Flash is bad for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

While Google is working on listing Flash-based websites in their engine, it is still somewhat “iffy”. Further, the reality is that many of the best techniques used for SEO simply cannot work with a flash site.

Flash is usually bad for User Interface (UI)

While it can be cool, Flash usually deviates from the best User Interface principles, in favor of what the designer wants. This is never good.

Flash is not supported by most mobile platforms

Most experts predict that mobile platforms will occupy a significant portion of the internet browsing in the near future. Currently, Flash is not supported on many of those mobile devices, including the iPhone and Blackberry. Basically, developing a site in Flash ensures that you are not thinking for the future.

Most Flash effects can accomplished using better methods

You don’t NEED Flash to do what Flash does! jQuery, MooTools and other sources accomplish what most people use Flash for, and they are fully compatible with all the problems I stated above.

Flash intros are ALWAYS a bad idea

Don’t do them. Ever. Even if you have a skip button. Please.

Exception: Flash is okay for video

As a platform for displaying video, Flash is a very viable option. It’s okay to use it. I give you permission.

In Conclusion

I hope this article gives you enough reason to uninstall Flash from your computer, or if you are a website owner, not to ask your web designer to use Flash.

Overall benefits of Corporate Blogging

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Direct Communications
3. Brand Building
4. Competitive Differentiation
5. Relational Marketing
6. Exploit the Niches
7. Build Community
8. Media & Public Relations
9. Position You as an Expert
10. Reputation Management
11. Low cost

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Blogs provide many of the things that search engines covet: relevant refreshed content and more pages of it.

Direct Communications
Blogs provide a way for you to speak directly, openly and honestly with your customer.

Brand Building
Blogs serve as another channel on which to promote your brand and company.

Competitive Differentiation
Because blogs give you the opportunity to tell your story over and over, they help set you apart from the competition.

Relational Marketing
Blogs allow you to build personal, long-lasting relationships with your customers that foster trust.

Exploit the Niches
Blogs help you fill your particular industry niche.

Build Community
Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. An opportunity to connect with a wider audience and build a community is a strong benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.

Media & Public Relations
Blogs are excellent PR tools. The media calls you, not your competition.

Position You as an Expert
Blogs enable you to articulate your viewpoints, knowledge and expertise on matters pertaining to your industry.

Reputation Management
Blogs help you manage your online reputation.

Low Cost
Blogs are inexpensive to set up, operate and maintain.

Read part two

Read part three

Example: The New Home Page

On the new home page, at 1024 x 768, the last thing you see (before a scroll) is the “Learn More” link in the first paragraph (or there about). While there is a lot more to see on the homepage, there is no doubt about the branding of the website, or about what we do. If a person chooses not to scroll, they know enough to make an informed decision if they are in the right place or not. But, we also gave encouragement to someone to scroll.

We broke the portfolio element on the fold to inspire someone to want to scroll. Upon scrolling they can learn there is much more to the site, BUT that information is not critical to the navigating of the site. The Twitter feed? Eh. Latest Blog entry? Eh. Really, the key is the branding, the brief information about what we do, and a visual to show what we do.

Could we have reduced the branding and increased the portfolio component? Sure. I thought long and hard about that. This was a deviation from our normal “style”, but overall I am quite pleased with this direction.

Future Flexibility

One reason that Above the Fold is bad is because it reduces the ability for a site to stay future-friendly (I call it Upgrading Gracefully). As screen resolutions increase, more and more fit on the screen. So while today the standard is 1024 x 768, but in 2 years that standard might be 1280 x 960. That means the average computer will see more of the screen, so the benefits of additional content are increased. Further, it does not consider how many computers today (and in the future) exceed the standards by significant amounts.

Jakob Neilson states that everyone should have the largest monitor size they can afford. Heck, he recommends at LEAST 1600 x 1200, and that was 3 years ago!!! http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html

If that is the case, then allowing a longer, more scroll oriented design allows for much improved user interface. As long as the most important information appears at the top. Which, in the new site’s case, it does.

Choices and Concessions

In the end, you need to make choices. Decide what is prioritized and what isn’t. By creating a site that scrolls, you may lose some of the cool factor of a tight website (culinairefl.com for example), but you can also gain in other ways. We design for both and choose the best for the client’s needs.

Above the Fold: What is it?

Above the fold is a term originally used in the newspaper industry to indicate that important information should appear in the top half of the paper. The reason was that most papers are delivered and displayed to customers folded up, meaning that only the top half of the front page is visible.

This term has been extended and used in web design to refer the portions of a webpage that can be visible without scrolling.

But is it legit?

In the early stages of the web, if you were not above the fold, you were nothing. That may be a bit harsh, but the overwhelming consensus was that users did not like to scroll, did not want to scroll, and in many cases, would not scroll, so if you were not living above the fold, you were doing something very wrong.

But this is today, and the web has matured a bit beyond its infancy and users are *slightly* more sophisticated then they were before. So there is less consensus with regard to the validity of above the fold today.

There is some quality evidence supporting the concept that above the fold is no longer important (or, much less important). Here are two excellent blog articles that weigh in their opinions (with documented statistics): http://blog.clicktale.com/?p=19 and http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/blasting-the-myth-of

What now?

The evidence certainly suggests that scrolling isn’t as evil as we once thought, but does that mean we should abandon the concept of above the fold? Of course not.

As Ms. Tarquini suggested, “The most basic rule of thumb is that for every site the user should be able to understand what your site is about by the information presented to them above the fold. If they have to scroll to even discover what the site is, its success is unlikely.”

But where is the fold?

Even if we selected the 1024×768 standard used in today’s web design, the fold location can vary 40 or 50 pixels. So does it break at 550? 580? 600? What about when we consider larger, high resolution monitors? What about the increasing trend of multiple, vertically aligned monitors to form one enormous, Voltron-inspired monitor?

Prioritize Content

The key, my dear readers, is to prioritize content. Put simply: If it is important, place it at the top.

But then we have to consider what is important, and this requires managing boss/clients’ expectations. Too often I meet with clients and they want to put 10 pounds of rice in a five pound bag. I am confident that I am not the only one battling such wars.

Simply explain to them that when everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized. When we cram too much information into a small space, we confuse the user.

Decide what you want the user to do or see MOST, and then place that above the fold. The remaining information, still prioritized, can scroll. If properly executed, this allows higher resolutions to see comfortably, allowing the site to “upgrade gracefully”.