Search Engine Optimization for Full Flash Websites, Solutions to Rank Better With Search Engines
Search engine optimization for a full flash developed website has always been a challenge and often a job never taken on by search engine optimizers, because the likely hood of success is next to none. When a company is in the process of starting up a new website, the designers of the website always advise against using flash because SEO can be impossible. Since flash websites are prettier and usually the choice in the end anyway against the advise of the website designers, an SEO search engine optimization plan must still be implemented.
A full flash website is usually an entire flash movie file, embedded into one web page of the website domain. As the flash movie is navigated from one page to the next, the website's URL address never changes because it is all on only one web page.
Problems with full flash websites and search engines
A flash movie file used as an entire website can beautiful, stunning and contain lots of written content that can't be read by the search engines, thus not indexing the website to be found when someone uses a search engine. There is a lot of talk that Adobe and Google and the rest of the search engines have developed a technique to be able to get into the flash file, read the text layers and get to the written content for indexing, but it's not clear yet if it's successful. Another huge problem is that it's all on only one web page, when several pages containing plenty of written content will provide more opportunity for the indexing of quality landing pages that will be found by visitors using a search engine.
The SEO search engine solution to optimize a full flash movie website
To get around the problem is simple, build a search engine friendly, fully optimized HTML website to go with the flash website. This process has even astounded us at times with it's success. What we do is build a full sized HTML copy of the flash website that is visible in the entire window, and below it is the structured, written content to draw search engines and provide the visitor the relevant content they seek. The visitor of the website has the option to either scroll down and read the content, or, which is what they almost always do, click an 'enter' button to enter directly into the flash website. What has us most impressed with this, is how search doesn't serve up the HTML landing page in the search results, it's the actual FLASH website that is, avoiding completely the landing page all together. We did the research and know how this happens, it's completely allowed and even Google approved.
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Flash website needing SEOHere on the left is an online virtual museum written entirely in flash requiring the help of SEO. Click both images to visit the website to see how it all works. |
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Landing page of flash websiteThe website's landing page can look exactly like the flash website, or in this case a little different. By creating dozens of landing pages like this, search is sure to find you. |
Check out these stats on Google Analytics. Click to view larger image of analytics report. Today, Old Orient Museum has a page rank of 4, all of this happened in only 3 months!
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