FLASH - can it work for SEO?

[AustSS]

I have built a flash site, primarily because I like the flash interface myself as a user and i would hope the users of my site like flash also.

however i have read that Flash is no good for SEO. Is this correct?

[umesh]

Hello,
This is correct that flash website is not good for SEO as flash file is not crawl by SERPs that is a reason webmasters are not preferring a flash based website.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by umesh

Hello,
This is correct that flash website is not good for SEO as flash file is not crawl by SERPs that is a reason webmasters are not preferring a flash based website.

This is what I've heard as well.. I've noticed webpages using flash less and less these days

[Rebound]

u know, google has actually been able to index text content and follow links inside Flash for years. Trouble is, even with the recent improvements, Google and the other search engines still need a significant amount of hand-holding to even do a half-decent job of indexing websites that are built in Flash.
so we can't just say it doedn't work ,just need more effort
good luck

[Floobynooby]

Why not build a duplicate site with the images in flash and the rest in html text, that way you have the best of both worlds.

[earnest]

Originally Posted by AustSS

however i have read that Flash is no good for SEO. Is this correct?

It used to be true, but no longer is.

Here're the basics http://www.google.com/support/webmas...n&answer=72746, enjoy.

[e_marketing_india]

Search engines do not hate flash, but they are not able to crawl content within FLASH.

However, Google can crawl everything within your flash file.

It includes

a) Text
b) External Links

However, it cannot crawl your flash content if you are using some really advance actionscripting and complex Flash designing.

[govindseo]

yaa i also think flash websites is not SEO friendly so try to avoid using of flash!!!

[zaizaices8]

Originally Posted by umesh

Hello,
This is correct that flash website is not good for SEO as flash file is not crawl by SERPs that is a reason webmasters are not preferring a flash based website.

Actually, Google can now index a Flash website. There are many articles that will support my answer:
http://www.seobook.com/archives/001457.shtml
http://www.timnash.co.uk/02/2008/swf-seo/
http://www.crearecommunications.co.u...od-or-bad.html

Originally Posted by Floobynooby

Why not build a duplicate site with the images in flash and the rest in html text, that way you have the best of both worlds.

That's duplicate content and that's one in Google's list of no no's

[t-wins]

Originally Posted by AustSS

however i have read that Flash is no good for SEO. Is this correct?

By all means, avoid flash site. You may like it and you may find it easy to build a site, but most users don't like flash interface. Search engines can understand some flash, but you are at the mercy of how much they understand your site. Between a flash and html site, it is much easier to seo the html site.

[zaizaices8]

Originally Posted by t-wins

You may like it and you may find it easy to build a site, but most users don't like flash interface.

I like flash sites... I think those who dislikes flash sites are the ones who have a little patience. Flash sites are really heavy and loading time takes forever especially to those who only have dialup connection.

Read this article for those who wants Flash websites and still want to rank in SE's: http://www.marketingfind.com/article..._rankings.html

The big myth is that Flash sites can not get listed in the search engines. The reality is the amount of time and effort it takes to develop a flash site so it will get listed in the search engines is well worth it. With the cost per click increasing the ability to maintain a high ranking and top presence for your group of keywords will lower your cost per click and increase your overall traffic and visibility.

[w3bmaster]

SEO and FLASH is not in a good relationship

I prefer clean html php sites ...

[bermuda]

Flash sites do get indexed and listed in the search engines but the main point noted by SEO experts is that since Google in its webmasters guidelines section has clearly stated that nothing can replace the text parts in terms of crawling of the sites, so trying to add simple text based phrases and lines to the pages is better than using animations.

[htmlbasictutor]

Search Engine Friendly Flash (right here on v7n)

[mrbillcanada]

some options: have an html link on the home page leading to the textual content of your internal pages or have the website page split between flash and textual content. If your goal is for the visitor to experience a 'flash experience' just put the textual content below the fold.

[marcbarak]

Overall Flash is a big negative but Google announced last year that they were developing methods to index Flash in conjunction with Adobe so may later but for now far from a plus

[marina]

Yes,flash is not a search-engine-frinedly format,after all,the infomation can not be read by search engines, at least for now.So be coutious to use flash.

[SaurabhJ]

With the new updates in the search engine, it can now crawl web pages with flash content too.This is supposed to be the part of the latest changes in the Google algorithm. I am not much aware of such changes in Yahoo and Bing.

[sGuru]

Now many search engines including google can read flash file and can include in his search easily

[zero]

Originally Posted by sGuru

Now many search engines including google can read flash file and can include in his search easily

As long as had Alt tags to read the flash file.

Originally Posted by lexdino

Flash wont increase your site's rankings in search engines, it will only make it remain as it is or even decrease it.

How about Hersheys Chocolate site?