How to Create a Flash Website with Tasteful Design

Want to impress your website visitors? A website with tasteful flash design can be the answer.

When you make the decision to include flash design on your website, choosing how to incorporate flash without overwhelming or turning off your visitors is high on the website priority list. Learning how to make a flash website with just the right amount of flash to pull in traffic yet keep your visitors happy is a fine balancing act.

Tips for Creating a Flash Website

Professional flash web design can be seamless if it is done properly--and thats what keeps your visitors coming back for more. Here are a few things to look for in flash design:

• Have a clear purpose when using flash. Creating a flash website just because your competitors are doing it doesnt bode well for the consumer experience. Your purposes in using flash should be clear and useful, and not simply a way to make a visual splash. If you have a video-heavy site or other reasons to use flash, great! But if not, consider just how much flash you want to use, and what options you want to offer users, including the possibility of a "no flash" sister site.
• Offer a "skip intro" option. Many websites offer a beautiful flash introduction, but all those attractive images can bog down older computer programs, thus slowing everything down. Give your visitors the option of bypassing your flash introduction by offering a "skip intro" button. A single click and the flash is gone, but the information they want is right in front of them.
• Offer a very clear "mute" or "pause" button. Many people surf the Internet while at work, and they might not always keep their speakers on mute. Offer a way for them to turn off music or video quickly by making the mute and pause buttons clear and easy to find.
• Bypass the plug-in requirement. But what about those users who cant download the flash plug-in on their work computers? This is another good argument for a sister site in HTML that offers all the same information, but doesnt require flash to get there.
• Dont forget the information! Your visitors might be dazzled by your flash, but what about the information they came to your website to find? Professional flash design always takes into account that while flash might be nice, the information your visitors need is the true point of your website.
• Offer printable content. Even with mean copy and paste skills, printing information found on a flash website can be difficult. If you have any content that is meant to be printed out, such as fact sheets, consider providing them in HTML for easier viewing and printing functionality.

Keep in mind that the content on your site might be hindered by flash. For example, a website aimed at young and hip music lovers can make the most of flash, but a website dedicated to helping the elderly find help with Medicare might not be the best place to employ flash design. Keep your audience and their unique needs in the forefront of your mind as you plan your flash website!