A splash page is a frequent request from clients.  It’s basically a page that loads before the home page.  Splash pages often contain obnoxiously overbearing flash movies that really serve no purpose other than to make the site owner feel cool.

IMHO, splash pages are a big no-no.  Here’s why:

1. Splash pages usually take a loooooooong time to load.  Do you like having to wait when you do your web surfing?
2. Your site’s most important page is the home page.  Why would you want to make it harder for visitors to get there?
3. They get old real quick.  Would you watch your own flash movie 100 times without losing interest?
4. Every portion of your site should have a reason for being there.  What purpose does your splash page serve?
5. They are usually expensive.  Flash development isn’t cheap and depending on the depth of your splash page, it could potentially cost more to create than the rest of your site.

I’m sure there are plenty of other good reasons NOT to use splash pages and it’s hard to think of a good reason for creating one.  So, don’t waste your time or budget!

Put Your Visitors First

It takes some work (sometimes hard work) to get people to visit your website. So why chase them away with a site that isn’t usable? If you invest the time to make your site(s) visitor-centric (Warning! Additional work required), people will stay on your site longer and are much more likely to come back. To get a better idea of what I mean, let’s look at Merriam-Webster’s definitions of usable:

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