index.html and flash intro

how to index using flash intro

[loomee]

Hi,

what is the perfect way to get index.html that is a flash into to be indexed by serach engines?

[tedster]

Hello loomee, and welcome to the Webmaster World forums.

The "perfect" way, eh? You don't ask for too much, LOL.

There have been several discussions here on the subject, which you can find using the "site search" function at the top of the page. My own preference would be to build a very vanilla and highly optimized text and image page for index.html. Then call an external JavaScript sniffer for the Flash plug-in and have it redirect the visitors who have the plug-in to the Flash page.

That way the SE spider will see an optimized index.html, but 90%+ of the human visitors end up on the Flash page. Make your vanilla page highly representative of the Flash page (getting too sneaky here could get you burned). By keeping the sniffer script and re-direct in an external .js file, you also keep the spiders from being upset by even the slightest appearance of a bait-and-switch style redirect.

Another important feature would be to get the right keyword text into any inbound links. I've seen Google rank some Flash pages very well on the basis of link text alone.

[loomee]

Tedster, it's the time of the year to be asking for too much :), thanks for your help.

[webwoman]

Do I understand correctly that flash intros will damage one's chances with the search engines? Can anyone explain in simple terms to me what the problem is with flash as regards optimizing a site for search engine ranking?

[tedster]

Welcome to Webmaster World, webwoman.

The challenge with an all Flash page is that search engine spiders index text. But an all-Flash (or all-graphics of any kind) page has no "real" text for the spider to see. So this severely limits the search engine's algorithm (the formula they use for ranking pages).

[minnapple]

We been programmed by traditional media to think of advertising in a linear fashion, while the web is hyper chaotic . Our idea that index page is an entry page has led us to embellished it in attempt to make a grandiose first impression, while in real life every page in the site is a probable entry page. The index page is really a point of reference as it name implies. IMHO the ideal web site would not have a index page, needing no beginning or end.

[tedster]

Good point, minnapple.

For instance, if you look at the Google Page Rank algorithm, in and of itself it does not actually emphasize index pages over "internal" pages. It's just that most sites have tons of links to the Home Page, and that internal linking automatically boosts the PR for the Home Page. But it's still entirely possible for an internal page to have the highest PR on the site.

Not all search engine algos are so free, but this does suggest a strategy for getting a site well placed in Google at least -- even though the index page is a Flash movie.

What you would do is increase the internal linking to a specific content page rather than the Flash page. OK, maybe you'd want to emphasize that content page in ADDITION to the Flash page -- you wouldn't want to short change the Flash designer from their potential audience :)