It’s been stressed for over a decade that flash website design is a really bad idea:
It severely limits chances of getting people to your website via search engines, like Google.
(You can investigate that fact here, from one of the Web’s premier search engine experts. We’ll also address that briefly below.)
Today, we’ll share yet another major wrench flash Web design throws into your marketing works.
Let’s explore.
Expect Maximum Website Traffic From Social Media Marketing? Flash Website Design Is Folly.
But why?
Flash is a sort of streaming animation.
Just as it’s impossible to share “only one egg” or “just some flour” once those ingredients are made into a pancake … it’s equally impossible to save, share, or earmark images from a Flash animation without sharing the entire animation.
And currently, most social media networks lack the capability to allow sharing of flash animations.
Case In Point: Flash Websites Can’t Easily Benefit From Pinterest Marketing.
Although many small businesses still aren’t entirely sure how to parlay Pinterest as part of a website traffic strategy, they do realize that this social media up-and-comer is Kind of a Big Deal in terms of the potential to drive traffic.
Pinterest is a social media network where users “pin”—or “earmark”—interesting photos to share them with their own following. If the pinner has a large following, and if others re-pin those pins, then the potential for website traffic from Pinterest could be significant.
Hint: You’d get website traffic from Pinterest when users click on pinned images that are linked to your website.
If you’re interested, this infographic offers data on Pinterest’s growth rates and user demographics, as well as some helpful tips on Pinterest to get more people to your website.
Sharing Images On Pinterest Is IMPOSSIBLE If Your Website Is Built In Flash.
How so?
For instance:
If you’re a local photographer using flash website design to display your portfolio… then your portfolio isn’t comprised of individual, pinnable images at all!
With flash website design, your images are actually embedded into a native flash file.
Again, flash files cannot be pinned on Pinterest.
Only images can.
To get around not being able to share images from your flash-based website, theoretically, you could of course simply create regular images specifically for social media, which users could “pin” and share.
But why create a time-consuming extra step?
Someone would have to create those images:
Would it be your team? If so, you reduce available time for important activities, like customer service. And you create more work for your small business.
Would you hire out image creation? If so, then you pay double for design work: once for flash, and yet again for regular, shareable images. And you add an unneeded expense.
(And let’s not forget that, as stated initially, your flash website design still can’t easily benefit from search engine traffic.)
Geez. Why make things so hard?
Since you’ll already have imagery on your site, your company will save time and money by NOT presenting that imagery with flash.
Two Companies’ Stories: The Effect Of Flash Website Design On Search Engine Traffic.
In addition to making social media marketing harder than it has to be, remember that flash design discourages search engine traffic.
This quote is from a company’s ad listing, requesting website traffic help:
My website […] was created in 2009. I’m not a technologically advanced person, and at that time, I thought having my site done in flash would make my site look pretty. And for that time, it did.
I would receive a few leads from my website every week.
However, since then, Google has changed its algorithm, flash has become outdated, and I’ve stopped receiving any leads directly from my website.
My site doesn’t appear in the first few search results, much less the first couple pages.
This business owner’s website was created almost entirely (70%+) using flash. And the only website traffic strategy she used was driving people through search engines.
What if income from that website was her family’s bread and butter?
Her first mistake was having a website built in flash.
If she’d had a non-flash website, she could have built Pinterest into her social media strategy (great social network for photographers!), and the results of Google changing the way they rank websites wouldn’t have affected her business nearly as much.
Her second mistake was relying exclusively on search engine traffic.
Companies that use an “all eggs, one basket” approach to website traffic literally begin clamoring to stay afloat after major Google updates. You may have read the reports.
Many website owners, initially killing it in Google, often change their tune after a major algorithm change. Their rankings plummet. And they begin desperately scrabbling at anything they can, trying to quickly find ways to get Web traffic and sales back to sustainable levels.
But by then, it’s too late.
Here’s another business owner’s story:
Wow.
I’ve read many accounts like these, where businesses either:
A) relied too heavily on flash website design,
B) relied too heavily on search engines as a sole traffic strategy, or
C) made both costly mistakes.
Consider what could happen if YOUR company’s earnings depended almost totally upon your website’s success… and just one Google algorithm change led to the foreclosure of your home?
Flash Website Design Limits Marketing Options In An Already Tough Climate.
Even if it’s not super hard to promote your business in your industry, running a successful company is tricky enough.
It’s unwise to allow flash website design to limit your marketing options.
It’s equally unwise to rely on any one strategy to get people to your website.
Building your company website in flash is taking a needless risk with your website traffic and profit potential. If you’re going to have a website, it should be both traffic-ready and profitable. Of course.
Why make things any harder than they have to be, when there are so many other options to create a classy business website?
The Reveal:
Using flash website design rules out major, potentially lucrative promotional options, like the increasingly popular social media marketing. Let us learn from the mistakes and experiences of others, diversify website traffic strategies, and finally…rule out flash website design!
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Flash Website Design KILLS Web Traffic (Not Just From SEO)
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