Comments on: Best use of Flash in Web Design http://blog.delaware.net/best-use-of-flash-in-web-design/ This is the official Delaware.net blog Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:26:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: John McKown http://blog.delaware.net/best-use-of-flash-in-web-design/#comment-27 John McKown Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:27:50 +0000 http://blog.delaware.net/?p=14#comment-27 <p>Temple, Note that "Flash" is a technology for putting animations and video in a web site, and "flashy" might be used to describe how much is going on in a web site graphically. It is interesting that you mention this because we sometimes notice that sites that are graphic-intensive sometimes have less gross sales than sites that are more plain and easy to navigate. This is especially true with ecommerce web sites more than any other type of web site.</p> <p>What we are talking about here in this article is the fact that Google can't "read" all of the contents of Flash movies, so when you make a site that is using Flash for all of the content, there is no way that you would come up high in Google. So again, "Flashy" designs and "Adobe Flash" technology are two different things. </p> <p>Hope that helps. :)</p> Temple,

Note that “Flash” is a technology for putting animations and video in a web site, and “flashy” might be used to describe how much is going on in a web site graphically. It is interesting that you mention this because we sometimes notice that sites that are graphic-intensive sometimes have less gross sales than sites that are more plain and easy to navigate. This is especially true with ecommerce web sites more than any other type of web site.

What we are talking about here in this article is the fact that Google can’t “read” all of the contents of Flash movies, so when you make a site that is using Flash for all of the content, there is no way that you would come up high in Google. So again, “Flashy” designs and “Adobe Flash” technology are two different things.

Hope that helps. :)

]]> By: Temple Carter http://blog.delaware.net/best-use-of-flash-in-web-design/#comment-26 Temple Carter Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:08:10 +0000 http://blog.delaware.net/?p=14#comment-26 It is interesting that at one time it was important to make your web site as "flashy" as possible to get and keep someone's attention, and now that may actually hurt being able to find the site. It is interesting that at one time it was important to make your web site as “flashy” as possible to get and keep someone’s attention, and now that may actually hurt being able to find the site.

]]> By: John McKown http://blog.delaware.net/best-use-of-flash-in-web-design/#comment-25 John McKown Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:16:45 +0000 http://blog.delaware.net/?p=14#comment-25 <p>Good points. The days of Flash web sites that are 100% flash are gone, if it is the main web site for a business. It can still be used well for microsites, however, when you need to highlight a product with some visual punch. For instance, check out <a href="http://www.chevrolet.com/performance/" rel="nofollow">http://www.chevrolet.com/performance</a>. That is a microsite that Chevy did for their new concept Camaro that is in the new movie "Transformers". That is a great example of how a small flash site can exist within a larger site, without hurting the overall site's search engine ranking. </p> <p>Besides microsites, Flash is also good for three other areas in web design; video, design elements, and banners. YouTube and other sites have proven that video on the web has come into its prime. Flash video can be embedded into ANY web site now, and we are adding more and more videos to our web designs. This simply was not as elegant before Flash video technology emerged. And we have all seen the small video banners that really grab your attention on major web site portals. </p> <p>Where Flash is used badly, is in web site intros, web site navigations, and scalable home pages. All three are really bad uses of Flash that will turn off visitors and hurt your search engine ranking. Used properly, Flash is a great technology for adding depth to your web site and making it more interactive. But you have to be REALLY careful how you plan it out in your designs so that you don't hurt your web sites position in search engines, or hurt the usability and accessiblity of your web site.</p> Good points. The days of Flash web sites that are 100% flash are gone, if it is the main web site for a business. It can still be used well for microsites, however, when you need to highlight a product with some visual punch. For instance, check out http://www.chevrolet.com/performance. That is a microsite that Chevy did for their new concept Camaro that is in the new movie “Transformers”. That is a great example of how a small flash site can exist within a larger site, without hurting the overall site’s search engine ranking.

Besides microsites, Flash is also good for three other areas in web design; video, design elements, and banners. YouTube and other sites have proven that video on the web has come into its prime. Flash video can be embedded into ANY web site now, and we are adding more and more videos to our web designs. This simply was not as elegant before Flash video technology emerged. And we have all seen the small video banners that really grab your attention on major web site portals.

Where Flash is used badly, is in web site intros, web site navigations, and scalable home pages. All three are really bad uses of Flash that will turn off visitors and hurt your search engine ranking. Used properly, Flash is a great technology for adding depth to your web site and making it more interactive. But you have to be REALLY careful how you plan it out in your designs so that you don’t hurt your web sites position in search engines, or hurt the usability and accessiblity of your web site.

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