SEO School: Flash. To use or not to use?
Okay, with this title I understand that I’ve kind of opened up a can of worms. It’s an issue that causes endless arguments between internet professionals, specifically between SEOs and web designers. Generally the web designers love it because it allows them to channel their muse and get creative in all sorts of exciting new ways, SEOS often hate it as it is very hard for the Google bots to index it properly which makes onsite SEO difficult.
Essentially they’re both right. Sorry to go for the cop out but it’s true. Flash images are a great way to add frills to a website – it doesn’t take a marketing degree to tell that prettiness of a website has a real impact on ROI. On the other hand, use it too much and you make life difficult for the Google spiders, the little guys you really should be rolling out the red carpet for.
Basically, there are a few rules to be aware of when using it and, helpful lady that I am, I’ve decided to outline them for you.
1.The golden rule is use sparingly and as illustration. I’m talking images, diagrams, etc. Do not, do not, do not, build your site solely in flash, it will make your SEO’s life hell and make it very difficult for you to rank properly
2.Be aware of the impact on load time. Whilst a simple little flash box shouldn’t affect things too badly, big, complicated flash videos are going to slow load times considerably. Remember how fickle internet searchers are and really think carefully about whether or not your flash video is worth risking their wrath. Remember, the back button is only ever a click away
3.Don’t do it in Flash if it could be done another way. This generally applies to people using flash boxes to represent text as part of a static picture. This is a huge waste of technology, just use something like JQuery – you’ll get the same results and Google will understand it perfectly. Basically only use Flash if you absolutely must have a moving image
4.Finally, don’t use load videos. At all. I know, I know, it looked great on your iMac, your ‘brand consultant’ loved it, but let’s face it, internet searchers have an attention span roughly equivalent to a hyperactive six year-old’s and often don’t have the patience to sit through your fifteen second masterpiece before they get the information they’re looking for.
Hope that’s helpful guys.
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