If you've been worried about search optimizing your website's Flash content, things are definitely better these days. Google's improved its ability to index Flash-based content over the last couple years, and today Google can see and index textual content from SWF files. This includes anything from menu buttons to self-contained Flash pages. Text that is visible to a user can be indexed by Google.
Even better, Google can use content in Flash to generate snippets and match keywords in search strings. And Google has improved how it handles Javascript, which improves its ability to recognize and index content on sites that use Javascript to embed Flash content. Google has also improved its video indexing technology.
So No More Problems with Flash?
I've never liked Flash. Maybe it's the way Flash is used on most sites. Maybe it's my admittedly fanatical devotion to Apple products. And although I have to admire the way some developers have used Flash to create unique sites and products, I rarely use or recommend its use on websites. And even with the improvements in search, my opinion has not changed.
Some Problems Remain
Even with all of Google's advancements in recognizing and indexing Flash content, there are still some drawbacks for online content. Some of the problems include:
- Flash websites require the user to load a plug-in. Seems like a little thing and we might expect everyone to already have Flash players installed. But that is not true and the requirement puts a roadblock between you and your site's visitors.
- Flash can result in bloated code and slow performance. This creates sites that are not as user-friendly as they should be.
- iPhone and iPad users cannot access Flash content at all. Portable devices already represent a significant portion of the Internet marketplace. Can you afford to ignore a large part of this growing segment?
- SEO remains a tricky proposition. Lack of unique URLs, page titles, link anchor text -- some of the most important SEO on-page factors -- makes Flash content more difficult to optimize. And Flash websites and other Flash content will continue to suffer from inefficient search indexing and ranking.
- Google is focused on speeding up the Web and Flash is still the slowpoke in cyberspace. And neither Google nor Adobe is sharing any information about how Flash content is indexed.
HTML5 to the Rescue?
Perhaps I'm being overly dramatic. I don't think HTML5 represents the end of Flash. I believe in using the right tool for the job and Flash will continue to be the right tool for many jobs. But HTML5 may be a better solution for taking websites in the right direction:
- Leaner, faster code.
- Better and easier on-page search optimization.
- Availability across all platforms and devices, including the rapidly growing portable devices segment.
A Final Word about Flash-y Websites
Nothing makes me cringe more than landing on a Web page filled with unnecessary Flash-based menus, banners, sounds, and gimmicks. Flash is far too often used in a way that reduces usability, distracts from the message and interferes with the relationship a website should be working to build with site visitors.
If Flash is the only way to deliver something that your site visitors need and that will help you build that important relationship, then it's the right tool and use it knowing search is much improved.
Otherwise, you're probably better off skipping it -- you really don't need Flash on your site.
