The Good, The Flash and the Ugly

So your current website had grown tired and it’s dated. Sure, its worked for the last couple of years but your business has been growing and so has your website. A little addition here and a bit of patch-work there but now your website is now big and bloated and its not as easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.

So you’re ready to step it up to the next level. You have a new vision of where you want your website to be and how to want it to compliment your business. You’ve been chatting with friends and colleagues about their ideas and one thing that’s been coming up is to add more interactivity.

So how can you provide more interactivity than traditional links and forms have to offer? This sounds like a job for Flash! For those who don’t know what Flash is, you’ll see it all over the Internet. Sometimes, it’s up front and in your face in the form of an obnoxious Flash Intro or it can be a simple and effective interactive product diagram. Basically, Flash is a technology/tool that allows web developers to build feature rich and highly interactive elements in a website.

There are many good uses for Flash but there are just as many things you should steer away from. Below are some examples.

Flash – The Good!

1. Use Flash to enhance interactivity on your website. For example, you’ve been in business for 10+ years and you’ve got a great reputation in your industry. Why not add a link on your website called “Why work with us” and have it link to a flash presentation? Flash is often much more cost effective than video and can provide a rich, engaging and interactive experience. You can add pictures, animation and sound without ever touching a video camera.
2. Use Flash to create interactive products. If you’ve developed a widget or a product and you want to demonstrate how easy it is to use, creating a Flash animation can help bring life and excitement to the product.
3. Flash can be used to make interactive games. Games can be used to help promote new products or can entice users to compete in an online contest for prizes. Complete the Puzzle to enter a quarterly draw, It’s a great way to get return visitors!
4. Flash is a great way to deliver video online. Gone are the days with multiple formats for Mac and PC users. Flash can simplify the process by having a single video that users can click on and watch regardless of their computer format.

So those are some ideas to get you thinking about how you can apply Flash Interactivity to your own website. The possibilities really are endless but you need to be careful. What starts off as a great idea may not be so great to the end user. Take a look below at some of the “ugly” uses of Flash on a website.

Flash – The Ugly (99% of the time)

1. Don’t animate something for the sake of animating it. Users are constantly bombarded with online advertisements that try and grab their attention. We’ve been conditioned to ignore this bouncing text and sliding images. In fact, most users associate moving content with useless content. If you’re looking to spice something up, hire a professional photographer to take new photos or hire a copywriter to make your text punch. Flash for the sake of flash is a no-no.
2. Flash Intros are bad almost all the time. A Flash intro is an animated introduction to a website usually often relying on repetitive music and poor animation. They’re generally slow to load (especially on dial-up) and add an extra step in the path towards the information that your visitors truly want. Think about it, if you need a skip intro button, do you really need that intro?”
3. 100% Flash built websites can be a huge problem. What this means is that there is very little HTML or other elements that make up your website. The results are navigation problems, “back” button issues and book marking pages can be a nightmare. There have been recent developments which address these challenges, but are still flawed. Secondly, most search engines cannot read Flash content/text so Search Engine Optimization becomes practically useless. Save the 100% Flash sites for Microsites where Flash can really shine!

So there you have it, some potentially “good uses” and some “ugly” uses for Flash. Flash can be a great tool to help separate your products and/or services from your competition but only if it’s properly executed. Ultimately, Flash for the sake of Flash is a waste of time and money but if implemented properly, it can bring the user experience to a whole new level.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corby_Simpson

Tags: Flash Animation, flash intro, flash presentation, great reputation, interactive elements, interactive experience, interactive product, technology tool, web developers, widget