There's no doubt that Flash is interesting and visually stimulating, but when it comes to search engine optimization, it can kill your site. What's the point of having a great looking site if no one can find it? If you like the look of Flash there needs to be a compromise to allow the search engines to index your site correctly.
As Lorelle VanFossen from the Blog Herald points out, "Search engines don’t care about what your site looks like. It’s blind." Spiders need text to read in order to understand what your site is about and Flash's underlying code is unreadable to the search engines.
You still have options if you must use Flash. It can be used sparingly to visually enhance your site but the main focus should be on the text (including your keywords and phrases) and navigation. Link to interior pages as often as possible within the text to help guide the spiders through your site. A sitemap is another good feature to include.
Another option is to build an alternate HTML only version of the site. It's extra work, but worth it not only for users who will choose it based on the speed of their computers, but also for the search engine spiders who will have an easier time crawling the site.
If you would like to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, please call us at 410-727-7392.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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