A “splash page”, also called an intro page, is a web page that displays some form of introduction or Flash animation that a visitor must click (or wait) in order to proceed to your actual website.

If you expect people to do business with you, don’t waste their time — and there exists not a more flagrant demonstration of pointlessness than demanding your visitors click a button before they can enter your website.

If you want proof, check the abandonment rate in your website statistics package of your beautiful splash page. If it is any number higher than 0%, you’ve needlessly lost potential customers.