There are many out there who will tell you that in order to create a successful website you should never use flash. Others will tell you that the best web sites always incorporate flash. Who’s right? Well, they both may be.

There are indeed downsides to using flash. To begin with, it’s not search engine friendly and it requires a great deal of space. More importantly, perhaps, is that it takes more time for a page with flash to load, thus forcing visitors to wait. There are many, many statistics out there which estimate that a website has just four or five seconds to grab a visitor’s attention before they go elsewhere. If, after those four or five seconds, your site visitors are still waiting for your page to load, they’ll likely leave and your use of flash has only hurt you.

On the opposite side, however, flash can play an important role on the Internet, and with your own plastic surgery marketing strategy. When used properly, a visitor can be captivated by beautiful and eye-catching animations, enough so that they may never consider going anywhere else. Flash is attractive to users, allows for eye-catching animations, and can often best communicate your message. Further, it can incorporate 3d objects embedding and audio-video embedding.

So do you use flash or don’t you? The simple solution may be to use flash wisely and to use it sparingly. It’s best used in online tutorials, online presentations, CD-ROM presentations and catalogs, and light banners.