Loading ...If you’ve got a site built entirely in Flash, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you in regards to search engine optimisation. Although Flash is a fairly far-spread technology, not everyone can view it. Some internet users have it turned off on their machines. More importantly, the search engines have a history of not being able to read Flash.
The problem with Flash has been around for a while. The search engines have all made moves toward reading different technologies over the years, but the plain fact is that unless your content is embedded in regular code, you can’t guarantee that the search engine spiders are going to read it the way you want to. This is particularly true of Flash.
Flash to search engines is much like giving a DVD to someone who doesn’t own a DVD player. All the amazing stunt action that Hollywood can produce is absolutely useless if the person can’t access the technology.
The worst thing is, there are thousands upon thousands of sites out there built entirely in Flash. There was a craze for it a few years ago, and it hasn’t completely died down in web design circles. This has left way too many websites with a perfect looking site that the search engines have a lot of difficulty reading. You can talk to us at SEO Consult Australia about search engines and technology.
When you have a Flash site you can either try to compensate for it with your SEO plan, or you can scrap it and start again. To go back to our DVD analogy, you can spend hours trying to explain to your friend exactly what happens in the movie, perhaps calling on other friends to help you demonstrate. Or you can go back to the store and just buy them the book.
It’s understandable that most site owners are reluctant to throw away their Flash site and start over again. This seems like a stupid move when it is possible to optimise for Flash. The slightly emotional attachment to an existing site, however, can blind companies to the fact that it will take far more work on their Flash-based site to get the rankings they want than simply to strip the content out and start all over again.
Your options for optimising Flash are slightly limited. A good link profile is essential, and this can prove costly. Off-page search engine optimisation will have to do most of the work, as your pages can’t be used in the same way as other websites. You also need to provide some form of your content that the search engines are guaranteed to be able to read, so you’ll have to set up an HTML section that provides them with your content. This is essentially doubling your work every time you make a change on your site.
Essentially, sticking to your Flash website is going to cause a lot of hard work. No matter what you do, it will never be as good as an SEO-specific site. You need to judge whether it’s worth it.
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Tags: content, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, SEO Consult, spiders
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