Flash is an attractive tool for small businesses but unfortunately, Flash movies used as website introductions are usually time consuming and contain very little information, scaring visitors away. So is there any benefit to Flash? How can the cool fades, morphing and animation be incorporated into a website well?

The key to using Flash wisely is to limit it to small areas of your website. This makes it easy to load, less distracting and complements the website design instead of taking it over. For example, you may (or may not) have noticed the small rotating logo in the top left hand corner of this website. It is non-intrusive and complements the design while conveying information on the range of services ParanoidFish offers.

Other areas Flash can be used in are buttons, banners and to draw attention to special parts of the website. A slow rate of change and high frame rate helps ensure that the animation is not fast, jerky and distracting.