My agency told me a Flash Home Page was a good idea
Normally, I don’t recommend paying attention to Conversion Optimization tips.
Tips and recommendations that you may find from most consultants are often based on very little data and any actual test data is only applicable to the specific test situation. It’s always better to test the opinions of experts (better yet, to have a strategy for creating an endless fountain of Conversion Optimization hypotheses).
However, there is one common practice in home page design that is so egregious that I would consider it’s abandonment to be nearly a rule of Conversion Optimization.
The rule is this: if your home page consists of solely Flash content, you are hurting your business results, in almost every case.
The rule is even more strict if your Flash content is so heavy that it requires a “loading” animation.
For example, how much time do you think I will spend in my busy day to stare at this:
Turns out, it’s less time than it takes to finish loading.
So, the next time your web design agency recommends designing your home page with Flash, please ask them to show you an A/B test to prove that it will deliver results. If they’re smart, they’ll reconsider.
July 7th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Reconsider, yes. But Flash 'can' be used to great advantage if used correctly. Long load times are NOT synonymous with Flash, as there are techniques to keep load times way down so that the user barely notices.
You should also be aware that it IS possible to search engine optimize flash – and many designers don't know that, nor do they know how.
July 8th, 2010 at 5:54 am
You may be able to SEO flash, but not to the point where Google will give it equal value when compared to plain HTML, especially anchor text. As far as SEO considerations go, it’s plain HTML all the way for me.
However I agree that Flash can be used to great advantage, but there is such a wide range of audience with such a wide range of technology installed on their computers, that having flash so dominant on such an important landing page might not be a good idea.
July 8th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Totally agree Chris – I think you`ll get a laugh if you read my very similar post from 2007: http://robertecooper.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-hate-…
Flash is a great technology BUT I would say a majority of designers who overuse it put their own desire to create something cool ahead of the needs of their clients. by all means, use flash on your site, but don`t build your site in flash.
BTW Many folks also don`t realize that if they have a Flash site they are likely going to quadruple the cost of making simple edits down the road.
July 8th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Good post, Robert!
@media designer – Note that I specified home pages with solely Flash content. I'm always happy to be proven wrong through an A/B test, of course!
July 9th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Chris, you nailed it in both your original post and reply.
In agreement, the reality is that flash heavy landing pages are not SE friendly. I would take it farther however as SEO is not about one aspect. One needs the entire four pillar process… but since that is not really what your post is about, I digress.
On point, landing pages that are designed for SEO and conversion are a combination of looks and function. To many companies hire 'a' designer rather than a team of designers. While more cost effective in the short term, this leads to a high potential of issues later on such as low conversion or low SE ranking.
Keep up the good work over there!
July 9th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Great Post, Chris. I remember a Situation where we tested flash against HTML. ~2 yrs. ago we tested a landing page with flash elements (“fancy” UX) against the original version. Same layout, same content – just smoother loading, that was all the difference. Result: Flash -14% less sales. We thought it was because the “behaviour” was not expexted.
July 9th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Very interesting discussion under your post here, Chris. Thanks for tweeting about!
The general consensus seem to be that Flash is always loosing the SEO game to HTML in the vast majority of cases. I had this feeling too. Glad to see some experience-based comments on it here.
July 17th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I think that the real point Chris was trying to say is that no decision should be based on what others say in the community (tips & tricks). Decision should be based on data.. No I know that there is plenty of data against flash as your home page… but again, that is the difference between web designers and internet marketers….
I can't even tell you how many UGLY looking pages with pretty high bounce rates happen to be really great converters..
July 18th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Flasturbation causes website blindness. Use with caution!
July 18th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Interesting to see what others think! I am a die hard " I will not use flash" girl and plan on staying that way – especially since my primary focus is e-commerce. I would say about 30% of my clients have asked for flash on the home page – but after educating them on the issues they took my advice and stayed away from flash. I also had one client who had an ecommerce site that was totally designed in flash….she came to me a year after her site launched asking for me to redo it without the flash – she was shocked how many people said they couldn't view it!
I think part of the issue is web designers not educating clients as to the pros and cons of Flash. Like someone else mentioned, they are designing for themselves – not for their clients.
I do think there is a time and a place for Flash – musicians, photographers and such. Personally, I typically click off a site that has flash…..I find it distracting!
Great topic – I was wondering how others felt!!!
July 18th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Hah!
July 19th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I hate Flash homepages with an unholy passion.
July 19th, 2010 at 10:54 am
My little piece of doggerel, written just after Steve Jobs announced the impending Death of Flash. "Don't pinch it; it's copyright" — Psmith in Leave It to Psmith
(Sung to the tune of "Poor Jud Is Daid," from Oklahoma
Poor Flash is daid,
Poor Adobe Flash is daid!
It's buried under several tons of code.
[Code!]
It looked so cool and slick,
But it never got a click,
And it took a half an hour just to load.
[Load!]
Poor Flash is daid,
Poor Adobe Flash is daid!
Will someone please console the CEO?
[Ohhh!]
His flash sites were so fancy,
But they made the users antsy,
And they didn't do a thing for SEO!
[Ohhh.]
There's more, but I'll spare you.
July 19th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
We all saw that bounce rate normally skyrocked when the homepage was replaced or preceded with a flash page. I only recall one example it did not;
A large international company with so many divisions in so many regions and countries, it was much more effective to dynamically guide people to where they wanted to go with simple navigation in flash. The alternative of offering links was far less affective and the lead conversion rate went up for visitors who started off with the splash page.
I can't recall the results, and our tools for A/B testing we all interally built as was the CMS we built for the companies/division, but its the one case I can say, nothing else work better than flash, especially for Asian markets.
July 19th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Yes, that's exactly what I was saying, Uri. Thanks!
It's too easy to accept the thinking of others, whether they be Flash lovers or haters. If web leaders develop their own criteria based on their unique situation and test against it, they'll get better results.
July 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Watch this nice user experience of the Sony Vaoi website in full flash: http://webusability-blog.com/flash-websites-sony-… Funny!
July 19th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Thanks Karl – great example!
I just Tweeted out the link.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
I agree with media designer about Flash is great when used correctly. But sometimes browsers flash plug-ins crash or don’t respond. What can we do to that situation?
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
I think flash can be a great conversion aid for widgets, demonstrations, 'how to's', product intros etc. etc. However, it is not the optimisation shell of choice for me – it is merely an element to use sparingly and as part of an organised test pattern. The answer is always – just test it. Doesn't matter what anyone thinks here – its whether customers stop giving you money/signups/leads or whatever KPI you use. Use the business case, not opinion, ego or development preference to decide your choice. The customer has spoken – long live the customer!
November 20th, 2010 at 9:59 am
You need to test flash if you’re going to use it. But who want's to do that?
I mean, multivariate testing is already tricky enough as it is, why complicate things?
Some web designers are really serial killers out to kill people with epilepsy.