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This article [searchenginewatch.com] goes into some interesting points on Flash and SEO.
Being sceptical about flash I'm interested in it anyway. Many customers ask for it. And it can help to communicate complex themes (configurations, machines ...).
I would like to know about the acceptance of Flash in user's point of view.
Given there's a homepage with an alternative:
click here for flash version of site
click there for non-flash version
... how many users choose flash, how many HTML?
I asked this before but came out without hard facts.
I suppose that most users will choose HTML ...
Ideas? Experience?
Your assumtion is perfecty right. I have redone a few sites with a splash page offering options. Almost 80 % pick HTML since...
One site is for a Graphics agency and about 60 % still pick HTML.
I guess that's due to user experience of flash abuse: Whatever can be done with flash is done by some self-proclaimed spielbergs. Most of users don't like that stuff.
Sorry if I ask again:
Any more experiences?
It is like playing an arcade video game, both in look and feel. This UI is way to artsy for many uses and I should qualify this statement as I have been a commercial designer for over 25 years. My only task is to encourage buyers to buy, not to for me to like or dislike a particular UI.
To incorporate some Flash into a site to enhance the chance of a sale or to clearly illustrate a complex subject would be a proper use IMHO.
If surfers are discouraged by load times and unwilling to deal with an unfamiliar interface, optimizing a Flash site is not of much importance.
All that said and back on topic, I have torn apart a number of Flash sites looking closely at those that rank well, and hidden text and cloaking are the ways I find that work really well and most often. I have not found a credible discussion regarding honest uses of the above techniques with regards to Google and Flash sites.
