Splash pages on a website, also known as flash intros, can be original, artsy, and cut a fine figure indeed in terms of, well…splash! They lend themselves to some pretty cool artwork and design. But are a good idea for your internet marketing toolbox…are they user-friendly, and SEO compatible? There is much to be considered when it comes to ensuring your visitors get to your site efficiently, and search engine positioning is part of the package…after all, the prettiest site in the world cannot succeed if no one sees it! Read on…
Usage and usability:
- It’s an extra ‘click’: When someone sees a search result that has what they are looking for, they click on that result and expect to go there. When they are asked to click again to enter the site, they often get annoyed and go back. In today’s internet world, particularly with e-commerce, people simply won’t wait.
- Load time: Flash uses more bandwidth and can take a large amount of time to load in certain situations. If your customers or clients are not connected to high-speed internet, don’t have the latest and greatest computers and hardware, (which is actually a high percentage of the online population), or think Google Chrome is a finish for motorcycle fenders, this could prevent them from ever even getting to your completed splash page.
SEO:
- “Link Juice”: The flow of links on a web page has a hierarchy of sorts…your ‘home page’ should be the strongest of all your pages, and whenever a visitor has to pass through another link to get to it (the splash page), the subsequent page is losing “weight” with the search engines, passing along only a portion of the rank value to the home page. In short: it may affect your placements.
- “Content is king”: You may have heard this phrase in relation to websites and SEO. This is more true than ever today. Competition for online attention is fierce, and the home page you present is your ‘storefront’, so to speak! The window display in a brick-and-mortar store (their ‘home page’) is not only ineffective if it is empty, but can be actively detrimental to the flow of customers into the business.
- Fresh face: To remain current and ‘fresh’, your content should be ever-changing, whether it is in the form of tweaks to the meta data, updated content, interlinking, etc. When visitors come back to your site, they will quickly get bored with that intro piece…rather like a commercial on TV that you just can’t stand to watch anymore!
Flash can jazz up a website, create amazing effects and present your product or business in a phenomenal light! At Mannix Marketing, Inc., skilled and experienced website design services are SEO friendly and designed to ensure your site is accessible to visitors and the search engines! Having a clearly defined SEO strategy is the #1 way to keep your website fresh, relevant, and visible.
There are great alternatives to splash pages – contact Mannix Marketing, Inc. for the most innovative ideas in design and development, SEO, SMO, and all of your internet marketing services.
