To Flash or not to Flash

C

Chris_13

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I've slowly been learning Flash but a friend of mine is very good at it and has offered her services for free as long as she gets credit on my site. Is Flash really worth it on a site? I know many times I'll bypass a flash opening for a page because it just slows me down.

Chris
 
Flash has always been looked down upon in the web design world due to it being slow-loading on some computers and the fact that search engines cannot crawl it. However, I recently heard a rumor that Google has figured out how to crawl flash.
 
I tend to bypass large Flash sites myself. I'm not opposed to a nice Flash site and a nice non-Flash site for people who prefer their HTML more plain. For some people its a matter of opening the site or not. Offering a choice on the first page that loads isn't too bad though.
 
I found many corporate sites even using flash and they've have plenty of good backlinks, ford.com/fox.com are few example. :)
 
Well really the question is is it important to you to have it on your site. Some sites have flash and it really helps. Others most people by past it. It really depends on what you are going to use flash for that will determine if it is worth it or not.
 
Flash for a Business site is not the way to go, but for a personal site I think flash would be nice.
 
1. If the website visitor is using Firefox and has a not-so-new computer, a flash website or a website with heavy flash animations can take that computer to a crawl.
2. Flash is definitely not good for search engine optimization.
3. Flash is compiled before it is put on the server, therefore it is hard to make changes/updates on a Flash website.

In my opinion Flash can be used -only- when it is a must, there are really good examples on the net like http://home.howstuffworks.com/sewing-machine1.htm where they use flash animations to show how a sewing machine works. This is the correct usage of flash.
 
A little flash here and there might not hurt, but don't over-do it, and keep in mind that SEO will be very difficult.

Personally, I would just stick to standard images/text for most designs. The only time I would go crazy with flash is something that focuses on art/creativity (Music, Clubs, Artists, etc.)
 
Depends on your target audience.

Not everyone has flash plugins installed (I don't on ANY of my computers) :)
Not everyone has a cable connection (modem users will hate you)
Not everyone likes music and flashing graphics - I hate it personally

If you want to reach the largest audience, go with what has been a proven marketing/media device for centuries - black text on a white (light) background - newspapers, magazines are this way for a reason. Being forced to site through an animation is like watching commercials on TV. I just want the info, and then get out. I definitely wouldn't use it in a business site (unless you're targeting kids).
 
As some other people have mentioned, it just depends on what you intend on doing. If you're trying to make an extremely professional site that looks like CNN.com (Okay without the articles - but I'm just referring to the layout aspect), then avoid Flash at all costs.

But if you're going to a fun site, like a game with little games, or a family site telling people about your family and friends, then sure in my opinion go for it.
 
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