Flash movies can be a great thing. They can help catch eyes that are otherwise bored with static looking pages, and they can help tell a story better than plain text. However the use of flash must be tempered with the ability to rank in search engines.
This article describes some of the considerations and recommendations when using flash on a website.
Points to be considered when planning a Flash-based website:
- Purpose of the website: If the primary purpose of the website is to offer artistic or visual effects to the visitors (such as a business that is primarily a Design/Arts company, with visitors coming to the web site on some reference other than search engines) then Flash is recommended.
- If you are developing a web site for getting more potential customers using Search Engine Optimization techniques, then it is recommended to limit Flash only to certain portions of the web site or not to use Flash at all.
- Flash is not considered to be “search engine friendly”. Therefore, a Flash-based web site may not rank well in the search engine results.
- Usually visitors are not interested in reading something passively. Keep in mind that most visitors spend less than 30 seconds on a website. You need to offer the visitor what they are looking for in the shortest possible time.
- A Flash movie becomes obsolete after a few months time. It is necessary to update a Flash web site frequently.