Google sent ripples throughout the search and web communities in July by announcing it had been indexing Flash content and had launched a specific algorithm specifically for ranking Flash content. In this issue, Catalyst Organic Search Director Jason McGovern discusses how this change may affect your SEO campaign.Q: Why is it important that Google is indexing Flash?
Jason: This appears to be such big news because Flash has been incompatible with search. This has long frustrated web marketing professionals because it forced them to choose either the design impact and interactivity of Flash or the search performance and traffic of more traditional web platforms.
Now that Google has announced that it is indexing Flash content it would appear that site owners can have the designs they want without sacrificing traffic or rankings. However, appearances can be deceiving and this update may not have the impact many are hoping it will.
Q: How will this update affect search engine results?
Jason: The answer remains to be seen; searchers will definitely see Flash content in Google results pages, but no one will know how much more until we better understand Google’s plan for addressing the quality control, usability, and accessibility issues associated with Flash.
Q: Does this mean Flash is now search friendly?
Jason: Not necessarily. Flash content may not be as bad for search as it was a few weeks ago, but there’s no evidence yet suggesting it is as search friendly as HTML text. Considering the issues inherent in Flash, we feel that Google will not treat Flash and HTML content equally for some time.
Google is first and foremost a text-based search engine and will continue to be one for the foreseeable future. Flash, on the other hand, is primarily for non-textual content: movies, images, and audio. Google can only index text and links from Flash movies. Unless your Flash content has a significant text component, it likely won’t be any more search-friendly now than it was before Google’s announcement.
Q: Can all search engines index Flash content?
Jason: No. Currently Google is the only search engine that has announced it can crawl and index Flash content. We suspect Yahoo! will be making a similar announcement in the upcoming months as they have access to the same technology that Google is using to index Flash content.
Q: What does this mean for SEO campaigns?
Jason: At this time, we recommend proceeding as though nothing has changed. While we’re cautiously optimistic, there is too much uncertainty surrounding this update to justify increasing your site’s Flash content or changing how your site handles Flash.
Q: Which sites will benefit the most from this update?
Jason: Sites with large amounts of Flash-based text and links and unique URLs for all pages will benefit the most from this update. Websites that are completely Flash-based, or do not have unique URLs for all pages, or sites that have large amounts of Flash-based video and audio content in lieu of text will not benefit much, if at all, from this update.
Q: How can site owners optimize Flash content?
Jason: Most site owners won’t need to do anything to optimize their sites, Google will crawl them automatically. To make sure Google can crawl your site’s Flash content simply follow these steps:
1. Make sure your Flash content isn’t blocked via robots.txt file or robots meta tags.
2. Directly reference Flash content from your web pages. Avoid referencing external Flash files through client-side scripting.
3. Make sure Flash content (or the page hosting it) is accessible to search spiders via hypertext link or XML sitemap file.
4. Limit, if not eliminate, the use of Flash detection scripts; these scripts often inadvertently prevent search engines from accessing Flash content.
Q: Do site owners still need SWFObject?
Jason: SWFObject is a Flash-delivery mechanism that uses JavaScript to identify and render Flash content. It has become increasingly popular over the last few years because of its compatibility with search. Ironically, because it uses JavaScript to reference external SWF files, it seems very likely this Flash delivery mechanism will prevent search engine spiders from accessing a page’s Flash content. Site owners may consider removing SWFObject from their sites; we’d recommend against such an approach at this time of the likelihood such a move would have little to no search benefit.
Q: Is there any Flash site owners should avoid?
Jason: Yes. Despite this announcement from Google, we strongly recommend against the following:
• Websites created entirely in Flash
• Flash-based navigation
• Flash-based splash pages
Q: What’s the most important thing to learn from this announcement?
Jason: If you’re building or even thinking of building a website with large amounts of Flash content, you need to contact your SEO team immediately. If engaged early enough in the development cycle, experienced SEO professionals can help you and your design/development teams leverage this recent Google update for maximum effect.
About Jason McGovern
Jason is Catalyst’s Organic Search Director. In addition to leading Catalyst’s SEO discipline, Jason is attached to several well-known brands, including Pfizer, P&G, and Novartis. He has over eight years of search and Internet marketing experience and before Catalyst has served as a marketing manager, web developer, and copywriter. Jason has a B.S. in Biology from Allegheny College.
