Keywords in Flash websites

[elektra]

I deviced a Flash website for a client which at the time of it's development was suposed to work as an online brochure. It has since evolved to be more commercialy orientated, however, the client is now concerned about it's ranking on search engines for a given number of keywords. The website (http://www.quinta-verde.com) already ranks well for the developments name but seems to be invisible regarding any other keyword combination. Google has indexed it and has taken the meta description content. Should I include those keywords in the meta description or would it be considered an abuse by the search engines and possibly disregarded or even banned. Any suggestions on how I may overcome the Flash handicap to improve the ranking?

[Susanne]

Oh no, don't worry. :) It's perfectly alright to use META keywords and description tags. Remember to also make a good title. Right now, your title tag only contains a company name. Change that to a phrase or two and place the most important keywords in the beginning of the tag.

I think you could also use the <noscript> tag to add indexable text. But if there's plenty of competition for your keywords you might have to consider making an html section of the site. Put a text link on the main page to the optimised html version.

[elektra]

Thanks Susanne. I was starting to loose hope ;-). However, according to Danny Sullivan 'SEO guru' from Search Engine Watch, search engines disregard meta keyword tags. Could it be that its different if the website is Flash only?

[Susanne]

You are right, the keywords tag is virtually useless. But I think maybe one or two engines still sniff at it (not Google though). It will not hurt you to include it!

[Tony_Perry]

elektra
9 times out of 10 a flash site will need some html pages optimsed to succeed. if you are in a competitive area make that 10 outa 10!