Okay, say you're a webdesigner, and you get a client...and this client tells you "I want a real nice "FLASH" intro to my site".

Only problem is, you don't know a THING about FLASH...so..what do you do?

1. Say, "Sorry, I don't do flash/nor know how to do it!"
2. Say, "Sure, no problem!" And hire a guy to do it for you
3. Say, "Sure, no problem!" And do it yourself, but spend significant amount of man hours reading the "Flash for Dummies" online tutorial.


Option 1 could lead to a loss of a client, would you be willing to give a "I don't know how to do that" response?

You can always purchase a flash Intro template. Problem is that you still need to know Flash to manipulate it. I would let your customer know that you do not work in flash or explain that Flash intros are annoying.

explain that Flash intros are annoying.

Yea they really are....

I would combine number 1 and 2. I think the client would respect your honestly in saying you have no experience with flash and prefer this to pretending you do and coming up with something below-par. But at the same time you can try and avoid the loss of a client by saying you know or can find someone who does know flash and would be willing to make this for you, but keep it going through you.

-Stoot

2. Say, "Sure, no problem!" And hire a guy to do it for you

Originally Posted by stoot98

Yea they really are....

I would combine number 1 and 2. I think the client would respect your honestly in saying you have no experience with flash and prefer this to pretending you do and coming up with something below-par. But at the same time you can try and avoid the loss of a client by saying you know or can find someone who does know flash and would be willing to make this for you, but keep it going through you.

-Stoot

Stoot....where can I go to find people who can do for me, what I can't do for myself?

Quite frankly, I think I'd try to dissuade him from this idea in the first place. The Flash intro will be the site's 'home' page, the first thing a search engine spider will come to.. and there will be NOTHING there to index, especially if there is no text or links for the spider to crawl. So, from a marketing/SEO perspective, a flash intro is a bad idea. Besides that, they serve no real purpose and they ARE annoying.

If he's absolutely stuck on the idea, try http://www.guru.com/ to find a freelance flash artist.

Lady....okay, what if the client requests a "Navigational" flash menu....y ikes! LOL

Originally Posted by LadynRed

Quite frankly, I think I'd try to dissuade him from this idea in the first place. The Flash intro will be the site's 'home' page, the first thing a search engine spider will come to.. and there will be NOTHING there to index, especially if there is no text or links for the spider to crawl. So, from a marketing/SEO perspective, a flash intro is a bad idea. Besides that, they serve no real purpose and they ARE annoying.

If he's absolutely stuck on the idea, try http://www.guru.com/ to find a freelance flash artist.

The same situation happend to me with my current job. My boss wanted a new website with Flash content. The only problem was I'm a Graphic Designer, I had never done web design or Flash. So what do you say when you really want the job? I told her that I didn't know how to do it, but that I can learn anything. She gave me the job and gave me time to learn. Now I know how to do twice as much as I did before I started the job.

Stoot....where can I go to find people who can do for me, what I can't do for myself?

As Lady said guru.com or similar freelance sites are a good place to start. Others such as http://www.getafreelancer.com are worth having a look at.

Failing that I'm sure there's someone within this community who has the neccessary knowledge for you to outsource the work to.

-Stoot

A Flash menu is a different issue, it's not going to be THE first page of his site. However, unless you also provide a TEXT version of the menu, you'll have the same issue with search engine spiders -- no links to read for a spider and therefore no where for the spider to go further. It's also recommended from an accessibility standpoint.. having a text version of your navigation for people who might use a text-only browser or assistive technology.

Does flash as an image content portion of your page hurt in terms of SEO. If the flash is used for display only, is not too heavy and is not used for navigation is it still annoying?

I think it would be annoying if the user didnt have Flash installed and so couldnt see it and so they would either have a bit of the site missing so it wouldnt look particularly good, or they would get lots of things up asking to install it.

The only other thing i could think about it would be if you had a lot of animation, sound or even worse, both it can become very annoying....

-Stoot

I tend to be more the #3 type when it comes to things like that, just because I'm autodidactic (one of my clients pointed this out to me once...it also led to me learning what the word autodidactic meant.)

However, I would also dissuade the client because chances are, the client wants to use Flash for more than what Flash was intended for (i.e. website accents). I see entire sites, navigations, intros, things like that done in Flash and it makes me just want to scream.

A non-essential section (e.g. a banner ad, maybe a tutorial with an HTML alternative) is fine...but nothing more than that.

I don't care if it costs me a client, either. A client like that will always cause you 90% of your grief and aggravation, and that comes at the expense of 5 or 10 who will pay you more. That's why I only have a few clients and make more than I did when I had 5 times as many.

price having the flash intro done for you and the time frame. Then take the job on. Yo coudl even add on an extra $20 to cover your time communicating with the contractor.

My first thought would be to disuade the client from a Flash intro and a Flash navigation. No one watches Flash intros. When you find someone who's seen one complete let me know. They add nothing to a site and only help to ensure more people will leave the site before seeing any of your content.

The Flash navigation is going to be unfriendly to search spiders so I'd ask the client if search traffic is important to them and then explain why it's best not to use Flash. You can still compensate for the Flash navigation when it comes to SEO, but chances are you can convince the client it's best not to go with one.

Now if the client still wants Flash I would either explain to them I'm not a Flash designer and offer to help them find someone or just find one myself, say I could do the work, and add a little extra to what the Flash designer will charge me for the menu.

I wouldn't hire anyone to do a Flash intro page since they have 0 value. If a client insisted on one I would tell them the reasons not to use one and then let them go their own way.

Either hire someone to do it or learn up, and make sure you charge more.

Actually, I thought about this a little further and I realize to some extent it depends on the client.

My second-largest client has a flash intro on the opening page of their company site, which I built. They don't really care about SEO, either...they just wanted something that was simple and moved before they got to the opening page. And this is a client that has given me about 8 or 9 sites now, so it's not one I'm prepared to say "no thanks, see you later." There's too much money involved, and more importantly to me I legitimately enjoy working with the people in the company and on the projects they have for me.

So these are things you'll also have to consider.

That's true. Like Adam said not everyone is concerned with SEO. There are certainly other ways to market and promote your site.

And in the end you do need to decide whether or not the client is worth keeping. I've certainly done my share of things for a client that I didn't agree with. However I do always tell the client why I disagree with their idea. In the end though it's up to them whether or not they still want to go with it.

Check this site out, it might help you http://www.flashbannerstudio.com/

Originally Posted by Fanboy

Okay, say you're a webdesigner, and you get a client...and this client tells you "I want a real nice "FLASH" intro to my site".

Only problem is, you don't know a THING about FLASH...so..what do you do?

1. Say, "Sorry, I don't do flash/nor know how to do it!"
2. Say, "Sure, no problem!" And hire a guy to do it for you
3. Say, "Sure, no problem!" And do it yourself, but spend significant amount of man hours reading the "Flash for Dummies" online tutorial.


Option 1 could lead to a loss of a client, would you be willing to give a "I don't know how to do that" response?

You should go for hiring some one so 2nd choice is best