South of Boston Web Design and Marketing

When I visit a web site I can’t stand waiting for a bunch of files to load in order to click the “skip intro” button.  Personally, I think Flash web sites should be banned.  They’re expensive to create and maintain, and Flash does not add a great deal of value.  Prospective clients don’t want to be “wowed” - they want to find specific information quickly via a professional and easy to navigate web site.  Flash does not facilitate the process of finding information and therefore should it should have limited use.  

If you do need to use it, I would recommend adding a few Flash elements like we use on our site on the home page - we scroll testimonials and logo designs and Flash is not used anywhere else.  Even this small amount of Flash can slow the time it takes to load a web page so use it sparingly. 

Templates:  I’ve seen a number of web sites that sell template web site, and many of these are Flash designs.  For the average webmaster these can be tough to use.  They’re often promoted as “easy to use,” but I have yet to find one that truly is.  If you’re new to web development or you’re looking for a designer, beware of glitzy Flash designs - you’ll rarely get a return on your investment.

In addition to not being user friendly, the search engines have a hard time indexing and navigating Flash web sites.  This is critical to your success as a small company.  People need to be able to find you on the web (what’s the point of a web site that no one visits?).  In other words, Flash does not help the search engine cataloging process and should not be used if your intent is to get listed in Google, Yahoo!, and the like.

Here’s a few articles about the dark side of Flash:

http://www.seoresearcher.com/seo-flash-is-evil-five-big-reasons-not-to-use-flash.htm

http://apptools.com/rants/flash.php

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/flash-ing.html

http://www.dack.com/web/flash_evil.html

Some of these articles go back a few years, but they’re helpful if you’re considering a Flash web site.  Most companies have moved away from Flash, but I still come across them now and again - often it is a newbie who does not understand the nuances of web design best practices and is influenced by an over-zealous web designer.

If you have any questions about south of Boston web design or marketing feel free to request a free consultation from our corporate site:  www.sinatraco.com