Good use of Flash? Have an example?

[TrimarkProperties]

Hi guys!

We are re-doing our index page right now, and we have a 491x378 area in the top left of the page that we want to put a Flash component into that would "sell" the user on why NOT to bounce off the site. Rather than specifically selling the company, we want to sell the value of the site-- over 100 floorplans, detailed property info, virtual tours, photo galleries etc.

Anyone know of any good real estate sites that I could look at, to get some ideas for design?

I'm looking for a good "Why Use This Website" type of thing...

[REW Christian]

wow...tons of our sites have flash on them try www.previewnaples.com or www.adealhome.com or maybe www.hiltonheadhomesource.com

[Auliya]

Be careful about how many ideas off these sites you use. There is no problem with seeing examples of flash that is done before to inspire your own ideas, but dont take certain ideas from other sites and reproduce them on your own mashed together. You dont want to get involved in copyright battles.

[webmaster]

Christian, although those websites do use flash well, I do not think they are examples of what this user is talking about.

[TrimarkProperties]

Wow, Auliya. At least get to know me before you accuse me of being the type to copy someone's site!

Based off of everything I've found so far, there isn't any Flash that's really doing what we are talking about. And we aren't that kind of company. At all.

[Agnafl]

Everyone is very defensive here lately....

[SEO Nick]

Hey Aubrey,

What kind of animation are you looking to place? I sift through many sites a day... I can probably come up with a couple examples for ya.

[Auliya]

Woh, Sorry man, I think you took my bluntness as an accusation! Sorry about that, first thing in the morning you know. It was definitely not my intention to say that you were going to copy that, But i have seen it happen many times before, and often it isnt even deliberate. Sometimes you look at a bunch of sites and dont realize the one you have made is just like another one. But even then people can call you on it and you will have to change it. It was just a friendly pointer, sorry if you took it another way.

[TrimarkProperties]

The goal is for it to decrease bounce rate (or contribute to a reduction in bounce rate).

We want the flash to start off by showing the fact that we have so many listings in a specific area of town (our top keyword is "gainesville apartments" - so we want to specifically address that this is what our site is about), then take them through the advantages of the site: experience over 100 floorplans, from studios to 7 bedroom houses, with photo galleries and virtual tours, and the ability to schedule tours online-- all while squeezing in a few great photos.

We have a cd card brochure that we send out that has a (much longer) intro that does something similar but far more indepth. We're just looking for ideas on how other sites "sold" their site to visitors with flash, while keeping it short and incorporating good photos of the properties.

JohnLScott . com had something similar up for a while, but they recently look it down...

It's different from our flash on sites like www. theivyhouse. net because it's a smaller piece, and not property specific, and should sell the site and not the property.

[TrimarkProperties]

Auliya-- I don't mean it in a mean way either-- just want to be clear that we aren't trying to COPY something, and we need help and ideas. The more I look for sites that do that, the less I find, and our current flash designer is having a hard time coming up with ideas that flow well.

Flash isn't our best talent, so... we need help!