Google has announced that it has improved its ability to crawl and index Flash files. Specifically, Google can now index any kind of text within Flash files, Flash gadgets, and self-contained Flash websites. So does that mean you should run out and find the best Flash developer you can find and build the coolest Flash website on the Web? Not so fast, buckaroo.
Flash is still a very information-intensive program. It will slow down your load time and that’s every bit as important as being indexed. When you take a look at Google’s algorithms, they include all sorts of criteria, few of which are more important than any others. While Google may be able to read and index the text inside of your Flash files, my bet is it will still be better to have actual text outside of the files than to rely solely on text within the files. SEO doesn’t change just because Google adds a new development.
And you’ve also got to keep in mind that Google isn’t the Internet. They may have the lion’s share of searchers looking for information in their search engine, but Yahoo! and MSN Live are still players. You still have AOL, Ask.com, Dogpile, and a host of other search engines that don’t read Flash files. While I wouldn’t build a business model on Ask.com, I wouldn’t ignore it either. You’ve got to develop a website that feeds all the spiders, not just one.
All of that aside, however, can Flash be useful? You bet. Include it in your web development plans. Just don’t let it take over.
Tags: Flash, google, SEO, web development
