If you’ve surfed the internet, and know a little bit about website designing then you’ve probably seen or heard of Flash websites. As more and more websites and online advertisements are utilizing the use of this technology, web designers are claiming that it is the future of the internet. If you’re thinking of using Flash in your website, you’re not alone.

It has gained so much popularity online because it provides a convenient way for web owners to have interactive and animated movies on their websites. Web designers have considered it to be the latest tool in making them better designers as it’s a great technology to add interactivity and flashy graphics to any website.

Since learning to write good Flash animations and forms can be difficult and time-consuming, web developers who know Flash often use it in every situation. But as with all technology, it can have some drawbacks for many website visitors and putting up a site using the same may be more of a detriment rather than a draw.

So if you’re planning on putting up a website using this multimedia platform, you should at least know both its positive and negative aspects as it relates to your customers, so you can decide if using it in your site is a good idea. The decision to use or not to use it is often problematic.

If you are building a website that is well-suited for Flash, and you don’t use it, you could wind up driving your customers away. However, simply building a site in Flash because you can do it greatly affects how your customers interact with your site—if they can find the site in search engines, and how accessible and usable your site is.

While it is a very powerful tool in every Web developer's toolbox, it isn’t a catch-all solution to every online situation. Even if some problems are best solved using this tool other problems may just be exacerbated by it. If you know how to use it effectively, you can increase your page views and drive in more customers.

You can embed Flash animations in your site’s HTML pages since the technology was originally used as an animation tool. You can create video presentations, short courses, and even quizzes. It is an effective multimedia tool in business marketing and e-learning because of its ease of use and the high degree of interactivity in its animation.

It is easy to create and view animations and movies because it doesn't require an OS-dependent plugin like QuickTime or MediaPlayer. Since it is operating system and browser independent, it is supported in over 95% of the Web browsers out there. Anyone can view it correctly as long as they have the Flash plugin.

However, unless you optimize its use most Flash applications and websites can be very large and cumbersome to download. In many situations, the entire site needs to be downloaded first before it can be used. And while you can add graphical features to help pass the time, many of your customers may not be inclined to wait.

Also in a typical Flash site the back button functionality of your browser is removed. When a customer hits the back button in your site, they are usually taken back to the prior site they visited and need to re-launch your site again. Some people might be willing to do the work twice, but most won't.

More importantly, since search engine spiders are screen readers, they can't read images. They also have trouble following none standard HTML links like the ones in Flash. It has a reputation among some customers as more of an annoyance than a benefit to a Web page—especially if it serves no other purpose than to decorate a page.

As few sites benefit from using only Flash, if you will use it, use it in selected areas of your site.