Synaxiom Media Group Inc.

Flash is the common term for Adobe Flash formerly known as Macromedia Flash. This refers to both the player (free to download) and the authoring software used to create the high impact multimedia animations that are viewed using the player.

Flash supports both vector based and raster graphics and the scripting language Actions Script. Flash is used to increase interactivity in websites through animations and also as a platform for developing entire websites. In the past most websites had to conform to strict restrictions forced onto the designer by HTML. With the advent of Flash this went out the window and the designer can create truly unique web interfaces as well as animated graphics for websites. Sounds like a magical new invention that will revolutionize the web? Well it’s not that clear cut. There is an ongoing debate on the effectiveness of Flash and how it might even be detrimental to your online success.

As discussed in our earlier resources, there is no standard set of rules that dictate a universal solution for every website that will be built. If there were, all the websites would look the same and would get rather boring very quickly. Be clear on your reasons for building a site and once you have identified all your needs and wants from your website then you can decide how much flash, if any, you would like to implement onto your new site.

First of all, Flash authoring software known as Adobe Flash 8(the latest version at the time this article was written) is proprietary software. Flash lets the designer implement multimedia content (audio/visual) on websites. The advantage of using flash content is that usually the file sizes are very small and the plug-in can easily be downloaded and initialized by most users.

Many SEOs find flash to be something to avoid at all cost. Flash tends to get in the way of functionality and unless implemented by a knowledgeable developer, Flash is extremely search engine bot UNFRIENDLY. This translates into your site being completely skipped by search engine bots who visit your site in order to index you.

Flash has come a long way in becoming a more powerful tool in the web design process. It is highly unrecommended to build sites entirely in flash; however implementing certain flash components can add some jazz to your site and improve the all around experience for your visitor.