Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Alrighty, I`ve been coding and designing flash websites for a while, and personally I can`t tell if I overdid on the "fancy" stuff that would distract the consumer. Any feedback?

Linky

Well its simple and short.  In using flash you are losing out on SEO big time.  Maybe reconsider using flash as graphic/visual additions that convey your message while using good ol` html for your content.

Your font choice ... while reflecting techy is not easy to read.  You would also benefit from graphics/photos to help tell your services and story.  The internet is a visual world after all.  You also may want to add a field to gather a phone number as some would like to be contacted that way.

Also .... are you serving both public and business with issues?  Breaking down that andif there are specific services for each would help your user.

I hope these initial things help.  Good luck.

Thanks! 

I gotta go with Asap on this...but then, I`m not at all a fan of Flash. I`m more interested in the actual content, not how it looks. After I get interested through that content (text and graphics), then I`ll maybe have the patience to wait for Flash items to load, and deal with the timing.

That`s the thing. What the developer considers reasonable timing, rarely coincides with what I see as jittering, too slow, too fast, irritating, annoying, and distracting. Then again, I`m 54, and I`m not living in the light-speed universe of younger folks.

I agree with asap & CraigL too - flash isn`t going to help you with SEO, or your consumers.

How well did you other sites with flash work for you?

Pre-sell your products and services through good content/information on your website.  Let your site do the work for you!

 

 

 

Ok, I have now updated from the website made entirely in flash, to a website that has a flash logo. Tell me what you think!
Another Linky

Way better! And having the text is much nicer. The Flash logo works for me, so now it`s all about the content itself.

Here`s the first topic heading (grammatical problems in bold):

Then the second:

• The "About our company" is basically saying "what you do." Then there`s an "About Us" tab, which really is "more" about you. This needs to be consolidated. There should be an "introduction" like an elevator pitch on the first page, with biographical info on the "About us" page.
• So there should be "Who we Are" heading 1 on the main page, then the "What we Do" heading 2 below.

The grammar isn`t all that well done, and could use a copyeditor or proofer. Examine the edited paragraph below, based on more professional style. It actually says nothing other than the company is located in Carson City:

Then comes:


This actually is under the "Satisfaction Guarantee" tab, or "Policies." But the two examples demonstrate the benefit of a good writer or editor for the site. With the content, the search engines can at least index the site. However, with the above content, so what? How does this site say anything other than, "We`re a computer repair place and we claim to know what we`re doing?"

I`d like to see some generic photos of technical-looking people working on computers, in offices, or in homes. Better would be actual employees---some of those "many" trained experts! ;-) I`d also like a list of real services, maybe categorized by type.

So there could be PCs & Macs, with a list of what you actually will set up. Do you install the entire machine? Re-install it if there`s a catastrophic failure? Are you only software or only hardware? What about backing up systems, installing mirrored drives, RAID, and so forth?

The next category would be "Networking," where you discuss routers, wireless setups, connection points, and even testing the building for RF capabilities to determine where to put wireless hardware. How about setting up several machines to a phone company`s DSL connection? Do you install wiring?

Another category would be "Cleaning & Repairs," where you put things like monitors and printers. Does anyone actually repair a monitor these days? If so, do you repair it there, or ship it out? What about LCD panels, and what happens when the transformer dies, but the panel continues working?

I think you have plenty of material for lots of content. If it`s done well, that content would also pick up your themes and key phrases, so the SEO writing wouldn`t be so difficult. It comes down to examining the site for "interest" in the sense of how is this any different from a plain Yellow Pages ad?

:-)
craig