Websites with Flash intros, things that make you go BLEH!

As is hopefully apparent by now, I'm a freelance coder, eeking out an existence coding websites, writing niche applications, usually in PHP. Occasionally I'll run across a project where I am creating a web sites from the ground up, instead of extending/tweaking an existing site.

When I get such a project, I find I am quite apprehensive to the response I get when I request a complete feature list.. there is much pacing, biting of nails and overall nervousness as I refresh the contents of my inbox, and damn, there it is.. They want a Flash intro... BLEH !!!

Now of course everyone is entitled to an opinion. If you think Flash intros are cool and actually watch them when you see one, instead of immediately clicking the "skip" link, then hey, more power to you, but you are in the minority. The majority of people click the skip link within nano seconds, and if they can't easily find it, they will hit the back button rather than wait for your flashy intro to complete. Likely giving you the exact opposite to the reaction you were hoping for..

From a technical, SEO and good ol' experience perspective, a Flash intro, even one with a prominently displayed skip link really hinders your site's ability to be suggested as a search result and often actually deters visitors from returning once they have discovered your site.

Presumably you want as many people as possible to sign up for the mailing list, buy your products & services and partake in the activities your site promotes. That means getting web traffic, which in turn means providing copious amounts of relevant text on the most important page of your site to search engines, so that they can determine what the site is about and categorize it, then suggest it where applicable.

On a new site especially, with few or no links pointing to it, it will be some time before search engines start suggesting your site in search results. You need to make the site's content as easily
accessible to both humans and search engine spiders, and frankly, Flash intros hinder both, not to mention they make the majority of your visitors go BLEH and/or go away.