But as you probably know, Google has always been the first to index different types of content: PDF files, .doc files, etc. Google has also made amazing inroads in being able to index dynamic content.

And now they’re the first major search engine to index Flash – another significant step forward in the SEO industry. So why has Flash presented such problems in the past?

Flash and SEO

With a Flash movie as the main page of a site, the Web site owner is giving up the crucial text necessary to prove to the search engines that the main page is about a particular topic. Without that text, the search engines have nothing to index. Therefore, the main page rarely does well in the rankings, unless off-page factors such as link popularity or link reputation are sufficient to carry the page on their own.

In the past, legitimate work arounds were hard to implement. This made things extremely difficult for businesses who wanted to create a rich user experience with a Flash home page, such as Web design firms, photography studios, graphic design firms, and so forth. So, these businesses often sacrificed rankings for the user experience, since they could rarely have both while still following all of the guidelines set forth by the search engines.

The guy who Knows It All

While exploring the Net searching for ways to improve our customers’ ranks in search engines I came across an interview with Greg Drezner, a SEO expert who made some amazing discoveries in this subject while trying to promote a replica watches website. Here is a part of the interview, I’m sure you will find it as exciting as I did.

Question:

Greg, how do we know that Google is now indexing the contents of Flash files? Is there a way that we can search the index just for Flash?

Greg Drezner:

Yes. You can enter your search term in Google, and along with that search term, use the filetype operator and restrict your search to the file extension ג€œ.swfג€. This will search for your search term only in Flash files. You should see [FLASH] just before each listing in the results page that is a Flash document.

Question:

How much of your Flash movie does Google see? In other words, how deep into the Flash file does the spider go?

Greg Drezner:

In my experience testing the Macromedia tool, I have found that Google sees all the text that the tool can extract including all links . . . everything from top to bottom.

Question:

What about Flash banners? Will Google also index the contents of Flash banners?

Greg Drezner:

Yes. Any Flash presentation, whether full-page or banner size, can be indexed by Google.

I know more than a few people who are now relieved that their flash site is indexed.

However there are even more powerful ways to SEO your Flash websites.

Ask us what we can do for your Flash website via our contact page.

While going through the first steps of designing a new website, or redesigning an existing one, it is extremely important to give some weight into Information Architecture. Websites who are designed from scratch with user accessibility in mind, tend to receive more love from SE, and of course, from the visitors themselves.
A Designer need to know to whom the website is intended for, and then with the help of some research, to create a system which is intuitive and comfortable for visitors.

Since the great importance of this matter, it is not to be taken lightly, and one should consider outsourcing its’ Information Architecture, Design and Organization.
Information Architecture done correctly, sometimes planned weeks before the first line of HTML ever written, can make all the difference between a site that gets 3-4 hits per day to a high ranking website with hundreds of visits, leads and a high conversion rate.

You’d be amazed to discover that websites’ owners often forget their visitors (or maybe you won’t). They ask the designer to work on the site until it looks great on their 9″ black & green computer screen; even if it means that the site will not be accessible to the majority of their users (I’m speaking from experience that really happened!).So first of all, if you are still using one of these old 9″ black & green computer screens ג€“ don’t be so cheap! Buy a normal one. 19″ would be nice but the minimum is really just 17″.
Second, and this tip is important in many aspects in life: If you already invest your money and hire a professional to design your website or blog, listen to what they have to say. Trust their experienced advices & instincts. Do not hire someone you don’t trust to begin with, or you will waste a lot of time hesitating before you actually get any work done. When you do feel you hired the right person (me perhaps?) make sure to incorporate your intimate knowledge of your business with your designers’ skills, talent and experience.
That should help the designer to make the best website they can for you and get you the best value for you money.