Flash sites are a pain to optimize for search engines. To a spider they will appear as a single page site - just the home page and nothing more. That means that all the usual good practices of building content, using keyword phrases and carefully planning internal linking are out the window.
Does that mean that Flash sites have to sit of the ocean floor of search engine results? Not a bit of it - an effective linking strategy can be the cornerstone of an optimization campaign for a Flash site.
There are two important factors in search engines optimization - on-the-page factors and off-the-page factors. The first is about the content you have on your own site, the second the quality of inbound links and the linking text that is used on those links.
With a Flash site, you’ve effectively discounted the on-the-page factors. As Dan Thies of SEO Research Labs, says, “Search engines follow hyperlinks, and they index hypertext. Flash sites don’t offer either in a format that search engines can understand. Even the search engines that try to index Flash sites have not demonstrated the ability to consistently access all of the site’s content.”
Flash sites can perform well on search engines
Charlie Abbott of http://www.bestflashanimationsite.com has reviewed over 2,000 Flash websites and says that despite the difficulties Flash sites can perform well on search engines.
Abbott gives some concrete examples: try a search on Google for ‘digital studios’ and you’ll find a Flash site, http://www.blitzds.com at #2 from over three million results: try ‘dynamic flash’ and you’ll find http://www.flash-db.com comes #1 on Google from over 2 million results, #2 on MSN search, #3 on Inktomi Pure search and Yahoo.
Both of these have good inbound links on Goggle - Flash-db.com has about 1,666 inbound links and Blitzds.com about 222. Both make good use of keyword phrases in their linking text.
So it is possible, but according to Abbott it depends on what you want to do. “I get the feeling a lot of the outstanding Flash sites are not actively seeking to rank well for keywords other than their company or domain name.”
But if you do want your Flash site to rank high on search engines here are the five steps you should take.
1. Ask - is Flash the most appropriate tool for your purpose?
This may be a terrible question to start with but why did you use Flash in the first place. Was it because you or the designer thought it was cool or was it because Flash really was the best tool for the job you had in mind? If it was the former, then you’ve got to take a long hard look at what you’re doing and decide whether you should replace or augment your Flash site in some way.
2. Make your site as search engine friendly as possible
If Flash really is the best tool for your purposes, do what you can to maximize its impact on search engines. You can do this by at least using keyword phrases in the title and description tags. Then consider creating an HTML version of the site, specifically for search engines. You can find a fuller discussion of your options on the WebmasterWorld discussion forum.
3. Actively seek out links
When you’ve got the basics covered, you can start to actively seek out links.
- “Focus on the value that you offer. Does your Flash site entertain, inform or create a special interactive experience? Highlight these elements in your link requests.
- “Think carefully about your target markets and where they spend their time online. Identify portals, directories, ezines and blogs that serve these markets. Compile a broad list of link targets.
- “Be ambitious and start with the most important link targets. If you get links from the top targets, other sites will be more likely to link to you.
4. Regularly update your material
Flash content management systems are now widely available for example from Ego7.com. While this will not solve the search engine problem, it makes your material current. The more current your material, the more likely other sites will be to link to you.
5. Consider running a blog in parallel
A Flash content management system may be beyond your budget so consider setting up a blog in parallel to your own site. Blogs are incredibly search engine friendly and inexpensive to set up but of course you do need to have a supply of fresh content. Link to your Flash site from your blog and use your blog to attract prospects. This could be an ideal partnership.
Link building should be an integral part of promoting any Flash site. Rather than struggling with search engine workarounds, concentrate on building a network of quality inbound links - the potential is virtually limitless.
