offsetting. Bascially, they create wind and solar energy that is sold to power companies and reduces the amount of pollution created from the use of my electricity. I purchase green tags, which mark off a certain amount of the wind energy produced as being mine, to offset the amount of electricity I’m using with my dedicated servers. It means that the energy I’m using is probably not produced from wind energy, but someone else’s energy in the U.S. is–someone who didn’t even ask for it to be produced from wind energy. Bonneville uses the money from it’s green tags program to invest in additional green energy.

I think it’s a good program and worth looking into if you’d like to reduce your carbon footprint. And if you’re looking for a green web design company in Tucson, Arizona, we’re it!

The Importance of Writing New Content

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything important on my site.  And yet, I know better.  So I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about something I tell my clients all the time, and which is still hard advice to follow.

Why you need to add new content to your site on a regular basis

If you haven’t kept up on the Internet lately, then you don’t realize that it’s expanding at an incredible rate.  Why? Because everyone is collaborating and sharing information at light speed. And you need to be a part of that culture if you want to have a successful website.

There are many ways to be involved–join a forum, social network, subscribe to a few blogs, comment on people’s blog, etc.  But another big part of this is getting into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular schedule.  If you don’t, you’re site will continue to dwindle in comparison to other websites that are adding new content–until one day you wake up, and your site isn’t ranked for important keywords anymore.

The value of adding new content

The value of adding new content to your site grows exponentially.  Just think–if you posted an article on your site every week for a year, you’d have 52 new pages added to your site.  After a year or two of this, you’d have a decent sized site.

But if you could post an article on your site every day…now that would be even better!

The secret is, as you write more content, more visitors find your site.  Think of it this way–if each article you write brings you one new visitor each month, then 52 new pages would bring you 52 visitors, right?

Wrong…

The power of content building is that if you’ve written anything worthwhile, one of those 52 people is going to social bookmark your article, or email it to a friend, or even link to it from his or her site.  The reality is, that 10 pages bring you 10 visitors, and 30 pages could bring you 300 visitors.

But you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to do that.  So the key is, finding and working around the frustrations of adding new content.

Frustrations of adding new content

I think one of the most discouraging factors for adding pages to a site is if you have to hand code the new page.  If you’re using a content mangement system (cms), then adding new articles to you site is a very simple process.  So if you’re not using a cms, you should be.

Another frustration could be time.  Time is always a concern for people, and setting priorities can be difficult.  I think the key is to set a schedule and keep to it.  If you have time to post once a week, do it once a week.  If you can do it three times a week, or every day, then do that.  But don’t tell yourself you’re going to post every day and then get discouraged when you don’t and quit altogether.  It would be better to find a posting schedule that works and stick to it.

Another frustration is choosing what to write about.  For me, this one is easy.  I just pay attention to what’s happening in my life and what people are talking about around me.  For example, this article sprang from a real life experience.  If you just write about what you know, then it’s never an issue.  Look for the simplest, and easiest things to write about, and share from your own personal experience.

Getting motivated to add new content

Motivation seems to play a big role in people not adding content to their site.  I just talked to a client who was ready to rock and roll with his new site.  I spent two hours with him teaching him how to add content and products to his ecommerce site.

A week later…the site’s still empty.  When I ask, I usually don’t get any great response about why this happens.  I even have one client who I built a site for six months ago that still hasn’t added a single page of content, even after I prompted him once a week for 6 weeks.

But, as you can see from my own experience, adding content to a website is a struggle.  For me, the way around this is to play a little game.  I’m publicly announcing in this article that I will post at least once a week.  Hopefully this will be enough to keep me motivated.

What would motivate you to add more content to your site? Share your answer in the comments below, or just add something you’d like to share.

We’re Going Green

With all the interest in renewable energy like solar and wind power, I made the choice to make Magic in the Desert an earth friendly web design company.  I feel it’s important to live the values we profess to believe in. So I calculated my average monthly energy usage and have purchased green watts through Tucson Electric Power Company’s Renewable Energy Program to make the carbon footprint of my business zero.

If you live in Tucson, Arizona, you might consider joining the Green Watt program. By joining, you ensure that TEP will continue to invest in renewable energy by building solar power systems in the Tucson area. Joining the Green Watt program is just my first step in helping to reduce my personal carbon footprint.

CorneliaSmyth.org

CorneliaSmyth.org is a site dedicated to the promotion of peace and healing in the world through the use of energy healing modalities of Reiki and Jin Shin Jyutsu. The site makes use of varied backgrounds for each page, offering users of the site a full color spectrum as they explore the healing modalities that Cornelia Smyth offers.

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