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Thursday, July 05, 2007
We occasionally get questions on the
Webmaster Help Group
about how webmasters should work with
Adobe Flash. I thought it would be
worthwhile to write a few words about the search considerations designers should think about
when building a Flash-heavy site.
As many of you already know, Flash is inherently a visual medium, and Googlebot doesn't have
eyes. Googlebot can typically read Flash files and extract the text and links in them, but the
structure and context are missing. Moreover, textual contents are sometimes stored in Flash as
graphics, and since Googlebot doesn't currently have the algorithmic eyes needed to read these
graphics, these important keywords can be missed entirely. All of this means that even if your
Flash content is in our index, it might be missing some text, content, or links. Worse, while
Googlebot can understand some Flash files, not all Internet spiders can.
So what's an honest web designer to do? The only hard and fast rule is to show Googlebot the
exact same thing as your users. If you don't, your site risks appearing suspicious to our search
algorithms. This simple rule covers a lot of cases including
cloaking, JavaScript redirects, hidden text, and doorway pages.
And our engineers have gathered a few more practical suggestions:
Try to use Flash only where it is needed. Many rich media sites such as Google's
YouTube
use Flash for rich media but rely on HTML for content and navigation. You can too, by limiting
Flash to on-page accents and rich media, not content and navigation. In addition to making your
site Googlebot-friendly, this makes you site accessible to a larger audience, including, for
example, blind people using screen readers, users of old or non-standard browsers, and those on
limited low-bandwidth connections such as on a cell phone or PDA. As a bonus, your visitors can
use bookmarks effectively, and can email links to your pages to their friends.
sIFR:
Some websites use Flash to force the browser to display headers, pull quotes, or other textual
elements in a font that the user may not have installed on their computer. A technique like
sIFR still lets non-Flash readers read a page, since the content/navigation is
actually in the HTML—it's just displayed by an embedded Flash object.
Non-Flash Versions: A common way that we see Flash used is as a front page "splash screen"
where the root URL of a website has a Flash intro that links to HTML content deeper into the
site. In this case, make sure there is a regular HTML link on that front page to a non-Flash
page where a user can navigate throughout your site without the need for Flash.
If you have other ideas that don't violate these guidelines that you'd like to ask about, you
can ask them in the Webmaster Help Group under
Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking.
The many knowledgeable webmasters there, along with myself and a cadre of other Googlers, will do
our best to clear up any confusion.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGooglebot has difficulty fully understanding Flash content, potentially missing text, links, and context crucial for indexing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebsites should prioritize HTML for core content and navigation, reserving Flash for supplementary elements like rich media.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOffering alternative non-Flash versions, especially for introductory pages, ensures accessibility for users and search engines.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTechniques like \u003ccode\u003esIFR\u003c/code\u003e enable stylistic elements without sacrificing readability for non-Flash users or search engines.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebsites using Flash should aim for transparency and ensure Googlebot sees the same content as users to avoid negative SEO impacts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Web designers should use Flash sparingly, primarily for rich media, not core content or navigation. Ensure Googlebot sees the same content as users to avoid being flagged as suspicious. Utilize HTML for primary content and navigation, as Flash text might be missed by search algorithms. Consider techniques like `sIFR` for font display and provide non-Flash alternatives, especially for splash screens, to improve accessibility and search engine optimization.\n"],null,["# Best uses of Flash\n\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore).\n\nThursday, July 05, 2007\n\n\nWe occasionally get questions on the\n[Webmaster Help Group](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community)\nabout how webmasters should work with\n[Adobe Flash](https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/). I thought it would be\nworthwhile to write a few words about the search considerations designers should think about\nwhen building a Flash-heavy site.\n\n\nAs many of you already know, Flash is inherently a visual medium, and Googlebot doesn't have\neyes. Googlebot can typically read Flash files and extract the text and links in them, but the\nstructure and context are missing. Moreover, textual contents are sometimes stored in Flash as\ngraphics, and since Googlebot doesn't currently have the algorithmic eyes needed to read these\ngraphics, these important keywords can be missed entirely. All of this means that even if your\nFlash content is in our index, it might be missing some text, content, or links. Worse, while\nGooglebot can understand some Flash files, not all Internet spiders can.\n\n\nSo what's an honest web designer to do? The only hard and fast rule is to show Googlebot the\nexact same thing as your users. If you don't, your site risks appearing suspicious to our search\nalgorithms. This simple rule covers a lot of cases including\n[cloaking, JavaScript redirects, hidden text, and doorway pages](/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#cloaking).\nAnd our engineers have gathered a few more practical suggestions:\n\n1. Try to use Flash only where it is needed. Many rich media sites such as Google's [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/) use Flash for rich media but rely on HTML for content and navigation. You can too, by limiting Flash to on-page accents and rich media, not content and navigation. In addition to making your site Googlebot-friendly, this makes you site accessible to a larger audience, including, for example, blind people using screen readers, users of old or non-standard browsers, and those on limited low-bandwidth connections such as on a cell phone or PDA. As a bonus, your visitors can use bookmarks effectively, and can email links to your pages to their friends.\n2. [`sIFR`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Inman_Flash_Replacement): Some websites use Flash to force the browser to display headers, pull quotes, or other textual elements in a font that the user may not have installed on their computer. A technique like `sIFR` still lets non-Flash readers read a page, since the content/navigation is actually in the HTML---it's just displayed by an embedded Flash object.\n3. Non-Flash Versions: A common way that we see Flash used is as a front page \"splash screen\" where the root URL of a website has a Flash intro that links to HTML content deeper into the site. In this case, make sure there is a regular HTML link on that front page to a non-Flash page where a user can navigate throughout your site without the need for Flash.\n\n\nIf you have other ideas that don't violate these guidelines that you'd like to ask about, you\ncan ask them in the Webmaster Help Group under\n[Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/topics).\nThe many knowledgeable webmasters there, along with myself and a cadre of other Googlers, will do\nour best to clear up any confusion.\n| **Update** : See our additional blog posts about [Flash Indexing at Google](/search/blog/2008/06/improved-flash-indexing).\n\nWritten by Mark Berghausen, Search Quality Team"]]
