Flash animations are great when it comes to creating smooth and fluid web interface. The fact that it can be programmed in many different ways to create interactive user experiences makes Flash even better. Still, you need to make sure you use Flash elements properly in order to make visiting your site highly enjoyable.

Using Flash-based navigation panel is great, but you might want to try AJAX as well. Both elements offer high interactivity and fluid interface, although Flash is more suitable for design-intensive sites while AJAX offer better performance in general. If you are building a full-Flash site, you can also use several navigational features to make the site even more fluid.

Flash can also be used to protect images. Third-party software does allow users to extract images from a Flash file, but the extra trouble will make them think twice. Protecting other page elements can also be done easily when you are using Flash to create the entire site.

If you are featuring a lot of text contents, Flash may not be the best technology to use. You should opt for HTML+CSS, AJAX, or use Flash as part of the page and display text contents as HTML instead. This is because reading text contents in Flash is far from being pleasant, unless you are using additional technologies such as Flash Paper.

Last but certainly not least, always make sure you keep an eye on the site’s overall performance. Flash SWF files can be quite large and heavy to load, so take the extra steps to compress them and maintain performance.