So, Flash and SEO aren’t a match made in heaven. But despite the fact that crawlers aren’t the biggest fans of Flash content, there are cases when an invisible Flash-driven website can be turned into a proper spider-readable one.
Before we get into that, let’s have a look at the basic rules of Flash website optimization first:
One, don’t expect it to be perfect. Spiders can’t read the insides of a Flash file without assistance, and even with assistance, don’t expect them to crawl and index all your Flash content.
Two, don’t expect it to be all-Flash. Flash content won’t be included in search results or only partially indexed, so if you care about SEO, building a site entirely in Flash is a decision you’re gonna regret later.
Optimizing Flash Websites
Search engines are capable of indexing content in a Flash-based website only if the site is properly set up for SEO. To create the right balance when it comes to using Flash and implementing SEO for Flash, consider these tips:
- Don’t use Flash as the navigation. Although the more common mistake is to use images to build site navigation, using Flash for this purpose is unacceptable as well. Creating navigation links in text is the only SEO-approved way.
- Use Flash for design elements and less-important content, and use HTML for the most important page elements.
- Embed Flash files into HTML pages.
- Don’t include an entire site in one Flash file. Instead, break the content into multiple Flash files with different HTML pages.
- Use descriptive page titles and meta descriptions. Meta tags are undeniably important if your website relies heavily on Flash.
