How to Flash on the web

Flash animations can be some of the coolest things on the Internet. They can also bog down your visitor's system resources and keep them waiting far too long. A good Flash designer knows how to keep load times down and the drain on the visitor's computer resources to a minimum.

With a few exceptions, an all Flash website is almost always a bad idea. Search engines have a hard time with these types of sites. If natural search engine optimization or SEO is even a small part of your online marketing strategy, then you will want to avoid an all Flash site like the plague. However, if you are an artist or say a Flash designer, then it could be a good fit. There are quite a few design advantages to an all Flash site, but unfortunately they almost always get outweighed by the significant number of other disadvantages.

Using chunks of Flash embedded in standard HTML is almost always the way to go. This allows for a website that is easy for the search engine spiders to index, yet still allows almost the same design functionality of an all Flash site.

IE now displays a security message: click to activate and use this control, whenever a user hovers over a Flash movie. This has only recently become a problem. I can't tell you how many websites that I visit suffering from this problem. To get rid of this annoying message you need to use a little piece JavaScript. See the end of this article for a link to download this fix.

Web animation of any kind should be used sparingly. There is a higher tolerance for animation on entertainment and pop culture websites, and less for corporate and resources sites. The golden rule here is nearly always going to be less is better than more. Don't distract or annoy your visitor. If you need to get their attention, try a better static design first.

Don't use fast motions to attract your visitor's attention. Keep it smooth and well paced. Slower is much better than faster. You don't want to make your visitors wait, but you also don't want to make them wonder what they just missed.

Keep the features in your Flash movies at least two versions behind the latest release. This will ensure that everyone who comes to your website will have a Flash Player able to view your site. Don't make your visitors download and install something if they don't absolutely have to.

Make it good. Place only quality Flash animations and video clips on your website. Working in Flash can take years to master. Play it smart and hire a pro. Stay focused on what you do best, and let an experienced Flash designer do what they do best. To get quality Flash on your website, higher a designer with a proven track record and examples that you like. Remember to always ask for the native FLA files along with the SWF files when working with a Flash designer.

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Come check out Dustin's other stuff on good Flash design and download the JavaScript fix and installation instructions for that annoying IE pop up message: click to activate and use this control

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