SEO Myths #3

Google can read inside Flash, so an all Flash site is fine

While Google can read inside Flash files and index their contents, it's still difficult to make the Flash file popular compared to a site showing HTML. If your Flash site is a game or small application, it's not much of a problem, but if you are serving various pages of text through Flash, things are more problematic.

Part of the problem is that all of the textual content in the Flash file is indexed as if it is on one page, rather than individual pages. This means it can be difficult to get a Flash site ranking for one particular thing, as all of the content is diluted in to one blob, rather than being taken as distinct pages, focused around a distinct theme.

To get a Flash site to rank well in the search results, the best advice is:

  1. Break the underlying site into several pages
  2. On each page have a <div> containing in HTML the textual content from the relevant part of the Flash file, including links to the other pages
  3. Use a Javascript method like SWFObject to load in the Flash and replace the content in the <div>
  4. Use variables when loading and within the Flash file to show the most relevant part of the Flash file when the page is loaded

Using these steps, you can ensure your human visitors who have Flash installed in their browser see the richer Flash content, with the most relevant part loaded in - so if they hit the home page, they see the start of the Flash site. But if they hit your Contact page from a search, the Flash will just show the Contact information.

You also satisfy anyone who doesn't use Flash for some reason - for instance with a screen reader that doesn't understand it or because of corporate policy - as well as making sure the search engines can direct people to the content they're searching for easily.


More SEO Myths

Myth 1: As long as the key phrases are in the Meta tags, the search engines will rank us well

Myth 2: You need to submit your site to search engines regularly

Myth 3: Google can read inside Flash, so an all Flash site is fine

Myth 4: I can just put white text on a white background and it'll be fine

Myth 5: If your website validates, Google boosts it up

Myth 6: It's not worth using AJAX, because it can't be spidered by search engines

Myth 7: Just put these words on your page loads of times and it'll do really well in Google

Myth 8: All I have to do is swap links with other sites for six months and I'll be at the top of Google

Myth 9: KEIs tell me all I need to know about selecting key phrases

Myth 10: Increasing traffic to a site will automatically increase its profitability