Flash-based websites are notoriously difficult to index in the
search engines. Here we lay out some practical tips to help you
overcome this barrier. If implemented they are guaranteed to
help propel your flash website into a high search engine ranking
position.
Flash is the #1 way for web sites to deliver animation,
multimedia interactivity and sound. After all, Macromedia claim
(via NDP Research) that 98% of all computers connected to the
Internet have a Flash player installed. But, as owners of wholly
Flash-based web sites know, too much Flash can make it difficult
if not impossible for search engine spiders to crawl the site
and assign it a descent search engine ranking.
The reasons why Flash is so problematic to index are numerous.
Current search technology simply does not yet have the ability
to deal with issues such as the "auto re-direct" function from a
Splash page, or the capacity to judge relevance of Flash content
to a web site's registered search keywords. For owners of
Flash-based web sites though, all is not lost. Check out the
tips below to see how you can get your Flash web site ranked in
the search engines...
TIP #1 - Multiple pages are better than a single page
According to Digit Magazine, a Flash site that is built 100%
from Flash will not perform well in the search engines, even if
the animation gives the user the appearance of being moved to
different pages. Instead, it is better to develop several
separate Flash pages that can be optimized with meta tags.
TIP #2 - Mix Flash and HTML
Avoid building a site that is completely constructed in Flash,
and instead concentrate on developing Flash animations / movies
that can be inserted into HTML pages. This way, the HTML page
can be optimized with indexical content, keywords and meta tags.
TIP #3 - Use the "two site" approach
Build a Flash and HTML site, giving users the option of which
site to use on a non-Splash home page. The home page can then be
optimized with content, keywords and internal links to the HTML
site. Submit only the HTML site to the search engines.
TIP #4 - Re-direct entry pages are bad news!
Some SEO 'experts' suggest that a number of optimized HTML entry
pages containing re-directs to the Splash page will help achieve
a high search engine ranking for Flash sites. True, this could
work for a short amount of time, that is until the search
engines pick up on what you are doing. They consider such
activity tantamount to spamming the index and will penalize the
domain(s) involved.
The facts show that far from being incompatible with search
engine optimization, Flash-based web sites can be optimized for
high search engine rankings. All it requires is a little
forethought and a sensible approach to using Flash.
Don't have the money or time to make the changes to your
Flash site?
If you're sitting there thinking "how on earth am I going to do
all this on my own?" my advice is to think about establishing a
joint venture partnership to get the work done.
Joint venture partnerships are essentially business
collaborations that are formed between two or more people for
mutual financial gain. In this instance the right joint venture
partner with an appropriate level of web development skills
could make the changes to your web site for you without it
costing you anything upfront or the work becoming a drain on
your own time. In return your joint venture partner can share in
the profits created from the re-design of your site. This they
can take as payment for their work.
Finding joint venture partners is very easy. Sites like
http://www.jvbase.com have been set up especially for joint
venture partners to find each other. Simply register on these
sites (many of them are free) and begin your search! Good luck.
About the author:
Content is provided by Seb Jay on behalf of
http://www.jvbase.com
