What is a Flash Movie?
A flash movie, or shock wave file (SWF), is that the file format published when a Flash movie is exported. A SWF file will additionally be exported by several different Macromedia or Adobe Products. The SWF is usually an animation, dynamic menu, or highly interactive web-based application embedded into an HTML page. Flash files, when exported properly for the best web-primarily based optimization, are compressed, thus creating their file size lightweight. The SWF format is good for presenting vector-primarily based, interactive and animated graphics with sound and video for the web. Vector pictures are ideal because they will not “pixilize” if stretched or compressed. Flash files will conjointly contain text which will be animated, static or dynamically populated from external sources, such an XML file or a database. Text embedded during a Flash file, for many years, could not be read by search engines. However, recent updates by Macromedia are making this a possibility.
Problems with Flash and Search Engines
Historically, it has been difficult to induce Flash content indexed and ranked by search engines. In the past, search engines, such as Yahoo and Google, did not spider Flash content as they could not read the compressed file and a lot of of the text inside the SWF appeared as graphics to the search engines.
The main page of a internet website, if Flash-based, rarely ranked well, unless off-page factors like link popularity or link name were sufficient enough to hold the page. Flash files that were indexed by Google, Lycos and alternative search engines, that did not have any text or key words related to them within the search engine results pages (SERP).
Techniques Utilized in the Past to Create Flash Visible to Search Engines
Ancient Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques would facilitate your web site get indexed, however not rank for search terms. Each net website wants a minimum of one HTML page to load into a browser. For a internet web site developed utterly in Flash, developers would embed their flash files into an HTML document and then produce the meta tags in the pinnacle section of the HTML file. They would conjointly add descriptive HTML text for the search engines within the body section of the HTML page, then use CSS positioning and percentages to load the Flash move during a pixel-good location over the top of text. This particular technique should not be used any longer, as search engines will view this system as an attempt to add hidden text, and hidden text can incur a penalty from the engines.
Another technique that might facilitate your Flash ranking is to not compress your SWF files. One amongst the reasons search engines might not browse flash files within the past is {that the} files are compressed. If the SWF is uncompressed, search engines can scan the static text. This method can be accomplished easily. Upon exporting a Flash file, you’ll set the compression to “not” if you would like your text inside the Flash movie to be readable by the search spiders. However, this is often not a smart observe, as not compressing your SWF can increase the file size, consequently negating a significant benefit to Flash file – a light-weight file.
What Macromedia has Done to Make Flash Additional Visible to Search Engines
In the past, Google did index Flash files. Anyone will check this reality out by looking in Google using the “filetype” operator to limit your search. As an example, attempt the subsequent search: “Casino Games filetype:SWF”. The SERP will embody over 200 Flash files, that are indicated by the “Flash” text to the left of the listing.
Some search engines are now using the Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK (Software Development Kit). For example, Google, AllTheWeb, Lycos, and different sites will readily display links to Flash content. Flash Search SDK is and open supply tool that permits search engines to switch it to suit their needs. With this level of customization, it is likely that the major search engines can modify SDK, making it difficult for website homeowners to understand specifically what information will be pulled out of the SWF file or how it can impact actual rankings.
The Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK can be found at
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/download/search_engine. In line with the Macromedia/Adobe net site, The SDK includes an application named ‘swf2HTML’. Swf2HTML extracts text and links from a Macromedia Flash SWF file, and returns the info to an HTML document. Swf2HTML is provided as a compiled application and as a static library for linked library implementation. SDK can interoperate any links that are within the action script thus long as adhere to the following criteria:
• The link is contained within single quotes (‘ ‘) or double quotes (” “), and
• The link prefix is HTTP, and
• The link suffix is HTM, HTML, CFM, SWF, JPG, JPEG, MP3, or WAV
By default SDK extracts the following text from your flash file:
• Text on stage in the current movie (dynamic text, static text, or input text that has an initial worth assigned)
• Text on stage during a movie that’s referred to as with movieClip.attachMovie()
Google can see bound text in Flash files currently, however how and where bound text gets extracted depends on what you do with that text within the Flash presentation. For example, text that is static or is employed in a motion tween can be read as one instance with SDK. But, some animation involves converting text into a image and then using multiple copies of that symbol to achieve a desired effect. This can produce duplicate instances of your text to the SDK output, that might be viewed as duplicate content and not given much importance by Google.
Using the SDK tool, any developer can get the text output from the SWF and see how search engines view the extractable text of any SWF. On a Windows operating system, you can move to the DOS prompt and execute the swf2HTML application very easily. The subsequent is an example from the DOS prompt: C:sdkswf2HTML -o test.HTML C:sdkcrt_webfilestest.swf
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques Used Traditionally for Flash
Every Flash file will not want to be uploaded independently and referred to as as a SWF file; rather a Flash file will be embedded in a very normal HTML document. One among the best techniques is to form a modular net website, where there are many Flash files that create up the internet page combined with standard HTML elements. A hybrid website like this, works particularly well, if your navigation uses ancient HTML links. You can use cascading style sheets to grant the appearance of flash text links. This type of hybrid site will continually rank better than an all Flash site – all other factors being equal. It is also vital to own your HTML page title correct, regardless of something else. Many search engines have a look at meta titles first. In addition to the page title, you’ll be able to add meta tags to the top of the file. Outside of the actual HTML page, off page factors are important. There has been much written in recent articles that reciprocal links don’t seem to be as vital any longer, but definitely, one-means links pointing to your web site from highly relevant and high ranking pages will increase your page rank. In addition links from prominent directories, like Yahoo and Business.com, placed in the foremost relevant classes will help. One-approach inbound links from relevant sites is still the best way to extend your ranking with or while not Flash.
There are programming techniques which work whereas within the Flash authoring environment. Whereas you’re within the Flash authoring environment, together with your FLA open…click F12. It will generate the HTML page for you. Observe the code of the page; it creates an area for you to place the text and URL’s utilized in the Flash.
New SEO Techniques for Flash
These days there are a number of techniques that will overcome the limitations of the past, where Flash files are concerned. With the inception of the new Macromedia Flash eight, there are techniques which can be implemented to greatly increase the flexibility of search engines to index Flash files and even rank for key words.
In the past, SWF files could not have titles. This is often one important reason why Flash files didn’t rank well. This title limitation has currently changed. Flash 8 will enable you to input meta data. Flash 8 defines 2 fields with meta data for all Flash files. These 2 fields are Title and Description. You’ll access the meta information fields underneath Document Properties. To feature meta knowledge, fill within the text fields and therefore the search engines can recognize what info to display concerning your Flash file.
SDK is fairly intelligent in terms of recognizing text and links that are embedded within the file. If text is static or dynamically driven by an XML or text file, it can be read. If your content is dynamically driven it must be done therefore using the most recent version of ActionScript 2.0. The SDK does parse ActionScript two byte code looking for links. It might conceivably find the link to the XML file that manner and hand it back to a probe engine.
As referenced earlier, bound text will be changed into a image rather than strait text. As an example, a button might have the text output two or 3 times. Alternatively, tweened text has motion associated with the action. Tweens lead to one prevalence within the output from the extraction process. You must conjointly notice {that the} link text in the Google results page is just like the first number of lines of text at the very top of the text extracted by swf2HTML. Armed with the information of how SDK parses your content, you’ll manipulate text in your Flash Movies additional fastidiously and make your content key word dense, simply indexable, search engine friendly and, with a little additional skill, even optimized.
What’s the gist of all this? Flash continues to be not the most effective answer for a pure SEO-based mostly project, but their have been big leaps forward by both the search engines and Macromedia in permitting your flash files to be indexed and even rank for the key word phrases you covet.
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