As a Web copywriter, my attitude toward Flash is generally that it is of the devil.

It interferes with the ability of the search engine spiders to read and index Web pages. It takes an interminable time to load, steering most visitors away who have no time for such foolishness.

And, recently, it’s actually becoming a sales tool.

Copywriters, particularly those with a search engine optimization background, generally hate Flash. Flash designers, generally dislike copywriters. Kind of a “good vs. evil” thing, although I leave it to you to decide who is the good guy and bad guy here.

Flash was once the exclusive province of the artistic and those who sought to appear cool. You may recall my blog about my experience with Ted, who was so dedicated to the idea of appearing “cool” that he was sacrificing sales leads every day.

Well, I’m coming around. Not to the idea that a site needs to be cool, although if a site can be both effective, i.e., turn prospects into clients, and cool, that’s great.

No, I now see that marketers are figuring out how to make Flash work to their benefit.

Marketers and designers are figuring out how to structure Flash within a site so that it does not dominate the site and drive spiders away or take a long time to load. And when I say a long time, I’m taking into account the fact that three seconds is forever on the Web. Three seconds is long enough to drive most visitors away if they have to wait for your site to load.

Those who have worked out the structural aspects are also figuring out something else, if you make Flash and its many cousins interactive, people will stay and “interact” with it.

There are sites that now offer “talking heads”-- animated individuals who speak only when rolled over or clicked on, thereby giving the visitor the power to decide if they wish to interact or not.

Some offer games or quizzes, adding entertainment value to the site. And entertainment is becoming increasingly important in attracting younger prospects who at the age of twenty are already jaded individuals made cynical by years of advertising bombardment.

And I’m seeing many other applications which are designed to engage the prospect, rather than merely put on the Internet equivalent of a laser light show (which inevitably prove boring and dull after a few seconds of initial viewing).

As marketing learns to work with Flash, perhaps we will finally see the day when copywriters and Flash designers can stand together and say, “We actually like each other.”

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