Fine-Tuning ‘Flash’: Part 4 of 10 Reasons Why Your Web Site Doesn’t Rank

By Barry Hurd

RISMEDIA, July 3, 2007—Our fourth installment in this series looks at how Flash can muck up search engine optimization.

As individual users of the Web, we all have sites that catch our eye or have an amazing visual presentation. Typically the most enthralling type of presentation is Flash based- where complex information is either streamed into your browser or downloaded before you can watch it.

While this may entertain us or even inspire our creative minds, the robotic world of search engines doesn’t like waiting for very basic and fundamental reasons:

·         Flash animation requires you to download or stream the information into your browser. Search engines simply don’t wait for this. In the literal blink of an eye they have captured all of your site’s information and disappear back into cyberspace. (Imagine you have 100,000 sites a minute that you have to index; waiting for each site really isn’t an option!)
·         The duty of the search engine is to scan for relevant content and index it appropriately. In most cases, Flash code cannot be properly scanned by the search engine. It is comparable to handing a human librarian a book that has been gift wrapped and telling them to “trust you” on the label placed on the outside. Due to unscrupulous companies, the search engines have become very weary of judging the contents of a book by an unknown cover.
·         Flash supports code that is also often invisible to the search engine. This could just be simple text, but it also means that there may be malicious intent that they cannot see. While contextual information is important to search results, the major players in search engine technology are taking more pro-active responses to viruses and spyware technology.

The solution is pretty easy:

·         Try to avoid Flash just for a personal need to be “snazzy”
·         If you need Flash, work with a designer who understands the ramification of large Flash files or streaming content so that they can minimize the negative effects and maximize your benefits.
·         Look at the information you are presenting and are asking your visitors to interact with. Ask yourself if there is a textual way of relaying the information, perhaps through written articles or a step-by-step guide.

It is important to realize that Flash is just a delivery method and a basic tool. It is not your message. If your purpose is to amaze someone with eye-popping animation, Flash may be for you. If your purpose is to attract and educate visitors, Flash may be a tool best left to trendy Web design firms.

Barry Hurd is president of Social Media Systems, an online marketing and advertising consultant group working with search engine marketing and leveraging social media communities. He has over 15 years of entrepreneurial Internet and online marketing experience. As an author and prolific blogger, he has reached online audiences around the world. Since the mid nineties, Barry has been involved in numerous efforts to bring forth technical innovation through online business models. Past projects have included Nike, REI, TMP Worldwide, Monster.com, Verizon Superpages, Intuit, and RISMedia.

For more information, visit www.socialmediasystems.com.

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