So your current website is tired and outdated. Sure, it’s been around for the past few years, but his business has been growing and so has his website. A small addition here and a bit of patching there, but now your website is now big and bloated and it’s not as easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.

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

So how can you provide more interactivity than traditional links and forms offer? This sounds like a job for Flash! For those who don’t know what Flash is, you will see it all over the internet. Sometimes it’s direct and in your face in the form of a nasty Flash intro or it can be a simple and effective interactive product diagram. Basically, Flash is a technology/tool ​​that allows web developers to create feature rich and highly interactive elements on a website.

There are many good uses for Flash, but there are so many things to avoid. Here are some examples.

Flash – The good one!

1. Use Flash to improve interactivity on your website. For example, you have been in business for over 10 years and have a great reputation in your industry. Why not add a link on your website called “Why work with us” and have a 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 images, animations, and sound without even touching a video camera.
2. Use Flash to create interactive products. If you’ve developed a widget or product and want to demonstrate how easy it is to use, creating a Flash animation can help bring life and emotion to the product.
3. Flash can be used to make interactive games. Games can be used to help promote new products, or they can entice users to compete in an online contest for prizes. Complete the Puzzle to be entered into a quarterly drawing. It’s a great way to get repeat 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 and watch, regardless of the format on their computer.

Those are some ideas to get you thinking about how you can apply Flash Interactivity to your own website. The possibilities are truly endless, but you have to be careful. What starts out 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 ads trying to grab their attention. We have 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 copy stand out. Flash for flash is a no-no.
2. Flash Intros are bad almost all the time. A Flash intro is an animated introduction to a website that usually relies on repetitive music and poor animation. They are usually slow to load (especially on dial-up) and add an extra step on the path to the information your visitors really want. Think about it, if you need a button to skip the intro, do you really need that intro?”
3. Websites built 100% with Flash can be a big 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 bookmarking pages that can be a nightmare. There have been recent developments that address these challenges, but they are still flawed. Second, most search engines can’t read Flash content/text, so search engine optimization becomes pretty much useless. Save 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 differentiate your products and/or services from the competition, but only if it is executed correctly. Ultimately, Flash for Flash’s sake is a waste of time and money, but if implemented correctly, it can take the user experience to a whole new level.