The Truth About Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Flash Websites

About 10 years ago, Macromedia introduced ActionScript— the scripting language that accompanies Adobe Flash (the authoring tool), and made it possible for developers and designers like myself to go well beyond the creation of simple animated graphics. As Flash matured, and broadband access became more common, we began to see companies like BMW and Nike push the limits of Flash, using it almost exclusively for entire websites and web-based applications.

But as much as I admired rich-media websites like these, and as much as I loved working with Flash, I could not, in good conscience, recommend that my clients use it exclusively, because Flash files, like graphics files, were invisible to most search engines.

This paradox really bothered me, and for years, I searched for a solution.

About 4 years ago, I discovered Geoff Stearns’ FlashObject (now called SWFObject), which is an open-source Javascript library, used to embed Flash into web pages. Basically, SWFObject allows us to automatically present an HTML version (a.k.a. a “synopsis” page) of a Flash website to search engine spiders (and to those visitors who do not have the Flash Player installed). Those who have the Flash player installed, will automatically see the Flash version of your website.

It is also important to note that Google and Yahoo! are now using special versions of the Flash Player, which enables them to crawl Flash files, just like HTML pages. You can learn more about what Google is up to by following this link. You can also find more information on Adobe’s website, or better yet, buy a copy of Todd Perkins’ book called “Search Engine Optimization for Flash: Best Practices for Using Flash on the Web” for a more thorough explanation of what you can/should do.

Otherwise, keep in mind, that even when using SWFObject, you still need to follow the same best practices used for traditional SEO, for your website. Here’s a basic checklist:

• When possible, include your keywords/phrases in your domain name and URLs;
• Include your keywords/phrases in your page Title (which appears in the top of your web browser’s window);
• Include your keywords/phrases in your “Keywords” meta data;
• Include your keywords/phrases in your “Description” meta data;
• When possible, include your keywords/phrases on external/inbound pages that link to your website;
• Include your keywords/phrases in outbound text links and your “title” tags;
• Include your keywords/phrases in “alt” tags and filenames for your images;
• Include your keywords/phrases in the text of your pages (but don’t overdo it);
• Include your keywords/phrases in text headings (<H1>’s and <H2>’s);
• When possible, include your keywords/phrases in Bold/Strong text (use <strong> tag to bold text);
• When possible, include your keywords/phrases in italicized text (use <em> tag to italicize);
• Etc.

And finally, I’d like to point out that this post is not intended to be a detailed explanation or tutorial on what you should and shouldn’t do regarding your SEO efforts. And yes, there is a time and place for Flash— depending on your strategy, it may be best to avoid using Flash to such a great extent (i.e., almost exclusively) for your website.

The point is, Flash is not invisible to (all) search engines, as some still suggest. And even if it was, there are ways to easily get around the issue, as I’ve discovered with my own all-Flash website. SWFObject, has served me, and many others, quite well— thanks to Geoff Stearns and others who have contributed to its development. Note: I still prefer to use SWFObject rather than rely on Flash-friendly spiders to read my Flash files, for a number of reasons.

Tommy Oddo is a web designer and digital artist who lives in Austin, Texas. Entrepreneurs, marketers, and in-house teams hire him to make their websites and digital products more engaging and easier to use. Follow him on: Linkedin, Quora, Twitter, and Facebook. Subscribe to future articles via RSS and/or Email.