So the other day, I left my lunch on the kitchen table. (Yes, I make my lunch in the morning because, contrary to popular belief, website developers and designers are not rich!) For most people this isn’t that much of a problem, but considering that I live forty miles away, it’s really not all that simple to just go home and pick it back up.
Well, when lunchtime came around, I walked outside and headed to one of the nearby restaurants. Midway through my journey, I realized that I wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich, but I wanted something else instead. I pulled out my phone, did a quick search for Royal Oak restaurants, and saw some places that looked like they might have potential. Once I clicked on one of the pages, I found out that most of the site was done in Flash. I backed up and checked another site, which too, was developed with Adobe Flash. If anyone has an Android phone, they will know that currently Flash is not supported, although the future looks promising! For anyone who has an iPhone, you are familiar with the “blue lego”, and from the sounds of it, you will always be out of luck.
But this brings me to my point. Should someone develop a website in Flash? Here I will list some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash.
Advantages of a Website Built with Adobe Flash
- Strong visual effects
- It looks cool
Well, that was a short list. Let’s move on to the disadvantages.
Disadvantages of a Website Built with Adobe Flash
- Generally longer load times
- Static photos appear at lower quality
- Not search engine friendly
- Flash movies become obsolete
- Limitations to those who do not have flash support
Now, I am not saying to never use flash. For certain websites, especially anything involved in the multimedia industry, flash is almost a necessity nowadays. But, for other websites, such as small restaurants in a walker-friendly area of town where people might just happen to possibly use their phone to visit your site, I would highly recommend not using Flash.
I am also not saying that Flash will ruin your SEO completely. Obviously, I found a flash website on Google, but it did have some regular text and content as well. Your content will highly improve your search ranking, yet if the spiders can’t read it, then your site will get lost.
All in all, my opinion is that you use not what you like most, but what is best for your company. For most companies, that would be to have a site built without Flash, but if it is a necessity for your business, then go ahead and use it.
