Flash Web Site Design

Unless you have just started using the internet, chances are that you have seen animated web pages sometime or the other. That is flash web site design for you. The sliding button, the animated banner, Spiderman hopping around the screen etc are some of the most common ones that you might have noticed. While there is no denying the fact that Macromedia Flash is one of the most attractive software to be ever used on the World Wide Web, it is also one of the most time-consuming ones. Should you be looking to use flash web site design in your website? Is flash web site design the only way to ensure that your website gets noticed on the internet? Not really.

Before you use any service, it is essential that you understand the pros and cons of the service. Flash is no different. Flash can be highly interactive and attractive. It is a thoroughly enjoyable process to browse through a flash enabled website rather than looking at mundane HTML pages each time. Another feature of flash that stands out is consistency. A flash website will look the same on almost all systems and browsers unlike HTML pages that are displayed differently on various systems, and browsers. But not all the internet users in the world use the latest broadband connection. There are many users who might have slow connections and for them the time that flash takes to load might be a major deterrent. Many consider Flash intros often as a time waste. So if you are using flash intros, give them an option to skip the intro and get into the main page.

 

Many users on the internet do not have macromedia flash installed in their browsers. Although the percentage of these users is small, they are still pretty much existent. When your flash website loads, these users will get a prompt to download and install Macromedia flash onto their computer. If most of them have never used this before, then they will be apprehensive about downloading stuff on to their hard disk just so that they can view a website correctly. You are once again losing out on potential customers here.   

 

So the final answer over here is that unless it is actually necessary, you can refrain from using flash on your website. However, another trend that is being seen nowadays is to offer two different versions of the website and letting the user make the choice. So when the user reaches your website, he can choose from a flash website to enter and an HTML website to enter. But this often means double the expenses to generate two different versions of the website and hence is only used by large companies who can afford it.

 

So unless you are looking to generate a highly dynamic website with loads of animation, you can very well do with a simple HTML and PHP website. But having said that nothing can really replicate the interactivity that flash gives you. So the final choice rests upon you.