In my opinion, no.

Why? Because Flash isn’t necessary to design a compelling, feature-rich, and overall interesting website. Sure, Flash can incorporate fancy graphics that swoosh across the page, but is that practical if it hinders search engine optimization? Do website designers rely on Flash too much to make of for the lack of substance in the content? Perhaps.

For the amount of time (and money) required to design a website in Flash it hardly seems like a worthwhile investment for the client if the website cannot reach your entire audience. Mac enthusiasts are statistically consumers with higher incomes. Not designing websites that are compatible with the devices they use (iPhones are also unable to render Flash content) will only limit your ability to reach new customers with greater disposable incomes.

According to the January 11, 2010 Time magazine article “Google Builds a Better Bowser,” there are an estimated 40 million active users of Google’s free Chrome browser, ranking it No. 3 in market share behind Internet Explorer and Firefox. To the average internet user this may not mean much, but the significance is greater when you factor in that productivity applications (such as Google Apps and Microsoft Office Online) rely solely on a web browser and speedy internet connection to function.  Based on independent browser tests, as the Time article states, Google Chrome boots up and loads web pages faster than Internet Explorer or Firefox.

As a user of Google Apps, any means of speeding up access to files is welcomed.  That’s not to say I’ve had issues with speed up until now, but who wouldn’t want more speed if readily available?  And, for free?

As far as adaptability in concerned, Firefox still takes the cake when it comes to add-ons and plug-ins. I use Fire FTP for Firefox on a regular basis for my website design business. It will take some time before Google Chrome increases its customization capabilities, but  in my opinion I don’t see us waiting long before such add-ons are available…especially given the browser’s strong adoption in such a relatively short time frame.

Firefox, for example, offers “Add-ons” to enrich your web-browsing experience.  These applications, created by third-party developers, are installed and run from within your browser. You’ve seen the Apple iPhone commercials that say “There’s an app for that?”  Well, Firefox has an “add-on” for that too. You can manage your RSS feeds, upload images to your Facebook page, and translate a web page into another language.

With Safari 4 by Apple (available for Windows computers too) you can have the browser read website content aloud to you, and apply custom fonts, sizes, and colors to websites to make them more readable.

“Under the hood” there are other changes to current web browsers that make pages load faster, fonts and graphics crisper, and bookmarks easier to organize.

If you are using Internet Explorer 6.0 or earlier you are missing out of what a web browser can do. I encourage everyone to try something new because I know you will like it!

On the other hand you may be thinking “Why should I fix what is not broken?” My answer to that would be “It may not be broken, but there is always room for improvement!”

Over the years I have redesigned many websites for clients. Seeing the same website day after day prompts clients to ask me what can be done differently. As times change and business changes they want their websites to reflect change as well…and it should! A website should adapt to your ever-changing needs. What better way to attract new business from old customers by announcing the launch of your brand-new website? Think of it as a marketing opportunity and tie the design together with new business cards, brochures, or other print advertising.

Also interesting to note is that the web contains a vast majority of information that is not “crawled” by search engines such as Google. Bringing smaller search engines, or metasearch engines, into the mix helps retrieve more information and more “fresh” results. This is an interesting technology to watch as search engine rankings become more and more important for businesses and other instances where web presence and name recognition are important.

As I keep my finger on the pulse of what’s new I’ll post it here to share with everyone.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jason