I'm torn on the issue. I have one of my site that I've gotten good feedback on but does it hurt SEO in anyway? I do have a skip intro button clearly visible. more interested to know what you think about my site's intro and flash intros in general my site ---> http://chicagophotoshop.com edit: I've disabled flash on my site ----
BAD Idea while it looks good it just a another click people don't want to do. Most people are click lazy . Hey maybe I just coined that word click lazy
A flash for a home page is good for designers trying to sell their services but not for a website owner wishing for the most efficient website.
how about for photographers? I think it go either way. but it goes back to dane's point, people are lazy.
it depends. you should be able to choose what to ue and what not to use. If the aim is business, make sure yu dont offend your visitors
I think a flash intro is bad its a time consuming. The people don`t enter on a website to see a flash intro, they enter for content, and if is the same user this flash intro will annoy him.
well my flash intro actually showcased the content (chicago photography)..which is why I'm torn with the decision.
Hey, your site's looking great! I'm in Chicago and into photography, too. I bookmarked your site before and planned to contact you about possibly including some of my Chicago shots. You can see some of my work here: http://flickr.com/photos/urbanislands I can also help if you need any professional PR /copywriting / media relations support. More later ;-)
thanks dude! come by our forums and post your work and chat. would love to have another chicago photographer on board.
I personally like viewing a flash intro on a website when I am INTERESTED in the product or service. If you can sell yourself in 20 seconds, then go ahead. However, if im looking up information for something, a flash into can be found annoying
Flash is eye candy, it's pretty and can showcase things nicely. But from an SEO point of view, it most certainly CAN hurt your site in the search engine rankings. To-date none of the search engines can "read" flash (or javascript for that matter). So to the search engine, a flash-based landing page is blank, with no content, and therefor garbage. Nothing to see here folks.. and you could get put in the supplemental index. And that is no where to be if you want to rank your site. Search for more info on the "google supplemental index" to learn more about that. So your answer is yes, flash can hurt your site from an SEO perspective. If you MUST use flash (customer insists upon it) then you *must* also put readable content on that page. If you place a blurb of about 250 words or so (with relevant keywords), that should suffice. That said, the landing page should be informational - you need to state what the site is about. If you force an extra click (intro / splash / flash page) with no real information to see except the eye candy, it does nothing but annoy or frustrate the viewer. You have approximately 30 seconds to a minute to capture the viewer's interest. If that time is spent trying to find the way to see your content (via click or to wait for the flash to stop) then you've lost that potential customer. Another thing to consider is that surfers learn to "tune out" things they see all the time. This includes ads and flash intros. I don't know about you, but I multi task while browsing. Most of us do. So speed is key and becomes habit. If I see a flash intro, no matter how "cool" it may be, I skip it. And I bet a lot of other people will say the same thing. Thousands upon thousands of dollars of design investments by big corporation sites are wasted simply because the client insists on having flash eye candy. And who appreciates or even sees it? Think on that for a bit. The only place where one may find flash relevant is on game related sites, or perhaps video/tv sites. And maybe even photography sites But not to run the site or even create a landing "splash" page.
Well if the flash is to show case you work then just highlight in bold text "View by flash Page" Or " View My Work" On main home page ... Some text that you think fit what you want visitors to see ...
It's all depend on you! I don't mind if I see it only once. But seeing the intro every time I visit the site is really annoying. Turning it off wouldn't annoy anyone, but turning it on would likely to annoy your returning customer!
personally I think a well done flash intro is good, if it's entertaining and stimulates the ears. I like your site, you should add a background color to live 'en it up some. Other than that I think you have a winner.