The days were when html was all you needed to create a site that would attract customers to your business. A few years ago, pretty much anyone could build a website, since html is simple enough to learn from a book, or even by looking at the code behind other websites. Of course, the dot-com crash was a wake-up call to everyone: a smart website alone isn't enough to sell your company. However, it has become mandatory to have a web presence: a good website supports your brand and gives customers an instant idea of what you can do for them. But despite the supposedly democratising power of the internet, recent years have seen webpages grow in complexity, meaning that creating one is no longer a casual job. CSS, Javascript, PHP... the list is almost as long as you want it to be. One of the more powerful and arresting fields of web media is Flash website design. London, as the online and physical capital of the UK, is particularly competitive in this area - witness the highly professional and glossy websites of its businesses.

A modern website that will cut it in the competition of cyberspace will include a number of components. You'll need the markup language that gives pages their overall structure; style sheet languages to make site-wide changes easily; database and scripting capabilities; and, of course, multimedia technologies. Of these latter examples, it's a good idea to consider Flash website design. London has abundant options for all-round web design, including companies that will build your site for you, to your own specifications - look around if you need one of these. It shouldn't be hard to get an idea of the best companies, since their own websites should provide all the showcase for their skills that you need.

It's worth going into the discussion with any web design company with a good idea of what you want to achieve. There are many different styles of website, and different forms will suit different companies. Flash is really well-suited to multimedia presentations, rather than the kind of static content presentation that other businesses might find more appropriate to their corporate brand. It's also ideal for adverts and even games, since it can include a high degree of interactivity. It all depends on the kind of image you want to project about your business.

As an example of the versatility and near-ubiquity of Flash, the enormously popular video-sharing site YouTube uses Flash video as standard. Users upload videos in whatever format they have taken them - on digital cameras, webcams, even mobile phones - and the site converts them all to Flash video, saving space and giving a standard encoding which third parties can also use from their sites in the form of embedded YouTube videos. This is therefore a format which isn't going away any time soon - in fact, with literally millions of Flash videos and applications on the internet, it has effectively become an industry standard.

All of this suggests that if you are planning to create or relaunch your website, you will do well to consider the merits of Flash website design. London agencies such as Dhub have long recognised the value of this powerful and effective application and, with substantial training and experience, are well-placed to provide something that will meet the cutting-edge standards you'll need to stay ahead in what will continue to be a very fast-moving field for years to come.