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Internet Marketing

Flash SEO: Flash Search Engine Optimization

For a long time, Flash and search engines did not go hand in hand. Up until recently, search engines could not crawl through links in a Flash object.

Now that Adobe has released given some new technology to Google and Yahoo!, search engine crawlers can crawl Flash files.

Flash SEO is now a reality.

The Old Days of Flash

100% interactive Web sites usually include one HTML page, with an embedded Flash file which doubles as the entire website. The navigation and all "pages" of the website are located within this one Flash file.

Search engines had a couple problems with this model. The websites lack site structure, links, and unique page titles: all the things that are important to SEO.

Flash hid all the most important elements from search engine crawling, such as text, alt image tags, links, navigation structure, and more. Until recently, "Flash search engine optimization" was an oxymoron.

We had been advising clients not to include too much "searchable" content within a Flash file. We blatantly refused to create an all Flash based Web site, since, as an SEO, this was a cardinal sin.

There was no way to make the information contained in a Flash file available to search engines, which made each completely Flash website completely invisible to search engines.

Although Adobe's announcement makes crawling Flash sites possible, there are still some unanswered questions:

Does Flash SEO Mean Great Rankings for Existing Flash Websites?

NO.

You should understand that all-Flash websites that were designed before July 2008 had no reason to be search-engine friendly. Because search engines could not index their content, there was no reason to factor searchability into the design process.

Even now, best practices for Flash SEO are yet to be established. It will take some time to establish this new set of standards, but existing all-Flash websites are notoriously unfriendly to traditional SEO techniques.

Most existing all-Flash websites are a hodgepodge of links and dead-ends with no pre-determined navigation structure. Search engines HATE this type of construction; we predict that traditional SEO websites will continue to dominate search engine results pages.

Does Flash SEO Mean Prettier Websites?

Yep.

Although Flash SEO is still in its infancy, you can look forward to much prettier websites. The Flash SEO problem hindered talented designers who could have made beautiful pages with Flash, but hesitated because of the search engine impediments.

Although a completely all-Flash website is still a risky move until some Flash SEO standards are established, the ability to follow links makes Flash technology much more useful.

Will Flash SEO Improve Search Engine Results for the Average User?

Some early research has found some potentially troubling problems.

One problem is “flash bombing.” Because Google’s robots index all links in a Flash video (even the hidden ones), it is possible for deviant developers to hide hundreds of invisible links. Search engines determine rankings based heavily on links, so the opportunity for spamming is tremendous.

In the late nineties linking problems like this caused a major headache for search engines. The SERPs were filled with spam from unethical linking practices. It took a few years for Google to find a solution to the problem.

Until something is done, Google's ability to follow Flash links opens up Pandora' box for spammers.

It remains to be seen what impact Flash SEO will have on the future of search engine rankings. As a cutting edge Internet Marketing agency, we can’t wait to start experimenting.

Call 1-888-44WEBFX or contact us online today to start designing an indexable and interactive website!