In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> The Truth About Search Engines and Flash
High Rankings Happenings
---> Need Your Google AdWords Tuned Up?
---> Need Help Diagnosing YOUR Website Problems?
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Do you get work done during vacations?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> How Powerful Is Link Rel="canonical"?
Advisor Wrap-up
---> I'm back! Introduction
Hey everyone! Did you miss me last week? I had every intention of putting together a newsletter even though I was on vacation, but you know how that goes. In fact, I'm now playing catch-up since I wasn't able to get much work done either, which means I'm copping out today by providing you with an article I previously wrote for Search Engine Land. But don't worry, I double-checked and the information is all still correct and up to date. In fact, it's something you should certainly understand if you have clients who have or who want a Flash website.
Enjoy! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++The Truth About Search Engines and Flash++
It seems that once a year for the past five years or so, a search engine representative will stand up at a conference and announce that they are now indexing Flash. Website designers jump with glee, and SEOs lament that all the work they did educating their clients on why they need to curb their use of Flash will be for naught.
Think of it this way: If Flash were a food, it would be an herb or a spice. Let's say it's basil. While basil is great in pesto, it's not something that you'd make an entire meal out of. You use it to add flavor to your tortellini. And yet designers around the world – as well as CEOs who want to appear cool – want huge chunks of their websites in Flash. Sigh.
Of course, if the search engines truly are indexing Flash this time around, then what's the problem?
Flash Can Be Cool
Flash sites certainly can do some neat tricks. People can interact with them in ways they can't with a plain-Jane HTML website. Interaction is certainly good, because it can make a site "sticky." And people pass around fun websites to their friends so they can make the little balls spin, or play with the cool virtual cubes. This is great for some websites that are looking to entertain people.
Your Business Website is Not the Place for Games
If, on the other hand, your company wants people to actually understand what you do when they come to your website, how does playing with the spinning balls further this goal? I don't personally find it endearing to have to guess what's behind each ball or cube when I mouse over it and it makes a funny sound or explodes and perhaps shows a single word or cute saying. If I'm looking to kill time, I might visit your site. But if I'm wondering if you're a good fit for my needs at the moment, I don't want to do a puzzle to figure this out. Instead, I am likely to seek out your competitor who provides me with information, rather than games.
Do You Really Need Flash?
As you can tell, I'm not a fan of cool Flash sites for a typical business. But what about those who have a more basic Flash site that does indeed provide information? For them, I would ask, why Flash? If you don't need to allow your visitors to interact with your website, then why not just use HTML with Flash accents? Because even if the search engines are indexing the information contained in Flash (more on this in a bit), there are other reasons not to use it. First and foremost, not every browser has Flash installed. In fact, currently on an iPhone or iPad, Flash shows up as a little blue cube. Second, many Flash-based sites use only one URL for the entire site. Besides the search engine implications of that, it is also a nightmare for bookmarking, as well as for most web analytics programs.
So, even if search engines are indeed indexing the information in Flash, my recommendation is still to not design your entire website with it.
With that out of the way, I just rolled up my sleeves and started looking at how Google is currently treating Flash and whether websites can do just as well in the search results even if important information is contained within Flash.
Guess what?
Most Flash is Still Highly Invisible in Google
To test this, I went directly to some Flash sites and pasted exact words contained within their Flash into Google (using quotes). Result? Most of the sites did not show up in the search results. When I reviewed the source code of two sites that did show up, I found that one was using the phrase I looked for within their Meta description and the other site had lots of text within the code beneath the Flash so that search engines and browsers without Flash would have some meaningful info. While that's a good alternative, the info they had was very different from the info contained in their Flash. That's a bit of a dangerous game to play with the search engines, if you ask me. If that info is good enough for search engines and iPhones, why isn't it good enough for your most important users?
Do You Want Your Flash Files Indexed?
The other thing I noticed was that even on pages that used Flash sparingly, if they had words in the Flash files, a search for those exact words would not typically pull up the HTML page where the Flash was embedded. However, when I searched for the exact phrase and limited the search to only .swf file types (which is what most Flash files use as an extension), the Flash files themselves did show up in the results. This tells me that the Google reps were kind of telling the truth about Flash being indexed, but that it doesn't do website owners much good in a real-world setting.
Cool But Not Smart
Google searches for the brand names of Flash sites do bring up the sites in the search results (note that their brand is typically in the Title tag). So if that's all you care about, then using all Flash shouldn't be a problem for you. However, if you're interested in showing up in the search results for people who may not have already heard of you – i.e., those seeking out exactly what you offer rather than your brand name – then you may want to rethink the cool factor and go for the smart one instead!
Jill
Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Consulting company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen
Share your comments and thoughts here.
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above article, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.
Twitter Question of the WeekThis week I tried a sort of fun question based on my own inability to get much work done while I was on vacation.
++Do you get work done during vacations? OR do you even try? OR do you even take vacations? ;)++
Here's what my Twitter followers had to say:
mastercleaner: Don't take vacations.
idea15webdesign: Learned a long time ago that working on vacation sends out the message that you're not as successful as you claim you are.
ann_donnelly: Up until last year, I worked through vacations. Not fair to me/family. Now I get cover & have real break. It's worth it.
leebrinckley: I do not try to work on vacation. Vacation is family time. Family & work get cheated if one tries to make room for both.
SEOMalc: Much to my wife’s disgust, yes I do. Even if I am off the grid I use pen and paper.
nickleroy: No work on vacations - it works out well working for an agency. Work CAN get done even if I’m not there.
nextsteph: I did get work done during my family reunion last summer, but my stepmom banned me from my laptop for 1 day.
BrianHarnish: I try to get work done during vacation sometimes, but can't vouch for any success in getting work done ;)
danaditomaso: I take "vacations" but I definitely keep up on at least email. I like longer trips that involve some work.
sterlingwriter: I don't work on vacation (plus i try not to work weekends). I come back more creative and productive.
topweddingsites: What is this word vacation of which you speak?
trevox: Sadly, I get spiritually attached to my laptop & seek hotspots on vacation! Work is done, sometimes inspired by location.
foodbuff: Who needs vacations when you love your business, can work or not & go anywhere in the world. The internet makes it possible.
Jkm_normalforestsoftware: I take vacations (no work) & then have to work twice as hard when I come back although I may take some techie books to read.
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week?
Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++How Powerful Is Link Rel="canonical"?++
Forum moderator "Qwerty" asked some questions about the rel="canonical" tag.
See what the other forum members thought or share your own comments here.
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
I had an enjoyable (if too brief) time at the SMX West Conference a few weeks ago. The sessions are getting better and better, and I got a few great nuggets out of the technical SEO sessions I attended. The two sessions where I was a panelist went well also. The audience at SMX seems to be getting smarter all the time, which is great!
My vacation in Hawaii was also nice. It's always good to spend time with my family who lives there. This is the first time I visited an island other than Oahu as I spent a few days at my sister's house on Kauai. It was quite different from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. If you're wondering about the tsunami, I was in the air flying toward Oahu during the time when it was at its peak. After seeing some of the tsunami videos from Japan, I'm thankful that in Oahu and Kauai it turned out to be a non-event. From the news I was watching while there, apparently only the Big Island of Hawaii got hit hard and had some damage.
It was also good to come back to having nearly all of our snow gone! It did snow a bit the other day here, but nothing that stuck. I hope we're done with any major snow for this season. After all, it is now officially Spring!
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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