What’s a Flash Movie?
A flash movie, or shock wave file (SWF), is that the file format revealed when a Flash movie is exported. A SWF file will additionally be exported by several alternative Macromedia or Adobe Products. The SWF is typically an animation, dynamic menu, or highly interactive internet-based mostly application embedded into an HTML page. Flash files, when exported correctly for the most effective web-primarily based optimization, are compressed, therefore creating their file size lightweight. The SWF format is right for presenting vector-primarily based, interactive and animated graphics with sound and video for the web. Vector images are ideal as a result of they can not “pixilize” if stretched or compressed. Flash files can conjointly contain text which can be animated, static or dynamically populated from external sources, such an XML file or a database. Text embedded in a very Flash file, for many years, may not be browse by search engines. However, recent updates by Macromedia are creating this a possibility.
Issues with Flash and Search Engines
Traditionally, it has been troublesome to induce Flash content indexed and ranked by search engines. In the past, search engines, like Yahoo and Google, did not spider Flash content as they might not browse the compressed file and abundant of the text within the SWF appeared as graphics to the search engines.
The most page of a net website, if Flash-based, rarely ranked well, unless off-page factors like link popularity or link reputation were sufficient enough to hold the page. Flash files that were indexed by Google, Lycos and alternative search engines, which failed to have any text or key words related to them in the search engine results pages (SERP).
Techniques Utilized in the Past to Make Flash Visible to Search Engines
Traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques would help your site get indexed, however not rank for search terms. Each web website needs at least one HTML page to load into a browser. For a web website developed fully in Flash, developers would embed their flash files into an HTML document and then produce the meta tags in the head section of the HTML file. They might also add descriptive HTML text for the search engines in the body section of the HTML page, then use CSS positioning and percentages to load the Flash move in an exceedingly pixel-good location over the prime of text. This explicit technique should not be used from now on, as search engines will view this method as an attempt to add hidden text, and hidden text will incur a penalty from the engines.
Another technique which could facilitate your Flash ranking is to not compress your SWF files. One in all the reasons search engines may not scan flash files within the past is that the files are compressed. If the SWF is uncompressed, search engines can read the static text. This method will be accomplished easily. Upon exporting a Flash file, you’ll be able to set the compression to “not” if you wish your text within the Flash movie to be readable by the search spiders. But, this is not a good follow, as not compressing your SWF can increase the file size, consequently negating a significant benefit to Flash file – a lightweight file.
What Macromedia has Done to Make Flash More Visible to Search Engines
Within the past, Google did index Flash files. Anyone can check this reality out by looking out in Google using the “filetype” operator to limit your search. For instance, try the following search: “Casino Games filetype:SWF”. The SERP will include over 200 Flash files, that are indicated by the “Flash” text to the left of the listing.
Some search engines are currently using the Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK (Software Development Kit). As an example, Google, AllTheWeb, Lycos, and alternative sites will readily display links to Flash content. Flash Search SDK is and open supply tool that enables search engines to switch it to suit their needs. With this level of customization, it’s possible that the key search engines will modify SDK, making it difficult for web site house owners to know specifically what data can be pulled out of the SWF file or how it can impact actual rankings.
The Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK will be found at
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/download/search_engine. Per the Macromedia/Adobe web web site, The SDK includes an application named ’swf2HTML’. Swf2HTML extracts text and links from a Macromedia Flash SWF file, and returns the data 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 in the action script thus long as adhere to the subsequent 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 present movie (dynamic text, static text, or input text that has an initial value assigned)
• Text on stage in a very movie that is known as with movieClip.attachMovie()
Google can see certain text in Flash files currently, however how and where certain text gets extracted depends on what you are doing with that text within the Flash presentation. For instance, text that is static or is employed in a motion tween can be read as one instance with SDK. However, some animation involves converting text into a image and then using multiple copies of that symbol to realize a desired effect. This can create duplicate instances of your text to the SDK output, which could be viewed as duplicate content and not given much importance by Google.
Using the SDK tool, any developer will get the text output from the SWF and see how search engines read the extractable text of any SWF. On a Windows operating system, you’ll be able to attend the DOS prompt and execute the swf2HTML application very easily. The following is an example from the DOS prompt: C:sdkswf2HTML -o test.HTML C:sdkcrt_webfilestest.swf
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques Used Historically for Flash
Each Flash file does not want to be uploaded independently and referred to as as a SWF file; rather a Flash file can be embedded during a customary HTML document. One in all the best techniques is to create a modular net web site, where there are plenty of Flash files that make up the internet page combined with standard HTML elements. A hybrid web site like this, works especially well, if your navigation uses ancient HTML links. You can use cascading vogue sheets to allow the looks of flash text links. This kind of hybrid web site can continually rank higher than an all Flash site – all other factors being equal. It’s also vital to own your HTML page title correct, regardless of anything else. Many search engines examine meta titles first. In addition to the page title, you can add meta tags to the head of the file. Outside of the actual HTML page, off page factors are important. There has been a lot of written in recent articles that reciprocal links don’t seem to be as important any longer, but actually, one-approach links pointing to your web site from highly relevant and high ranking pages can increase your page rank. Additionally links from distinguished directories, such as Yahoo and Business.com, placed in the most relevant classes can help. One-means inbound links from relevant sites remains the best method to increase your ranking with or without Flash.
There are programming techniques which work whereas within the Flash authoring environment. Whereas you’re within the Flash authoring surroundings, along with your FLA open…click F12. It can generate the HTML page for you. Take a look at the code of the page; it creates an area for you to place the text and URL’s used in the Flash.
New SEO Techniques for Flash
Today there are many techniques that will overcome the restrictions of the past, where Flash files are concerned. With the inception of the new Macromedia Flash eight, there are techniques which will 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 might not have titles. This is one necessary reason why Flash files didn’t rank well. This title limitation has currently changed. Flash 8 does permit you to input meta data. Flash eight defines two fields with meta knowledge for all Flash files. These 2 fields are Title and Description. You can access the meta data fields under Document Properties. To add meta knowledge, fill within the text fields and also the search engines will understand what info to display concerning your Flash file.
SDK is fairly intelligent in terms of recognizing text and links that are embedded in 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 should be done thus using the most recent version of ActionScript 2.0. The SDK does parse ActionScript a pair of byte code wanting for links. It may conceivably realize the link to the XML file that approach and hand it back to a groundwork engine.
As referenced earlier, sure text will be modified into a image rather than strait text. As an example, a button may have the text output 2 or three times. Alternatively, tweened text has motion related to the action. Tweens result in a single occurrence within the output from the extraction process. You must conjointly notice that the link text within the Google results page is identical to the first number of lines of text at the very top of the text extracted by swf2HTML. Armed with the data of how SDK parses your content, you’ll manipulate text in your Flash Movies additional carefully and create your content key word dense, easily indexable, search engine friendly and, with a little a lot of ability, even optimized.
What is the gist of all this? Flash is still not the best resolution for a pure SEO-primarily based project, but their have been giant 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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