That Great Big Sexy Mistake: 5 Reasons Not To Use Flash

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Webmaster Since 1994…

A Flash-based website is like a supermodel date: awesome to look at, but after a while, you’ll just want someone who can carry on a conversation…*

For all the non-geeks reading this, Flash is a multimedia programming language for building websites. It enables some amazing functions, such as video integration, games, and other interactivity that works in all browsers. And when a friend shows you a “cool” site, it’s probably Flash-driven.

But most designers use Flash simply to add animation and slick graphics — what I call “Flashturbation” — and in marketing terms that’s usually a mistake…

1. Flash is difficult and expensive to program. Not only will it cost you more time and money to build a Flash website than a basic website, it will also cost you more time and money to update it. Your average intern might know basic HTML (today’s kids learn how to program before they can walk), but not Flash.

So Flash makes sense for movie sites, which are not frequently updated (and despite what they tell the writers, movie studios are loaded). But if your site is, say, a news or e-commerce site, designing it in Flash would not be financially sensible. In fact, it would be borderline psychotic. You’re better off using that money to buy more ads.

2. Surfers have to download a Flash plug-in to view your site. Most savvy surfers already have Flash installed on their browsers. But many of my foreign business students, for example, did not even know about it.

3. Flash cannot be bookmarked. Your readers can’t bookmark a particular page on your Flash-driven website, nor can you send them a link to a certain section. You just have to email them something like, “Go to the homepage, and under the Products menu, click Specials, and in there, on the far right, hit the button that takes you to the Exclusives Collection, and from there… oh never mind, I’ll just tell you what we’ve got for sale.”

As a blogger, it bugs me that I can’t link to sub-pages of Flash-driven sites that I discuss — and if your site ain’t blogger friendly, you’re so not Marketing 2.0.

4. Flash cannot be printed. In order for a page to be printable, you have to program an entire printing function (more time and money). Otherwise, you’re out of luck.

5. Flash is not search-engine friendly. Google and other search engines cannot see the words in a Flash-driven site. This is a critical point in this day and age, where getting a good Google response is the basis of a multi-million-dollar industry.

Yes, you can add metatags and metatext, which are words hidden in a website’s coding to attract search-engines. And that was fine until webmasters started adding metatags that had nothing to do with their sites — you know, like using the word “supermodel” in an article about website programming. At least here on this non-Flash site, the gratuitous pandering is visible and honest. Google reportedly blacklists sites that abuse metatags and metatext, but to keep people from gaming its system, the search giant doesn’t explain the exact difference between using and abusing. (Gee, Google, how very Hollywood of you.)

Now one of the benefits of blogging is that it produces a lot of words that turn up on search engines. (You didn’t think I blog for the big bucks, did you?) I wrote an earlier article describing how my name dropping helps attract readers to Cool Rules Pronto. In just two months I’ve had nearly 100 people find my small obscure blog through various searches, and I didn’t buy a single keyword. That would not have been possible had my blog been in Flash.

And yet, you’ll find both large corporate sites and small agency sites designed entirely in Flash. In my article on Blue Moon brewing company, I noted that even Blue Moon’s blog was done in Flash. Talk about time and expense! (Of course, whatever wastes the money of Blue Moon’s parent company, Coors, makes me happy.) None of those words they blog will ever show up on a single search engine.

Granted, a giant beer company has other means of driving people to their website — unless they’re Blue Moon and neglect to put their web address in their ads. But small companies with limited marketing budgets are blowing a lot of search opportunities just for the sake of a little animation. Indeed, it amazes me how many ad agencies build their sites entirely in Flash. They want to show that they have style, but it makes me question how much substance is in their thinking.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, that’s why my Atomic Tango site is entirely Flash free. It’s definitely not as snazzy as the sites of my competitors, but I don’t hear many of them generating a massive buzz based on their looks.

So if you’re planning to use Flash simply for aesthetic reasons, my professional recommendation is to not bother. After all, what’s the use of looking like a supermodel if no one ever sees you?

*Note: this author has zero experience dating supermodels. Indeed, author has never been within one mile of a supermodel. At least to his knowledge. And should he ever meet a supermodel, he hopes she’ll realize that he wrote this sentence strictly for illustrative and entertainment purposes. No offense. Author simply believes supermodels make for great article leads, particularly for articles about subjects as riveting as web programming languages. So it’s kind of a compliment. Really. And because he’s never dated supermodels, mocking them gives him a false sense of superiority. In actuality, supermodels are probably just as interesting, or perhaps more so, than marketing bloggers.

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