There is a sound of death on the Internet. This sound is often overlooked and rarely acknowledged, but real nonetheless. The sound is comprised of a million clicks as they exit from a website that takes too long to download - a million clicks that could have translated into significant opportunity, but not today.

This ‘mass exodus' is usually the result of poor web design. These poorly designed sites generally feature too many graphics that are generally too large in file size. It could be the page is overloaded with text or more likely other time consuming add-ons.

The good news is many individuals have learned the value of keeping things simple and fracturing knowledge-based content into smaller bite-sized nuggets that can fill multiple pages. Those pages are then able to load much more rapidly at the direction of a potential customer who is primarily interested in what you have to offer.

This ‘click' phenomenon is not exclusive to slow loading pages, however. Interestingly as more and more web designers configure more flash intensive intro pages into their design the excessive “hey-look-at-me-I-can-make-a flash-intro' designs are not finding the consumer support many online business want.

It may be true that the flash design can be beautiful, loud, or intricate. It is also likely true that the website owner is immensely pleased with the flash in his or her web design, but the collective ‘click' presents a story that many web designers don't want you to think about – the site visitor may not be as impressed as you were led to believe.

It takes time and money to create flash design and the use of flash design is pervasive. Some web designs have benefited from minor flash infiltration, but the use of flash in design features is often overdone. By the time the opening page has fully developed and can allow your guests to move on to the next point of navigation the customer has either lost interest or wonders if the opening page is an indication of what they can expect on every page. Either way, this is the point where many will simply bail out and look for some way to find what they need fast – not flash.

The truth is I am not anti-flash, but the overuse of it has become problematic – for consumers. I could be wrong, but they are the ones you are trying to impress, right?

The use of flash is not displeasing in itself to consumers, but the ‘shock and awe' of flash design in many cases has been relegated to the commonplace. That being the case the ultimate response to flash is either a collective yawn or a back click of frustration.

Template rich web building technology is generally flash-free and can still deliver an attractive and easy to navigate site that can deliver your message to time-conscious consumers. It may also surprise you to know that the costs associated with this web design process can be minute in comparison to most web designer's fees.

Maybe it's time to develop a flash-less design.