Flash SEO | Optimisation

“Is it possible to optimise  Flash for search engines” This is a question we get regularly and the plain and simple answer is no.

Search engines have no way of reading a compiled Flash SWF.  Despite Google’s announcing it had got “better at reading Flash” in reality we have no evidence of this at all.

There are however techniques to overcome this i.e. using CSS to offset text off the viewable page so it cannot be seen by your visitor but can be read by search engines.  This currently does not cause “hidden text” issues as the search engine has no idea that the content cannot be read.  But from an elegance point of view and for the extra work it involves it is not really an answer.

Flash is fine, I love it personally, but unless it is being used as a small component for 3d rendering or for advanced animation it has no role to play in commercial websites.

We have converted a lot of Flash requirements (whizzy stuff) for both new and existing websites into search engine friendly components.  We use JavaScript to create screen shows that uses standard HTML and CSS.

JavaScript validates to W3C standards which ensures it works across all platforms (including mobile) and browser technologies.  As we are using standard HTML and CSS driven by JavaScript search engines are able to index the content fully.

So if you have a Flash website or key components that need to be search engine friendly contact us and we will give you specific guidance.