Would You Like Flash with That?

While mapping out many of our websites with our clients we often get asked if we can add animation to the site. Many times the requests are for glowing menus, cars that zip by the screen, people that pop out from the corner of the screen to say something, and the list goes on and on.

My answer is always, “Yes, of course we can add that.” And we can. But the question I always follow that up with is, “Should we?”

Now I have nothing against using Flash. It has it’s place and purpose. But now let’s consider some of the pros and cons of using Flash on your website.

Pro: Interactivity

Personally I love visiting well designed and well presented flash websites because they can be so interactive. They can really draw you in with animation. Many times they can be very fun. They usually don’t have to conform at all to most web standards and can utilize all sorts of movies, animation, fonts, and music all over the site.

Pro: Multi Browser-Friendly

Your flash-based site will look the same on all browsers. You won’t have to worry if it will be compatible with all versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or any other browser your visitors might use.

Con: Availability

A great majority of people on the web now have a flash player installed in their browser and are able to view flash-based websites. But what about those that don’t? Many people, even today, either do not have a flash player installed, or they purposely disable flash from playing in their browser at all. These individuals will not be able to see your site if it developed in flash.

Con: Search Engine Optimization

Search engines index pages based on the META tags found in the head section of a webpage and the content found on the page including headers, titles, and paragraphs. So until search engines are able to index and search content within a flash movie, your flash-based site will just be an empty domain name with a movie playing on it.

Con: Longer Loading Time

How long would you wait for a website to load before giving up and hitting the Back button? A few seconds? Flash-based websites take longer to load and could potentially cause you to lose customers. Keep in mind, there are a handful of people that still use a 56k modem.

Now I am not completely knocking the idea of having a flash website. If you want one, we can make you a very professional one. There are times when that is the best option, like when you absolutely need the interactivity and animation that come with it.

However, many times a similar look and feel can be achieved by mixing HTML with jquery, mootools, or another type of script that allows for animation. If necessary you can also add flash elements, such as a header, an advertisement banner, or a flash menu to the HTML page.

By doing so you will make it much easier for the search engines to find you and index you, and more importantly, for your customers to find you.