And yes I know there are wrong ways to do flash and many devs are very good at loading in sections the correct way, but many do not as well and will load huge files instead of many small ones and thats bad.

As for Java Script I agree that many sites may not work correctly I SAY CORRECTLY, but they will still work, in fact many menus will still work they will just show as an ordered list if the visitor has no JS or it is off, but most will have this on it is pretty dam unobtrusive compared to flash. JS is fantastic for menus as I am sure you know and will agree. But then there is JAVA that some may use and that like flash may not be unobtrusive and many time locks up the browser and may not work correctly but we are not going there, I am just touching on it because many get the 2 confused.

Where many times FLASH will not work period if you do not have the latest version and if the site is all done in flash you cant see it that is insain a visitor should not have to have the latest greatest plug in to see your site. many will just leave and will never return. I say it should work anyway just not have all the newer features enabled. I blame Adobe on that not the dev, thats the coding on there end, and it shouldn’t work that way again my opin you can disagree if you like but I will still hold to my opin on this whole FLASH deal.

And back to the SEO real reasons it is not so great to use it as a full site design.
http://www.sitepronews.com/2011/03/23/the-truth-about-search-engines-and-flash/

Use it like a spice for added flavor but do not let it take over the dish.

While I do value the comments I do not have to agree with them as you do not have to agree with mine, so we can agree to disagree at times.

First of all in our ADSL times, a full flash site is loaded in 2-3 seconds (average) up to five seconds (at most). This delay was never trouble for anyone.

Secondly: Does flash waste bandwidth? Let’s see:
Flash or html, the content makes no difference. Picture remains picture and text remains text. So, let’s see a case of a site sized 1MB:
The different is that flash CAN load all the content at the beginning in one single file (.swf) to be loaded, while html REQUIRED to load every single consisting file (picture, script, css etc).
LET’s SEE: What is the fastest way to load 1MB site consisting of 200 files? To load it file by file or to load all files packed in one single file?
Everybody knows that! The correct answer is the second my friend.
I respect everybody’s feelings about full flash sites. BUT the definition of wasting bandwidth is to load 1MB in 200 files instead of 1!
Finally, while a full flash site CAN load all the content in one single file (.swf), ALSO CAN break this loading file in as many files developer decides. For example, developer can skip a heavy part of a site to be loaded later, ONLY WHEN visitor requests. Loading strategy is an unknown issue in html websites.

“if you do not have FLASH many sites will not work … sites should work if you have FLASH or not period”
”
That’s true, as much as true is this:
If you do not have javascript enabled, many html site will ALSO not work.
You should realize that both html and flash technology is not the reason they don’t work, but the browser’s basic installation.
I think you realize that about 90% (or more) of the sites are not working without javascript enabled. Even this one we now write each other.

I will never agree on it use for full page design, I feel it should only be used sparingly, as many over use it and abuse it I am not saying there are not some great FLASH deves out there I know that some do use it correctly but many dont and its overused you your self said if you do not have FLASH many sites will not work.

That is what I am saying it is overused, sites should work if you have FLASH or not period. FLASH should not be the defining factor on if a site is viewable or not.

If you decide to avoid installing the flash add-on on your browser, the most websites will never work. Many sites are using flash in order to function (like menus) or to decorate (like banners) critical parts.

There is no such thing as abusing web with flash. The abuse is on the way you use it (as developer). I agree that there are many example of bad flash treatment in the web, but this doesn’t mean that flash is evil or bad. You can even make full flash pages to work like html (take this as example).

Flash is evolution if you know how to use it (as developer).
Same as html5.

I however really do not like all of flashes incompatibility issues that can occur when a dev builds the site with the latest greatest version, and the visitor gets an err saying please update to the latest version of FLASH thats ridiculous many of these sites will redirect you to dl of a new flash plug in if the client or visitor has an older version, but what if they also have an older OS, should the site be unaccessible just because they have an older OS I think not but thats the way flash works if you have an older OS you cant get the latest version of flash even if you wanted it.

So I see FLASH just way overused and with many incompatibility issues in the way its coded by Adobe if you can’t support all the bells and whistles so be it but the code should still run just omit some features the dev may had planed but not halt the page so the user is forced to dl the new version … on that I will never agree and some back compatibility should be built in to a degree, im not saying support Win 3.1 but i am saying it should work with most systems from 98 up … call me old fashioned but at least with HTML and PHP non of these issues exist period …

Flash is always cool when used by the entertainment industry. I think it will always have a home in hollywood, which is cool enough for me since i live in los angeles county..

As far as businesses requesting flash ( thumbs down ).. It’s a rarity and usually its by a client who has not really seen flash before and just wants it like an impulse buy.

Although there are evidence to show about, like my personal flash blog, swfobject (suggested by google), Flash SEO practices, flash frameworks, my own personal CMS flash solution, etc., I wouldn’t like to abuse this blog by monopolizing my opinion.

Although it seams that flash sites are not your specialty, you might benefit to update your information background about them.

Since this blog is leaving an open door to the other side of your opinion, thank you for the hospitality.

regards,
Ted.

While the video is great, that is not all that a small business website should be. From a usability standpoint, contact information, FAQs, and humanizing elements (owner’s picture, telephone number, blog, FAQs etc) should be present and easily navigable and bookmark-able. Flash does not provide this. Poor user experience = poor conversions.

Secondly, Flash is not very accommodating for SEO. Google can only index things in the flash descriptive files provided unlike HTML based pages that are easy to optimize and index. Poor SEO = poor traffic = poor business results.

Thirdly, Flash is difficult for non-developers to update. I offer a CMS solution where my customers do not have to know anything about programming. They just log in, type away on a MS Word-like interface and press submit. Viola! Their site is updated in seconds. With a Flash site they would have to track down and pay a developer.

Forth, aside from interactive games, Flash sites are not as useful for business clients to interact with. Blogs and comment interactions – like this one – would be impossible on a pure flash page.

Fifth, try creating an e-commerce site in Flash. It would be possible in Flex, but even many large businesses do not have the technology teams necessary to support such an effort.

Sixth, interoperability. Flash does not play on my iPhone nor my clients blackberrys. When I design sites, they must be accessible on a multitude of devices and browsers. Also, Flash does not render at all for users with disabilities. That is a legal liability issue for many of my clients. With Flash they could be sued for discrimination.

I can go on all day. In the end, Flash has its place – especially in the Flex framework – but small business websites is not it. I do agree that elements of a html-based CMS could benefit from embedded Flash, but they can also benefit from many other embedded technologies, too, and I wouldn’t make a CMS based on them either.