If you’re considering ways of using flash on your site, here are some helpful tips to consider.

A list of Flash Do’s:

1. Users don’t have a lot of time.  They find it easier and faster to watch a video or animation clip about your service than reading about it.   This would be an element on your home page presented with other text content.  Users stay on a site longer and conversions are higher on sites with video. 
2. Does your site need an instructional manual or presentation – these are great to do in flash, it can either be set up as an animation or be in the form of video which is converted to flash for the web.
3. Although there are several different programs that can be used, there are plenty of examples on the internet of online games that have been created with Flash.
4. Some online applications necessitate animation.  When the user needs to move objects, draw or color in elements, Flash is a great program for the task.
5. Using Flash for animated banners is still the industry standard.  Built correctly, Flash allows for creating animations of a very light weight for best upload time. 

In general it’s best not to use flash when what you wish to achieve can be done through other means.  Flash is not accessible by search engines so it’s very important for site ranking to not present site content in a flash file.

Here are a few flash don’ts for you to keep in mind:

1. Don’t do a flash intro page– A flash introduction page takes the place of your site’s home page.  Because search engines cannot enter flash files, this will affect your site’s ability to rank.  Also, this is considered passé.  It’s never a good idea leaving the user waiting while your flash introduction is loading before they have even entered your site. 
2. Don’t do a flash menu – Since Flash is not accessible by search engines, google won’t be able to get further then your home page and so won’t rank your site’s internal pages.
3. Don’t use flash to present text – Again, if search engines can’t see the text inside of a flash element, you lose the value the content offers you in site ranking.
4. Don’t use flash if you can do it with javascript – Today it’s possible to do really amazing effects with javascript.  You can create image transitions, galleries, and other numerous ways of presenting content.  The benefit of using javascript instead of flash is with search engines optimization – there’s access to your entire site’s text and you can optimize images with alt tags.  Also making changes to your site is less time consuming and ultimately cheaper to maintain.  Here’s a link that lists 50 sites that make great use of javascript effects.  http://www.kriesi.at/archives/50-websites-that-make-amazing-use-of-javascript

When creating a new website or developing an existing one, a site owner needs to carefully consider how the site is set up and what are the goals.  Each page needs to be planned.  There needs to be a clear idea of how the users will travel through the site and ultimately what you want to achieve.  Once each page is planned, then you can decide if flash is the best solution for what you want to accomplish.  Keeping Flash Do’s and Don’ts in mind and consulting with your web designer will help you make the best decisions for your site.