Comments on: Search Engine Optimisation for Flash Websites

By: polyGeek

polyGeek — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:47:06 +0000

There is good news coming soon. Adobe has delivered a version of the Flash Player to Yahoo and Google that they can use to index Flash websites just as any other site – it also reads dynamic data. This will bring down the last remaining barrier to Flex/Flash based websites.

I have created a blog – Fleximagically.com – that puts a Flex interface on a WordPress backend. ( Note: Flex is generally used to make Flash applications/RIAs. ) I’m just waiting for Google and Yahoo to actually set their bots free with that new Flash Player and get my site content indexed. When that happens I’ll use the blog to research and communicate my findings on Flash SEO.

By: Flash

Flash — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:35:31 +0000

The best deal to optimize flash website thats to use noscript tag and pasting there all your cotent.
As well you should monitor your visitors by google analytics. Its possible you should just insert a simple code like:
on(release)
{
getURL(“javascript:urchinTracker(‘page1/page2′);”);
}
I think you get the point.

By: John

John — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 05:01:13 +0000

I did some research on this not too long ago and posted on the Macromedia forums on this topic to get feedback. The Macromedia SDK can read text in Flash and it does it quite well but not perfectly, although it may have trouble with animated text and definately stay away from dynamic Flash text if SEO is important. Sadly dynamically displayed text in Flash doesn’t even register. I did find a site that displayed the results of the Macromedia SDK and I was impressed at how much it was able to read. Sorry I don’t have the site address right now.

I haven’t heard of many people hating Flash just poorly constructed sites useing Flash (Flash abuse). Flash has it’s uses and can provide some great media rich experiences. There are plenty of website owners who don’t care about SEO and for them Flash maybe ideal. But if search rankings are important than obviously a full Flash site is a poor choice.

By: Yaro

Yaro — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:30:32 +0000

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for dropping by and clarifying your point. I think it’s pretty clear now, we both don’t recommend the CSS technique

By: Jennifer E. Sullivan

Jennifer E. Sullivan — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:35:04 +0000

Hi Yaro. I want to say thanks for your comments on my article. Just to clarify for folks that didn’t actually read the article: I do not recommend the CSS technique. It sounds like in point #4 that this is what I said: Use CSS Layers, when in fact, I highly suggest staying away from that. Just wanted to clarify

By: Benjamin Riches

Benjamin Riches — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 10:53:21 +0000

Ok, will do

By: Yaro

Yaro — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 04:38:29 +0000

Ben I suggest you use the search function on my blog and searh for “PageRank” and read some of the articles to get a better understanding of it.

By: Benjamin Riches

Benjamin Riches — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 11:27:06 +0000

Interesting point Yaro. I think flash can enhance some characteristics of a website, but if it comes to websites offering advice, such as this website, I don’t really see a place for flash as it’s the content that matters. Thanks for taking on board my ‘open in new window’ link suggestion – feels much better now! May I just ask, I’m a little confused as to what you mean by Page Rank
– which is better PR 2 or PR 1?

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 02:51:47 +0000

Have to agree … Flash websites do not work for me. It’s been proven for quite a while now that search engines hate them, users are not far behind.

Only reason I would use Flash is for a how-to video or tutorial but never on my main page … and never as a splash page. And it’s a given that if you must use Flash, then you really have to provide a bypass link.

It’s very hard to justify using Flash ( for vanity’s sake) at all if you’re really serious about getting constant visitors to your site/blog.

By: Marketing Results

Marketing Results — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 00:55:09 +0000

Great post Yaro. This really touched a nerve with me.

Flash is crappy for Search Engines and it **doesn’t sell**. I *particularly* despise “Vanity Flash” headers on website that scroll meaningless marketese across the screen.

A while a guy contacted me and asked me to take a look at his site. He had spent $15K on a, I have to admit, beautiful looking site that had not generated one single enquiry for his business. Ouch!

As you mention in the article though, the odd flash movie or demo can be pretty cool. Camtasia is also good for video demos.

By: Alexander Barbara

Alexander Barbara — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 00:33:29 +0000

Aren’t flash web sites just inconvenient? While they seem cool for the designer, I think more often than not they are simply inconvenient and tend to have unusual interfaces.

My personal experience has been that content and links– and lots of both– are the key.