Your thought on getting a flash website

[photographyfanatic]

I currently have my stuff on a site through smug mug, but was thinking of getting a Wix site for a division of my work - concert/music photography. Any thoughts on the flash sites? Do you think its work the trouble? Do the flash site just take forever to load up for most people? I have a mac so no prob on my end, but with most people still on PCs do you think having a site in all flash would be frustrating for them? Thanks

 

[KmH]

The issue with flash websites is the don't do well for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Google's (and others) web crawlers can't 'see' images. Any text on a flash site is just part of an image (the entire page) and web crawlers don't see much in the way of content, one of the primary ways web sites are ranked.

 

[Judd]

All Wix websites are fully compatible with search engines. We've made Wix Flash websites search engine friendly. (Yes, we know Flash is not search engine friendly. Wix is.)

Free Website | Make a Website at Wix.com

I have read a few times how flash is not SEO friendly. What could be Wix be doing to counter that?

 

[KmH]

All Wix websites are fully compatible with search engines. We've made Wix Flash websites search engine friendly. (Yes, we know Flash is not search engine friendly. Wix is.)

Free Website | Make a Website at Wix.com

I have read a few times how flash is not SEO friendly. What could be Wix be doing to counter that?

Marketing!

 

[bigtwinky]

Rumours have it that flash is on its way out with less and less applications supporting it.

 

[Jeff Colburn]

I would avoid flash for the above reasons, and download time can be ridiculous. I was online at my mechanics shop while he worked on my car. A flash site wouldn't load quickly, so I opened a new browser window and went on with my surfing. About every 5 minutes I would check the flash site. After 20 minutes with the Loading circle still spinning I just closed the window and never went back to the site. Flash to me is just a pain, and as soon as I see a site is made with Flash I usually just leave.

Have Fun,
Jeff

 

[max3k]

Take a look at squarespace...its pretty cool and inexpensive. I use it.

www.ExposingGod.com

There's plenty of robots crawling my site, you get a report of the activity.

 

[bigtwinky]

I also like Square Space, and was considering it before I went with my own

 

[K.Li]

Flash is always very tempting, and if done properly there shouldn't be any load time, I have made flash websites that loads in a few seconds and display everything at once, instead of in html where you would be staring at the screen as it slowly loads bits and pieces all over the place.

You can always have a Flash website and if it detects unsuported browser redirect to a html version instead.

Flash isn't going to die anytime soon, no matter how much Apple refuse to support it, html5 wont take over in the near further.

If you focus your marketing in real life with face to face conversion and word of mouth with business cards etc, SEO is not a main concern. But if your business model plans to have a majority of your business coming in from the internet then you might want a html base with flash gallery.

 

[Reese's PB Luver]

If you do a Flash site, make sure you also have a full HTML version of the site for those who hate Flash, using mobile browsers that don't have Flash, those who don't want to wait for the download, those who are using others' computers and can't download Flash, search engines, etc. Make sure you have a link up either above or below the Flash content to allow users to go to the HTML site. And don't punish the HTML users by making the HTML version crappy - this means you have to make two good sites, one in Flash and one in HTML.

 

[Browncoat]

Flash is not completely void of SEO value...not like it used to be. Adobe is always making improvements. Some good reading:

Adobe Developer Connection: SEO and Flash

That said, a Flash site will never have the SEO value of a traditional text-based HTML one. SEO has become quite the buzzword lately, and everyone is an expert. There is more bad information about SEO out there than good, so be careful if you really don't know what you're doing. Search engines are very advanced, and by following outdated or bad advice, you can end up getting your site blacklisted from the index.

I've been meaning to write an SEO guide for photography sites. Maybe I'll sit down and do that this afternoon.

 

[Howdy]

As for me, the reason of many bad reviews and opinions as for flash sites is because there are many amateurish designers, who just don't know how to make a really good and functionally correct flash site. If a flash site is made by a professional, it loads in a few seconds. View this showcase - there are so many great flash sites that disprove all existing "bad" myths as for flash))
35 Professionally Made Flash Websites for Your Inspiration

 

[Howdy]

Also, there are good CMS providers that offer ready-made templates with a CMS integrated. You will get a really professionally made SEO-friendly flash website with a possibility to manage it with no additional flash or programming skills. Flash CMS - FlashMoto for example is a great choice, as for me.

 

[UUilliam]

Flash is going out the door thanks to HTML 5.0 which will allow stuff similar to flash to be used, but using html tags, I don't know how html 5.0 works, but hey, im just telling you what I have read.

 

[Howdy]

Flash is going out the door thanks to HTML 5.0 which will allow stuff similar to flash to be used, but using html tags, I don't know how html 5.0 works, but hey, im just telling you what I have read.

You cannot achieve such great effects with HTML5 as you can with Flash, and it is a fact! All this stuff like "Flash is going out the door thanks to HTML 5.0" is written for those who don't know what is really going on and have no a clear idea how Flash and HTML5 works.