Flash for your website?

One of the big dilemmas when designing a website can be whether or not to use flash. In this article I'm going to go over the goods and the bads in hopes to help you make an educated decision.

For those of you that are thinking "What is flash?" it's basically animation on your website. This menu is an example of flash. Some websites can be done completely in flash and some have just a portion of flash animation. Many of the clients that come to PSI Website Development are new to the concept of flash. They're not sure whether it's right for the website they have in mind and are new to the capabilities of flash animation.

The example of flash animated header

If you're looking to capture the eye of your website visitor then flash is surely a way to do it. Your website almost comes alive. Think of the difference between reading a magazine ad or watching a television commercial. No matter how well the magazine ad is designed it can't capture the attention of the viewer like movement and sound can. So does this mean every site should have flash? No, actually it really comes down to personal preference. On the other side of it, instead of capturing attention, your website may actually annoy visitors. Does your general audience want to see a presentation every time they navigate throughout your website? It can almost be like a pesky salesman following you throughout the store giving you the same sales pitch every time you go into a different department. So how do you know if flash is good or bad? Well first you have to understand that flash can be many things. Most people new to flash have a preconceived notion that flash is lasers shooting across the screen and loud techno music playing. This is not true. If done correctly flash can make your website a fun, interactive place without losing the professionalism website owners want. The possibilities of flash are unlimited.

Before making the decision to use flash, here are some of the main concerns you should take into consideration -

What is the average download speed of your user? Using flash is actually putting a file that users have to download onto your website. Depending on the complexity of the flash file 56k users can get frustrated and decide not to wait for the file to download. There are still plenty of 56k users out there and losing that crowd could have an effect on your business. PSI can create flash files like the one on our site that are just a portion of your site therefore making the file size smaller for faster downloading. However 56k users may still have to wait 5-20 seconds before they see your flash file. If you want to use flash but this is a concern of yours it's important to give the user something to read or look at while the flash file is downloading

Do you have a message to give to the users that is best delivered with flash? One of the benefits of using a flash presentation is that you can mix your statements with visual effects thereby making your message come across clearer and more powerful. However if that user comes back to your site again and again are they going to get tired of seeing the same presentation? This can be avoided a number of ways either by using a cookie that redirects a repeat user to a page without the presentation, or by letting the user choose when they want to see it. Putting a "View Presentation" link on your website is something to consider.

Does your target audience need to be "dazzled" Many websites are designed to capture interest but some are simply designed for convenience or to offer information. An example could be a stock market research website. People know what they're looking for and need to read about the subject. Implementing flash into the website design could serve no purpose to the viewer. However this goes back to the endless possibilities of flash. By keeping it subtle and not overdoing it flash can be a perfect touch to give the website just a bit of "life".

What is your budget? Generally, when flash is incorporated into a website development proposal the cost tends to rise. By how much is dependant on many factors but you can almost always count on flash increasing the price of website design. For some it's a great value but if you're working with a tight budget you may want to keep flash as an option for down the road.

Overall using flash on your website really comes down to personal preference. Hopefully this article has increased your knowledge of flash and how it can be used. The ability to attract and keep viewers on your website can be priceless with the website growing full of competition for your business and using flash could very well be the way to accomplish that.