Making a flash website for photography studio?

I'm getting mixed reviews from friends. Some say flash web sites are old school and others are saying it depends on how it's made. Personally I think flash looks cool. Do you think having a flash website is is suitable for a professional photography studio?

What is the typical cost for a flash website to be designed? One friend told me that it will use more bandwidth than typical site?

Most of the "pro" hosting sites are Flash, such as Zenfolio. Then any bandwidth issues become the host's problem, not yours.

lazy Kelly

My full-time job is as a web designer (photography is my part time side work), so I think I can give you some useful info here

Flash can be considered "old school" for a couple of different reasons. First, in terms of the standards that web designers follow, making an all-Flash website is something that hasn't been recommended since the early 2000s. Even then it wasn't highly recommended...it just simply wasn't frowned upon yet.

Secondly and much more importantly, it's old school in the sense that a lot of new devices can't display Flash content. And by "a lot", I mean anything made by Apple that runs iOS. So the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad will not be able to access your site if it's all done in Flash. And believe me, this is a big segment. And it's growing.

About the bandwidth issue, that is true as well. And it's true for the same reason that web standards direct us designers not to make all-Flash websites. The reason: Flash websites don't really have content, they are 100% media. Flash is, essentially, graphics with motion. By contrast, a standard website has its content all in the form of text, with media just accounting for some photos, graphics and video that supplement the content.

Media of any kind uses more bandwidth than text, because you're talking about much bigger files. To give you an idea, look at the size of a Word document stored on your computer, vs. the size of a photo. The photo is many times larger (in bytes) than the document comprised of text.

The other downside is, search engines like Google and Yahoo are able to find your site and decide that it's relevant to certain search terms because they read the text in your site's code. If your site is made all out of media and not out of text, that creates a problem. Those search engines won't find you as easily, so when someone searches for a photographer, your site will be less likely to pop up in the search results. (The search engines and newer versions of Flash have worked on this issue so it's a little better than it used to be, but still not nearly as good as a regular site with real content.)

I know this is a little lengthy...but hopefully it helps

KCook wrote: Most of the "pro" hosting sites are Flash, such as Zenfolio. Then any bandwidth issues become the host's problem, not yours.

lazy Kelly

Zenfolio does use some Flash, but for the most part it's actually XHTML, CSS and JavaScript. Those 3 combined can do almost anything that Flash can do.

Just FYI I just checked and my smugmug account's slideshow shows up on iPad. Looks good too.

rmeyer7 wrote:

KCook wrote: Most of the "pro" hosting sites are Flash, such as Zenfolio. Then any bandwidth issues become the host's problem, not yours.

lazy Kelly

Zenfolio does use some Flash, but for the most part it's actually XHTML, CSS and JavaScript. Those 3 combined can do almost anything that Flash can do.

Good to know. When I right click on a photo no URL or "Save As" is shown. Which is similar behavior to Flash. So I assumed Flash was the case. My bad.

Kelly

Actually Kelly, I think both Zenfolio and SmugMug probably use some Flash for slideshows, though the sites themselves are not all Flash. I would bet that they also detect the type of device a user is on, and if it's a mobile device (or an iOS device), they have an alternate version of the slideshow that doesn't use Flash. (That's where the CSS thing that I mentioned earlier comes in; it can use an entirely different set of style instructions based on the device the user is on.) That's a great option since it can suit everybody, and it's something those sites already have incorporated. So when you mentioned the issues becoming their problem, you were absolutely right.

The issue for the OP is looking at is a little different, as it would be a standalone site developed all in Flash and not accessible to those Apple mobile devices. And having your site built with both a full browser version in Flash and a non-Flash mobile version would be a lot more expensive!

Jeanne, if you'd like some more specific info on good options and what kind of prices you may be looking at, feel free to message me!

rmeyer7 wrote: My full-time job is as a web designer (photography is my part time side work), so I think I can give you some useful info here

Flash can be considered "old school" for a couple of different reasons. First, in terms of the standards that web designers follow, making an all-Flash website is something that hasn't been recommended since the early 2000s. Even then it wasn't highly recommended...it just simply wasn't frowned upon yet.

Secondly and much more importantly, it's old school in the sense that a lot of new devices can't display Flash content. And by "a lot", I mean anything made by Apple that runs iOS. So the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad will not be able to access your site if it's all done in Flash. And believe me, this is a big segment. And it's growing.

About the bandwidth issue, that is true as well. And it's true for the same reason that web standards direct us designers not to make all-Flash websites. The reason: Flash websites don't really have content, they are 100% media. Flash is, essentially, graphics with motion. By contrast, a standard website has its content all in the form of text, with media just accounting for some photos, graphics and video that supplement the content.

Media of any kind uses more bandwidth than text, because you're talking about much bigger files. To give you an idea, look at the size of a Word document stored on your computer, vs. the size of a photo. The photo is many times larger (in bytes) than the document comprised of text.

The other downside is, search engines like Google and Yahoo are able to find your site and decide that it's relevant to certain search terms because they read the text in your site's code. If your site is made all out of media and not out of text, that creates a problem. Those search engines won't find you as easily, so when someone searches for a photographer, your site will be less likely to pop up in the search results. (The search engines and newer versions of Flash have worked on this issue so it's a little better than it used to be, but still not nearly as good as a regular site with real content.)

I know this is a little lengthy...but hopefully it helps

Incredible answer, I really appreciate your detailed input. I really need to put some thought into this and you just armed me with some good information to consider. Again, thank you

rmeyer7 wrote: My full-time job is as a web designer (photography is my part time side work), so I think I can give you some useful info here

Flash can be considered "old school" for a couple of different reasons. First, in terms of the standards that web designers follow, making an all-Flash website is something that hasn't been recommended since the early 2000s. Even then it wasn't highly recommended...it just simply wasn't frowned upon yet.

Secondly and much more importantly, it's old school in the sense that a lot of new devices can't display Flash content. And by "a lot", I mean anything made by Apple that runs iOS. So the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad will not be able to access your site if it's all done in Flash. And believe me, this is a big segment. And it's growing.

About the bandwidth issue, that is true as well. And it's true for the same reason that web standards direct us designers not to make all-Flash websites. The reason: Flash websites don't really have content, they are 100% media. Flash is, essentially, graphics with motion. By contrast, a standard website has its content all in the form of text, with media just accounting for some photos, graphics and video that supplement the content.

Media of any kind uses more bandwidth than text, because you're talking about much bigger files. To give you an idea, look at the size of a Word document stored on your computer, vs. the size of a photo. The photo is many times larger (in bytes) than the document comprised of text.

The other downside is, search engines like Google and Yahoo are able to find your site and decide that it's relevant to certain search terms because they read the text in your site's code. If your site is made all out of media and not out of text, that creates a problem. Those search engines won't find you as easily, so when someone searches for a photographer, your site will be less likely to pop up in the search results. (The search engines and newer versions of Flash have worked on this issue so it's a little better than it used to be, but still not nearly as good as a regular site with real content.)

I know this is a little lengthy...but hopefully it helps

Took the words right out of my mouth.

rmeyer7 wrote:

KCook wrote: Most of the "pro" hosting sites are Flash, such as Zenfolio. Then any bandwidth issues become the host's problem, not yours.

lazy Kelly

Zenfolio does use some Flash, but for the most part it's actually XHTML, CSS and JavaScript. Those 3 combined can do almost anything that Flash can do.

rmeyer7 wrote: Actually Kelly, I think both Zenfolio and SmugMug probably use some Flash for slideshows, though the sites themselves are not all Flash. I would bet that they also detect the type of device a user is on, and if it's a mobile device (or an iOS device), they have an alternate version of the slideshow that doesn't use Flash. (That's where the CSS thing that I mentioned earlier comes in; it can use an entirely different set of style instructions based on the device the user is on.) That's a great option since it can suit everybody, and it's something those sites already have incorporated. So when you mentioned the issues becoming their problem, you were absolutely right.

The issue for the OP is looking at is a little different, as it would be a standalone site developed all in Flash and not accessible to those Apple mobile devices. And having your site built with both a full browser version in Flash and a non-Flash mobile version would be a lot more expensive!

Jeanne, if you'd like some more specific info on good options and what kind of prices you may be looking at, feel free to message me!

While using Zenfolio people can sign up onto google analytics, which will show the OS people are browsing the site on. My site has been browsed on iphones, droids and blackberries. So as it's been stated, flash is used for the slideshow, but everything else is not flash.


In the end, if you want your site to be found on search engines....don't use flash. Or if you want too, only use flash as an intro page. Flash is cool, but flash will not help people find you on the net to gain more clients = more $$$

How much are you all spending on hosting per month?

crystal wrote: While using Zenfolio people can sign up onto google analytics, which will show the OS people are browsing the site on. My site has been browsed on iphones, droids and blackberries. So as it's been stated, flash is used for the slideshow, but everything else is not flash.


In the end, if you want your site to be found on search engines....don't use flash. Or if you want too, only use flash as an intro page. Flash is cool, but flash will not help people find you on the net to gain more clients = more $$$

I'm glad Crystal mentioned Google Analytics. Whether you go with a service like Zenfolio or a completely independent site custom built for your needs, sign up with Google Analytics. When you know what sources of traffic you're getting, you can add or adjust things on your site accordingly. It's powerful and free, so make sure you use it!

Stealthy Ninja wrote: Just FYI I just checked and my smugmug account's slideshow shows up on iPad. Looks good too.

Are iPads able to show flash now?

Martha wrote: How much are you all spending on hosting per month?

hosting through godaddy about $10/month.