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Why You Should Avoid Overusing Flash in Website Design?

Guest post by: Grace Alexa

Article Overview: Website design is crucial for determining the success of an online business, and the excessive use of Flash can ruin the chances of that success. While there are many benefits of using some elements of Flash, overuse can hamper the user experience.

Why You Should Avoid Overusing Flash in Website Design?

Flash is a multimedia platform that adds interactivity to the site, making it more visually appealing. While many web design experts believe that Flash improves user experience and engages them on the site, others believe that excessive use of Flash becomes annoying for the visitors.

We cannot draw any decisive conclusions from this on-going debate and the decision of using Flash in your web design is entirely your decision, yet we must enumerate some of the reasons why overuse of Flash may hamper your site’s performance. But before that, let us understand the benefits of moderately using Flash in web design-

a) While this may sound repetitive, yet the number one benefit of using Flash is the visual appeal. A Flash-based website leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the visitors, compelling them to return to the site.

b) There are many features in Flash that add the element of interactivity to the site and engage the users effectively.

c) It is also functional on all web browsers, so you do not have to create different versions of your site to make it usable on different platforms.

d) You can add videos and animation in a Flash website that make it more attractive to the visitors.

While the benefits are tempting, one should not be coaxed to use Flash excessively in web design. Discussed below are some of the many reasons for not overusing Flash for websites:

1. Turns your site into a snail- When you use Flash in the website design, the load speed of the site declines to a great extent. The visitors feel extremely annoyed and leave the site while it’s loading slowly. This makes the Flash-based website a damaging reason for fall in the number of visitors, increase in bounce rate and loss of your investment in the website design.

2. Makes the navigation complex- If you use Flash for navigation, visitors find it difficult to use. Visitors are unable to identify the web links and buttons. A complex navigation can make the visitor feel lost and he is compelled to quit the site even before taking a positive action on the website. Sometimes, Flash websites completely hide the navigation until you scroll your mouse over it.

3. Consumes high bandwidth- Many users have a limited bandwidth connection and when they access Flash files excessive bandwidth is consumed. So, using sound effects, embedded videos and bitmap images can take longer time to load.

4. The site looks more like an advertising portal- Flash files are colourful and interactive, and are often used on advertising portals. When you use them on business websites, visitors do not take them seriously and leave a poor impression on them.

5. Disables ‘Back’ button- Sometimes, for the sake of creativity, Flash users disable the browser’s back button, further deteriorating the user experience. The Flash enthusiasts forget that the Back button is one of the best navigation elements and ignoring them can ruin the purpose of website design.

6. Search engines don’t favour Flash- Another reason for not having a Flash-based website is lack of favour from the search engines. Some of the search engines find it difficult to crawl and index the content of such a site.

With various benefits and disadvantages of a website, providing Flash-free option is the right way to go. Use Flash when you have a need, not just because you can use it everywhere. By giving an option to skip Flash, you make the site user-friendly.

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Article Tags: Graphic Design, Search Engine Optimisation, Web Design, Web Designer, Web Developer, Web Development, Website Design



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