seo issues
Dispels myths SEO: Flash
By now, everyone has visited a website that uses Flash multimedia design. Since 1996, the use of Flash has grown in popularity due to its ability to add animation and interactivity to websites.
More recently, Flash has become an essential component in the distribution prolific population intrusive "ups," or web-based ads. Flash also gives designers the ability to integrate video web pages, and this has led many in the Web 2.0 space to use Flash to develop Internet applications. Many companies, including mine, based in Denver Fusionbox, offering streaming Flash Video Solutions to customers who need online video.
And while the inclusion of Flash on Web sites undoubtedly enriches the user experience that make it much "remarkable" engine optimizers Search (SEO) have been cautious with the use of Flash for the fact that supposedly non-indexable by search engines. Keyword here: supposedly.
As we all know, the search engine game changes daily. If it stayed the same, is not called a game. The inherent beauty of all is that nobody knows everything. Instead, all players who only know something, and we are practicing what we try to learn more to catch up with all the developments taking place. A development such as the evolution of Flash and the impact it has had on the science of search.
At the time, no Flash files indexable by engines search because the contents were digital hidden from the eyes of the spider. The consequences of this fact were terrible from the standpoint of SEO. It was no secret. Invisible content did not increase the search engine rank or position. In any case, it considered quality sites back because he was blind to Google content is within Flash files, mistakenly convinced that there was no content at all.
However, many web designers stuck to Flash (although of our SEO driven reasons) after falling in love with the charm of its interactivity and the ability to design attractive offering.
In those days, designers face a difficult choice. Give up on Flash in order to achieve better search engine rankings, or to preserve the design and view rankings site stagnate or plummet. Flash then became a visually stunning application that was literally empty below the surface, until now that is.
Today, Flash has changed dramatically from what once was. The choice of designers who were affected are now extinct. Macromedia, the company responsible the creation of Flash, now offers a product known as the Flash Search Engine SDK (Software Development Kit) that includes an application called "swf2html. This application extracts links and text in Flash files (. SWF), return data in HTML format. This allows Google and other search engines to "see" Flash content that was previously invisible.
Even with this development, the extracted text is not something that appeals to artistic sensibilities. However, despite its unattractive appearance and often distorted, this text represents a valuable content that facilitates search engine optimization.
I found a great comparison of a Flash file and HTML text extracted, when researching this article, and have included links below to you can see for yourself how this works.
Flash File Example
Example of extracted text
Having seen this example, you are wondering, "How do I know if my Flash content visible to search engines?" Luckily for you, there a simple test that can show how much of the text in your Flash presentation can be extracted from Google's bots.
Begin by performing a search accurate "(bound inside the quotes) using the filetype operator Flash (. SWF) into a piece of text at the top of the HTML output generated by the tool from Macromedia. Then perform the same test against the text in the center and at the bottom, comparing the results to see exactly how much of its content is visible to Google.
Another form of this problem has been alleviated is by using Flash CS3. Users can publish Flash CS3 with meta tags (meta descriptions, keywords, and more) they are then able to index Flash content every film. Links are also indexable, from an SEO standpoint, which is great news.
Moreover, with the application of XML and other languages of external scripts (PHP and others) now can run Flash web sites even faster than their counterparts in charge graphics.
We have seen that although the popular conception that there is still Flash content can not be properly indexed by search engines, the problem is not yet fully resolved. Rather, it has only been partially alleviated.
You still have to be aware of a problem could arise in Flash presentations using dynamic content retrieved from a database, XML file or related source generated through user input. This content type is not part of the XML file and therefore is not indexable by Google and other search engines.
Caution should also be exercised in the case certain types of movement in which the Flash movie creates a product that contains extracts duplicate content. Another issue of SEO to avoid.
Armed with this knowledge, you can now start to test your Flash presentations to index and search engine friendliness. However, maintaining these unresolved issues in the mind or you can hurt your web positioning more than help it.
In conclusion, many of you are probably wondering what the future of Flash has in store. We anticipate Flash to become the leading supplier of interface presentation on handheld devices.
Numerous sources claim that the parent company of Adobe (Macromedia) is aggressively pursuing the sellers of mobile phones and PDAs, with the hope of creating alliances that allow them to implement "Flash Lite "as the user interface in such products.
Interestingly, the next version of Flash will have two new features designed to ensure the online advertising noticed.
The first will be necessary for users to see a notice (in full) before watching the main video, which could make video online user sites much less easy if you are obliged to watch an ad in its entirety.
The second feature is the addition DRM, which give companies the option and ability to link an advertisement with content, essentially to ensure that both are played and are not modified.
As you can see the evolution of Flash changed the online marketing space and will continue to do so. All indications seem to suggest that the influence of the main Flash will transform the search domain, facilitating the development of Web-based custom software and rich applications, and create user-brand interaction at a level never before seen online.
We as internet marketers should always be "in" in the list to connect with customers across multiple platforms in terms, not ours. As video becomes more and more the preferred method and the focal point of the web-based strategy distribution of marketing messages, we must continue to "play" the game and stay one step ahead of trends. Giving customers the opportunity to choose for you same position as potential consumers of online media (especially video) and spend their time online.
The world becomes more and more digital place every day, and as the Internet evolves new opportunities to reach and influence consumers are presented. Just make sure that is ready when those opportunities present themselves, or have missed the boat entirely.
About the Author
Nick Yorchak is an SEO expert and Search Engine Marketing Specialist at Fusionbox, a full-service Denver Internet marketing, web design, and web development company. He can be reached at his Fusionbox email or at (720)956-1083.
