It's not Flash or no Flash the answer is using the best of both worlds. Flash has been around for a while now. Whenever we ask clients to give us a list of sites that they like they send us a list of Flash sites. Once we talk to them about some of the challenges they lose their interest a little. There are some industry web sites that should be 100% Flash based (Advertising, Entertainment and well funded sites that are all about branding). We try to build a site that takes the best of both worlds. We start with a content management platform and add flash modules or elements to give it the movement everyone likes. This allows our clients the ability to change text based information while making the site pleasing to the eye by using movement.
We believe Flash should be used to enhance the users experience with the site vs. just providing something to play with. I'm sure you've been to those sites that play the same Flash animation over and over again. If you're site is one where your customer comes back more than once or twice it's important that they see some change in the content vs. the same animation repeating every time.
I don't want to sound like I hate Flash. It's actually the opposite but our first job is to make a web site that provides the best return on investment it possibly can. Flash has a lot of difficulties with search engines. It's getting a little better but it's nothing like having your site in HTML. The other thing that is very difficult with Flash is making updates. Most of the time it takes a company like ours to make any changes to the site. Almost 100% of our clients want to make minor updates to the site themselves.
Bottom line, Flash is great when used correctly. It's all about providing a positive return on the investment, not just a cool looking site.
If you need help with your web site design and development don't hesitate to call us at (816) 529-9000 or visit our web site at www.ontargetinteractive.com.
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