A beginner’s guide to website options, features, and services.

7. ANIMATION

Do you need animation?

Your website might benefit from a bit of animation, the key word being "might". If your website is cartoonsforkids.com then obviously animation is the order of the day, but otherwise tread very carefully.

The only animation most small business websites need is for their links to change colors when you point your mouse over them. These animations are known as “rollovers” and are standard website features:

Animated introductory screens were very popular in the late 90’s, however they’re fading away. People are realizing that web site users want to get to the core of information as quickly as possible, and they don’t want to first watch a cartoon for 10 seconds full of flying colored triangles.

Types of animations.

That said, sometimes animations are called for. If they are, they’ll be one of two types: GIF or Flash.

GIF animations are generally what you see when you see a flashing ad banner.

Example of an animated GIF banner.

Flash animations look much smoother than GIF animations and can be very intricate and interactive. They’re usually also more expensive.

Example of a Flash animation.

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