There are a number of points to consider when designing a site, this is a summary of the key considerations:

User engagement

• What are your site objectives?

• How are you going to drive traffic to the site?

• What do you want people to do when they get there?

• Do you want users to return – if so, how will you achieve that?

• Is the site easy to use?

• Does it have the information you would expect to be there?

• Is the information easy to find?

• THE 3 CLICK RULE – the user should never be more than 3 clicks away from what they are looking for

Continuous Analysis

• Every site should be supported with a stats package

• This should monitor unique visitors, dwell time, length of visit, number of pages viewed and number of repeat visits

• These stats should be monitored against core site objectives

• You need to be ready to flag  any shortcomings, identify the cause and decide how these can be rectified

• Google analytics offer a good solution. It is powerful, easy to use and free

Site Planning

• Technology advances so much that a site has a maximum online life of 5 years

• It is usually straightforward to add/delete sections to an existing site and to an extent change functionality

• Conduct a content inventory, identify what needs to go on the site and build a site map from the information at hand. This will help focus on objectives and usability

• THE CONTENT IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE APPEARANCE

One site does not fit all

• ‘Repurposing’ a site from its original use to something totally different is likely to be a thankless and costly exercise. Many brand sites that were built 5 years ago have been adapted and extended to such a level that the user experience has been continually eroded until to even an inexperienced eye the site is clunky and difficult to navigate

• To effectively repurpose a site you need to view the existing structure and functionality and make your new activity fit that, if it doesn’t then it is likely you will need a new site

HTML  v Flash

The HTML v Flash debate has been re-ignited with Apple’s refusal to support the Flash platform on the iPad. At the end of the day the industry collectively agrees there is a role for both platforms but they each have their own pros and cons:

HTML pros

• SEO HTML is the simplest format to create SEO friendly sites
• Widgets There are a lot of widgets that you can just plug into your website cost effectively gaining new features/functionality. (Google maps etc)
• CMS There are a lot of off the shelf Content Management Systems which cost effectively allow the site owner to update site content
• Good trouble shooting tools With off the shelf tools such as Firebug for Firefox, it is relatively easy to identify and fix any bugs
• Accessility Any online user can view HTML
• Loading Times Because HTML is fairly straightforward, viewing times are fairly quick
• Multi-media support Previously HTML has been limited in its ability to facilitate a multi-media interface on websites but the advent of HTML5 has addressed this

HTML cons

• HTML is static Its just not as flash as Flash
• Fonts There is a limit on font usage so it isn’t as creatively flexible as Flash
• Creative Integrity Consistent appearance across all browsers is difficult to achieve and creative integrity is compromised. Also as appearance and performance across browsers can vary so much it can be time consuming and costly to check site integrity and performance
• Bugs Browsers create a lot of problems and bugs that are difficult to overcome

Flash Pros

• Animation Flash animations are still industry standard – even if you have an HTML site you are likely to incorporate a flash banner as part of the design
• Integration with other services Flash allows existing services to be embedded into its code eg YouTube video player
• Engaging User experience Flash is the perfect platform to develop an interactive, engaging user experience full of movement
• Multi-media Flash generally handles video upload/streaming and file upload much better than HTML
• Creative Integrity You can design the website to look exactly like the creative with little to no trouble because it looks the same in all browsers
• Fonts You have a font on your machine…you can use it
• Games Online games lend themselves to be done in Flash

Flash cons

• User Drop-off A common symptom of a very Flash-heavy site is the user drop-off while they wait for the page to downlaod – and once you lose your visitor it is unlikely that they will return. Equally, those patient enough to wait for the site may well be put off returning
• Requires plug-in It does require a plug-in, but the majority of machines have this preinstalled (around 99%).
• SEO One of the key concerns about Flash, this can be overcome by creating content rich XTML files which will appear in search engine crawls
• Print Problems Flash is notoriously difficult for a user to print out
• Bad testing tools Limited testing tools means that there is no cast-iron way to be absolutely sure that your site is perfect, without manually testing – which costs time and money
• Updating Content amends to existing Flash files are more time consuming and thus more costly than amends to HTML sites
• Loading times Generally speaking, Flash files take longer to load.
• Memory Size Flash files take more memory, which also needs to be considered for Flash adverts, this is why they take longer to download – but also impedes the user experience

This doesn’t have to be a final ‘either/or’ decision. Flash and HTML can be used together to achieve an interactive, engaging site which is SEO compatible and easy to update.  It is important for creatives to understand the role of both formats and to use this knowledge when they are designing a website.