Flash vs. HTML…What’s a photographer to do?

Need help making your decision? Let’s look at the differences…

Ever since Flash was developed by Macromedia in 1996, there’s been an ongoing discussion as to its benefits in comparison to HTML. There’s one point that should be understood up front. Flash and HTML are both excellent choices for photography websites. They simply have different features and characteristics. Once you understand those differences, the choice becomes much clearer…maybe.

Flash is a vector animation software which brings a website to life. Though developed by Macromedia, it is now distributed by Adobe Systems. Flash is a multimedia platform specifically designed to create animated web pages and to add richness and interactiveness to the web experience. For this reason, it was adopted by photographers interested in the creative possibilities Flash offers for displaying images.

HTML is the acronym for HyperText Markup Language and is the code used for most websites. It is often combined with CSS and JavaScript to add the multimedia experience to the more static language.

Following is a brief comparison of Flash and HTML advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Flash

• Aesthetically and visually appealing (wow factor)

• Offers viewer a fully immersive experience not possible with HTML

• Able to handle complex animations

• Difficult to copy from website so appeals to creative site owners

Disadvantages of Flash

• Cannot be used on Apple iPhones and iPads

• More difficult to get web pages indexed by search engines compared to HTML

• Can slow down page loads on some computers

• Difficult to do image archive searches

• Not text friendly

Advantages of HTML

• SEO friendly using text so easier to get high ranking

• Supported by Apple on iPhones and iPads

• Flexible webpage development using CSS and JavaScript

• Quick webpage load time

• Standardizes website navigation so easier to move around on website

Disadvantages of HTML

• More difficult to prevent copying (unless you have image protection like we do at CMD)

• More static than Flash

Some photographers have chosen to use a HTML based site but enhance it with Flash. For example, the HTML site could be supplemented with a Flash video presentation. In this way, photographers are not relying totally on HTML or Flash to build websites.

Clients and Presentations

For photographers relying on their websites for organic growth through search engine optimization, HTML is a good choice. SEO relies on search engines reading text, and especially keywords. Most search engines can’t read Flash for ranking purposes unless the Flash content is combined with HTML. However, Flash creates a stunning, interesting and rich media experience. Photographers who have a well developed clientele and are more interested in having an artistic and unique attention-getting website for presentational purposes to potential professional clients may not be as interested in SEO. Flash sites are chosen in those cases when clientele is more targeted to photography and artistic professionals as opposed to consumers.

For example, Photography or Art Directors would probably not rely on iPhone presentations to make photographer hiring decisions. They would tend to find Flash websites more informative and appealing. If you are a photographer who wants to be able to attend meetings with an iPad or iPhone and call up your website to show clients on the spot, then HTML is a good choice.

The bottom line is that the Flash vs. HTML discussion will continue because it’s a matter of preference. Some people fall in love with Flash because it creates such visually stunning displays. Others are focusing more on organic business growth through image posting combined with text that is SEO friendly. The comprise is to develop Flash content containing graphics, interactivity and images and add it to an HTML site. In fact, you can combine a blog with a Flash site and experience good SEO results. In that case, you get the best of both worlds.

The only thing really certain at this point is that Flash and HTML will continue to evolve. Nothing ever stands still in the world of technology.