There is no doubt that websites built with Adobe Flash are not friendly to access, especially when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). The primary reason for this is, Flash hides the text of the website, which contains valuable keywords indexed by web search engine robots. However, following some tips you can maximize the exposure and increase the indexability of Flash websites.

Some important tips to follow:

•  Use hand code flash content into HTML instead of HTML editor, such as DreamWeaver. HTML editors entrench Flash content into the page as binary code, which cannot be indexed by web search crawlers. While on the other hand, coding provides you with options to add alternate text and hidden descriptions of images and Flash content.

• Do not load dynamic Flash pages on the same page, rather break the pages into pieces and add them on several different pages with the relevant Flash section on each page. This makes the site readable as all the contents are not hidden inside the Flash content.

•  Avoid inserting text into images. It makes difficult for visitors to read the text that is inserted into a binary image.

• Use alternative text with Flash segments and images. Alternative text never appears on the web page, but can be read by web search crawlers.

•  Search engine enable you to figure out the relationship between the pages of your website. Flash can trigger page transitions that are confusing to most search engine crawlers. If possible, try to use standard HTML navigation so that crawlers can analyze the links between your pages and gain a better understanding of your content.

• Insert the same Flash movie on multiple pages but pass variable values in the URL that instruct the movie where to start, so that it looks like you have different content on each page. This helps a search robot to index your site and determine page relationships and content value.

•  Use noscript tags to embrace the text embedded in SWF files so that it gets displayed when the user’s browser does not support Flash. This will also enable a web crawler to read the text and index the site to determine page rank.

• While testing your own site for SEO, you must disable the javascript in your browser so that you can view the accurate representation of what a web crawler will view. This will help you determine the impact of your SEO strategy.

In conclusion, following the above mentioned SEO tips, you will be able to increase the indexability and maximize the exposure of Flash websites.