To Flash or not to Flash?

[werm82]

Hi all,

I've been doing graphic design for a while, but am relatively new to the whole web design genre. I've only done one website, which is my personal site. After I did a logo and some print work for one of my clients, he now wants me to do his website for him. He is a gospel singer, and wants his site done in all Flash. Should I try to dissuade him from this? I have heard almost nothing but bad things about all Flash sites. Would a Flash site work for his line of work? I would greatly appreciate any advice, and thanks in advance!

 

[jnjc]

The first question you should ask is why he wants flash ? Flash is a tool and as with everything it's a matter of the right tool for the right job. Find out what his requirements are and then decided what you need to build it.

For my money you should not use flash unless you have to. I have built sites with flash embedded, only to take it out later because the drawbacks out-weighted the benefits (slow loading times, no flash support etc.)

For a gospel singer's website I'd image it's a couple of static pages so I'd try and do it without flash...

HTH,
JC

 

[JaguarBryan]

Flash can make some very nice stuff. Except, I tend to use a lot of very slimmed down browsers, and command line browsers, that don't support flash. So an all flash website that doesn't have a link on it to any possible html version of the site is very useless for me more than half the time.

 

[SpiderWeb]

Does he want his sites to be listed high in search engines? If he does, don't do an all flash site. Like jnjc said, make sure you ask him why he wants a flash site. He may just be saying this because he saw a cool flash website one time. There are a lot of ways to spice up a site with JavaScript or just bits and pieces of flash. It is rarely necessary to make an entire flash page.

 

[datadancing]

Flash or no Flash

It is quite common that entertainment sites built with Flash.

To see the pro & con of using flash or html you can read up some article here

http://www.killersites.com/articles/articles_FlashUse.htm

Matt
www.datadancing.com

 

[Eightyfive86]

most of our work is done for entertainers so we do flash but at the same time it depends on the client flash is kind of "trendy" but a nice clean site is always here to stay.

 

[joe]

I agree with Spiderweb. The site I built for my blues band does not have flash, and it still looks "trendy". I've never wanted to deal with flash because of the ramifications of search engine inclusion. If he's a big time gospel singer then give him flash because he doesn't need anyone to look for his site. If he's regional, like me, and looking for work, then he needs all the help he can from search engines and a nice clean, professional looking site will do wonders (no flash needed).

 

[petarpan]

Go with flash

Go with flash if customer likes it. But tell him that it won’t rank good on search engines. I think that you should probably convince him to have flash embedded in html. Text in html, links if possible too, but with few stunning flash animations is a best choice.

 

[walkingbird]

When working with a client just explain the pros and cons of the situation tell him your recommendation and let him make the final decision because he is paying the bills.

 

[werm82]

Thanks for all of the advice! I just sat down with him today and laid out the pros & cons. We eventually ended up agreeing to move ahead with the flash site, but his index.html would be a splash page with the option of going to the flash site or a stripped down html version. Will this help with the search engines any?

 

[walkingbird]

I wouldn't do that instead i would put the links to all the html pages below the site. NO one likes a splash page they are a waste of time.

 

[werm82]

Is the percentage of users with dial-up and/or no flash viewing capabilities small enough to warrant a page that loads straight to flash?

 

[pete HK]

In my experience clients who want flash generally don't realise the drawbacks of it. Slow loading times, lack of CMS control over menu structures, search engine problems and so on. They generally have seen some other site that uses flash and don't understand that there isn't really any need for it. Flash applications embedded within websites is fine, but the website itself is better off without it in my opinion.

http://www.kitesystems.com

 

[globalseo]

you can optimize the flash if he want a flash site..BUT much advisable the second option..