Flash is what you find on those fancy web sites that look slick and cool and feature rich. Traditionally flash web sites take a web developer, with expertise in flash programming, to create flash web sites. Another draw back when considering the design of flash web site is that search engines do not pick up flash web sites, unless they are properly programmed. (Have a look at this web site for more information on this).
There’s a service, Wix.com which can help you build flash based web sites on your own. I found it quite feature rich and flexible. My only complaint was that for new users, there should be much more help in how to use the flash elements one can add to a Wix.com created web site. You can select from templates in various categories (business, art, personal, music) or start from scratch.
Overall, however, what you really must think about is do you even want to build a web site yourself. Building a web site on your own is doable, however, think about three things:
- The time you’ll need to spend in creating your web site
- If you have the expertise needed to create a web site that looks good
- If you have the expertise to add features and usability elements of the web site
If flash is not something you want, check out Microsoft’s OfficeLive.com or Intuit’s Homestead for do it yourself web design services.
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