Update note: 9/1/2017 — Flash-based websites pose problems in terms of performance and potential security issues. As a result, most browsers provide only limited support for Flash. Fortunately, we don’t see a lot of these Flash websites today. However, they still seem to have some popularity with photographers, bands, and others that have photo galleries on their websites. Also, there are some big websites that continue to use Flash because changing technologies is a bigger challenge.

The once-ubiquitous Flash Player is no longer used much

Do you have a Flash-based website?

Flash-based websites were all the rage about 10 years ago when multimedia capabilities were became more attractive to family and individual PC users. Web developers using the technology could create attractive websites that exploited the capabilities of video, audio, and animation. These sites were commonly used by musicians, photographers, artists, the fashion industry, media sites, and gaming sites. These sites often looked great and scored high on the “coolness” factor. However, if you have a Flash-based website today, you should consider the downsides.

What are the downsides of Flash websites?

Search engines may not be able to scan the text in these websites. No scan means no indexing by search engines. No indexing means your site’s search engine ranking will be very poor. The result will be less traffic and lost business.

They require a plugin which is not always installed on the visitor’s browser. Without this plugin, the site may be unusable. The Flash plugin cannot be installed in some devices such as smart phones and tablets. The number of these devices in use is growing. That means you could be excluding a large audience from using your website.

Speed issues – Flash-based websites can place heavy demands on computers. That means that these websites can be slow to load. The average website visitor will move on to another website if they have to wait any longer than 30 seconds.

There is another common speed-related issue with Flash websites. This one relates more to the design. It’s not really a technology issue. Some Flash sites will start with a splash page with a welcome message when someone visits the site for the first time. A spinning logo or other animation – or perhaps music – may have to be completed before the visitor can get down to business. On some sites the visitor will have to wait for the sequence to complete even if they’ve visited the page dozens of time. It’s a surefire way to drive your website visitors absolutely crazy! My advice? Don’t do it! These delays rarely add any value. (Even if they do add value, it’s always better to give control over to your visitor.)

Difficulty of updating – Today’s internet users are increasingly more more savvy and sophisticated. And there are a lot more websites  they can turn to for information. That means more competition for your own website. One of the ways to attract visitors and to keep their attention is by frequently updating your website content. Flash-based websites frequently require technical expertise to update. That means more time and more cost for you.

The bottom line is that even if your website looks cool, it may not be giving you the best return on your investment. If your website needs some of the capabilities offered by Flash, you should know that there are alternatives.

Not sure if your site is Flash-based?

• Contact me and I can tell you in a few minutes.
• Contact me to discuss more effective ways to reach your audience.