The Pros and Cons of Flash Websites

Flash can be a great tool and technology to use in the creation of websites. Like many things though, it has its pros and cons, and one must consider carefully whether or not a website with flash is the right direction to go. Flash can be an attraction to some views, but a deterrent to others, so the intended viewer must be considered before deciding to use Flash technology to build a website. So while Flash can be eye-catching, designers have to decide if it is the right choice for them. There are many pros to using Flash in website design. One major pro is that Flash is supported in a majority of web browsers and operating systems; this is a very good thing considering you can never be sure what type of operating systems or browsers your audience will be using. Flash can be used to apply a number of different effects to a site from games, to animations, to vector graphics and more. Flash can help attract people to your site and keep them there longer. It also helps provided a website with personality, even if one just incorporates simple but well thought out animations into a site. Weighing against the pros are several important cons that have to be considered. Using Flash can be risky because just the program itself can turn people away from a website. First of all one thing that has to be considered is the flash plugins that may be needed to view a website; this can be frustrating to viewers. Another thing to think about is bandwidth and loading time, which can be affected by websites with Flash. Flash does not always react well with Search Engine Optimization and this can affect the traffic that gets directed to a website. Also while Flash can be great for interactivity, the navigation is usually somewhat tricky and the back button commonly used on browsers does not navigate through the website and instead takes the viewer out of the site. Finally another con that Flash has against it is its ongoing problems with mobile devices such as