There are two arguments that seem to take center stage when it comes to flash and websites.

It is pretty uncontested that a website built with flash presents a beautiful presentation, almost guaranteeing the end-user a rich experience. On the other hand, a website that is built with flash reduces the visibility of the site within search engines.

As in most everything, there are trade-offs. If the website is going to be advertised heavily or keywords purchased, it may not be necessary to rely on search engines to find your website. In this context, a website built entirely in flash is surely acceptable.

On the other hand, if marketing budgets place great restraints on outside advertising, it is critical that your website can be found and indexed by the search engines. A website built entirely in flash is not the route that should be taken.

Is there a middle ground? Yes. Combining flash with html or xhtml can provide the best of both worlds. It can provide a rich experience for the end-user as well as have the content needed by the search engines to index your website.

Search engines send out robots (sometimes called spiders) and they actually read the content of your website. They also follow the links within your pages and index each page. Although these robots read the hidden code such as title and keywords, they now put more enphasis on the actual content.

When flash is combined with straight code, it is important to remember the following things when drafting your website.

Your links can be included in your flash presentation but make sure all of your links are also in html. This ensures that the robots can follow your links and get to your other pages in order to index them.

Content. Content. Content. The robots cannot read your flash content so you must provide the information you are presenting in order for them to index and rank your pages.
Your html should be specific to the topic, service, or product that you offer.

Combining flash with html provide a balance that will enable you to do a “wow” website but also provides you the base for effective SEO. It is the middle ground.

Daye Salander
SalamanderAlley.com
E-mail Daye