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Home » Other Tips » Common Web Design Problems » Videos & Slideshows

Videos & Slideshows

Many photographers feel that they need an animated slideshow to display their work.  While I agree that a well done slideshow is an effective marketing tool they are also very easy to do poorly.

What you need to consider is that many visitors will not sit through a 5 minute (or 30 second for that matter) slideshow without looking for an out.  If the visitor gets to a point where they no longer want to watch your slideshow they will start to look for something to click so they can move on.  You do not want that something to be their back button.

So, what can you do?  It's best to have a slideshow only as a supporting effect rather than the entire page.  For example, it would be good design to have a slideshow off to the side of your pricing page.  The show plays while your visitor is reading about pricing.  They are not forced to sit through the show just to get to the pricing information.  Your other option, although I don't like it as much, is to have a 'skip' button on your animation.  Many large sites do this with their Flash splash screens.   
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