Digg It - Internet and Businesses Online

A splash page is an introductory page to your website, usually containing an enlarged version of your graphic or logo, possibly an animation or introductory movie, and perhaps some site requirements or a choice of how to view your websit

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

e.

Splash pages are a popular request web designers get from their customers, and one many designers still concede to since it can be an opportunity for them to be a bit more creative using tools like Flash that they may not get to

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

use as often as they like.

I'm here to tell you today that in just about every case splash pages are a bad idea. If this is even a question in your mind, if you can't prove that you need a splash page for a specific reason, then I

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

intend to show you why that's a sign to just say no.

The Positives

First, let's be fair and look at some of the positive aspects of splash pages. For starters, they're often smaller than your actual home page

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

nd so they may load slightly faster. Splash pages also allow you to present a choice, if that's really necessary (it shouldn't be) as to how your visitors want to see your website. And finally, you can guarantee that a visitor sees wha

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

tever graphical presentation you make to them on your splash page, or at least the first few seconds of it before they click through to your main page.

The False-Positives

I'm afraid that none of these are good

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

enough reasons for a splash page. Here's why:

A clean, standards compliant website should be fast enough to load anyway. If not, fix the problem, don't just put a bandaid over it.

If your website has certain m

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

nimum requirements for display, you're cutting off potential visitors.

If your website requires an alternate version, you could be doubling your maintenance work, and time is money.

If your website requires an alterna

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

te version, perhaps that should be the version you go with in the first place.

If you must have a special (eg. Flash) version of your website, use an automatic Flash detector, not a splash page.

Finally, you can guara

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ntee a visitor sees your homepage too if they visit you. Just put your important message at the top.

Splash Pages and Search Engines

Search engines don't like splash pages either, and with good reason.

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

They're devoid of any real content. I saw a splash page just yesterday with not a single character of indexable content, including the window title (it was left blank).

And if you try to hide content on them, search engines may ev

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

en penalize you for it. So if you care at all about your rank in search engines, a splash page is a definite no-no.

The Brutal Truth

You may love your fancy splash page, but your users will hate it. If they h

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

ave to visit your site regularly, they'll hate you for it too.

Put yourself in your users' shoes for a second. Your users came to your site to find information. The less clicks between them and that information, the better. A spl

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

ash page is an extra -- and even worse, useless -- click for them. It's worse than a poor navigation system in that regard. Some visitors will even leave and stop coming to your site if they are presented with a splash page. Not good.

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

Expressed another way, a splash page is one more step they have to take for you to make a sale.

The Only Exception

Design companies, for your own sites only, you're excused. Well, sort of. We still really ju

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

st want to know about you, and more importantly, what you can do for us. Show us how you will portray us with elegance, simplicity and professionalism by showing us these same things in your self-portrayal.

If you can pull it off t

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

hough, at least take a few steps to be considerate. This article has some ideas as to how to improve splash pages (towards the bottom) for those of you in t

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

is very small minority.

Conclusion

If you're looking at getting a website or changing your existing website, it's in your own best interest to just say no to splash pages.

Designers, next time you're asked

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

about doing a splash page, I know it's a few extra bucks in your pocket, but are you really that hard up? Take the high road and advise your customers as to the pros and cons of splash pages. Let them make an informed decision, and he

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

lp them improve their website performance. A more successful customer who you helped to become more successful is going to be a better return for you in the long run than the extra few bucks you make on that fancy splash page guaranteed

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/84268/diggit-Just-Say-No-to-Splash-Pages.html">Just Say No to Splash Pages</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/84268/diggit-Just-Say-No-to-Splash-Pages.html]Just Say No to Splash Pages[/url]

A dozen people sit around a table, drinking coffee and talking passionately. Some are in suits, some in work shirts. This diverse group includes a real estate developer, printer, restaurant consultant, attorney, roofer, graphic artist, and a distributor of industrial supplies. What are they talking about? And what brings them together—like clockwork—one morning each month?

Do you remember when you first heard about Google? There was no giant marketing campaign, no big media blitz to celebrate the launch. Just lots of word of mouth from people who knew about the site, had tried it and had been blown away by its ability to bring up accurate search results.

Tags

Links

Digg It - Just Say No to Splash Pages

Related Articles: