Flash and the Search Engines - Update!

For as long as Flash has been around, trying to have a website built using this technology be seen in the search engines has been a tremendously difficult if not impossible task. The search engines have had no way of reading any of the text or links within a Flash movie and therefore have found little content when going to these sites. That is until now!

Adobe announced last week it that it is working very closely with both Google and Yahoo! to figure out a way to make their product more search engine friendly. It will probably be a while before we see any major changes in the way of listings, but it certainly does create some excitement. Flash websites being indexed is a major step and one that will help industries known for using Flash such as the music and entertainment industry.

There is a lot of speculation as to what they will be able to make open to the search engines, how they will link to specific areas of a movie, how much will they rely on certain tags or coding, etc. Until Google, Yahoo! and Adobe hash out all the details, all of this will remain speculation for now.

So should I start building my all Flash website?
Even with this new development, we hold strong it saying that Flash is a very useful and powerful application when used for the application. A website that is trying to sell hardware with very spec heavy information should probably stick with HTML/ASP/PHP, etc. Using Flash for banners to promote a certain product or service is always great.

When we decide if Flash is right for a website we usually look at two factors: 1) What industry is the website being built for? 2) What is the goal of the website? The answers to these two questions will typically tell us if Flash would be appropriate or not.

Remember: Always keep the end user in mind; after all they could be your client one day!

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Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization