On the surface, it may seem that a Flash website would be a great option for attracting and retaining visitors to your business website. While these types of websites can offer robust interactive web solutions, the downsides can far outweigh the upsides if Flash isn’t implemented correctly.
Advantages of Flash Website
The most obvious advantage of Flash is its movement and interactivity. Motion graphics can make your website lively and interesting, keeping visitors coming back for more.
Flash websites are also cross-browser compatible, which means that in any browser, your website will look good. Along with this compatibility is the relief associated with not having to deal with extensive HTML or CSS code.
These websites are like having an open canvas to place items where you want. The way Flash works is like a movie playing on a timeline like a motion graph. In addition to this open canvas, it has a very versatile color palette, so you’re not limited to hex code or web colors.
When Flash is combined with Action script, the possibilities are endless. With the use of action scripts, a developer can create animation sequences and content-rich websites. The action script also allows the developer to use PHP to connect to Microsoft SQL and Access databases. Flash websites can also take advantage of ColdFusion, ASPX, .Net, and ASP.
Disadvantages of Flash Website
While a Flash website has many advantages, the disadvantages may be enough to make you avoid this type of website altogether. Splashes of Flash here and there are fine, but building a website entirely based on Flash can be detrimental.
The first point to consider is Flash’s ability to totally screw up your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. These days, you need SEO to rank well in search engines. Your website is crawled by spiders who interpret the relevance and value of your sites to determine search engine rankings. A Flash website does not contain the vital H1 tags that spiders look for to tell them what your site is about. Without this vital information, spiders cannot accurately rank your website and you will lose rankings for the website built on CSS platforms.
Another important disadvantage to consider is accessibility. Have you ever visited a site that asked you to update to the latest version of Flash Player? This can be annoying and will cause many users to bounce because they fear any update while searching the web. When a visitor views your website, it’s not a good idea to impede their viewing experience with redirects to the Adobe website for updates.
So do I or do I not build a Flash website?
As stated at the beginning, using splashes of Flash throughout your website is fine and can add life to static web pages. The key is to use it sparingly and in combination with the right tools, like javascript, mootools or HTML5.
You shouldn’t be afraid of using Flash on your website, but you should be aware of the methods associated with using such a dynamic web building platform.
