I've harped on for a long time that by using dynamic data in Flash sites and feeding content on a client requirement basis you can get a Flash site to index in search engines just as if it was a HTML site.

 

I'm not going to document the how to's in here; not just now anyway. I'm just pleased that I've gotten our Full Flash site to index as though it were a HTML website; using nothing but white hat SEO methods (i.e. nothing that can be constrewed as bad practice; and using methods supported and recommended by search engines like google).

 

I'm sure the technology (swf object) is one that has been discussed before, but I've never really seen definitive results from it and now I have confirm it works.

 

The studio website is

http://www.fizixstudios.com (a full flash website)

 

 

A quick google on the domain:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q...earch&meta=

 

The optimized pages are being indexed and read as though it were a HTML website; our google webmaster tools confirm that the tags and site content are being read by google and is being indexed.

 

 

Hopefully, the use of tools like SWF object will put an end to the poorly performing flash websites and allow us to push creative bounds more.

 

Heres a quick article I wrote on SWF Object (i.e. what it does); implementing it is quite simple; the only rule is to share the data source with the main flash website. Of course your content has to be search engine friendly and of a high quality for it to pay off in terms of rankings, but what this method does mean is that provided you can make a HTML website index well, you can make a flash one do so as well.

 

 

http://labs.fizixstudios.com/viewpost.php?id=5

 

 

As a side note on accessibility; SWF Address but I'm still figuring the ins and outs of it.

 

 

* wonders if this will be pulled about by the Flash haters???

 

 

 

Edit:

Sod it, a quick how to:

 

1. Download SWF Object from http://blog.deconcept.com/swfobject/

2. Upload the JS files to your server

3. Include the JS File

<script type="text/javascript" src="js/swfobject.js"></script>

 

4. Put the HTML site at the top of the page, nexted in "flashcontent" tags

i.e.

<table><tr><td>
<div id="flashcontent">		
  <div style="width:950px; float: left;">
  <div id="navigation">
	 Your menu links here
  </div>
  <div id="content">
	 Your page content here (from DB or as static; matching or close to Flash sites)
  </div>
  </div>
</div>
</td></tr></table>

 

 

5. Create the CSS layout classes

table 
{
  border-collapse: collapse; 
  width: 980px; 
  margin: auto;
}

table td 
{
  padding: 0px; 
  vertical-align: top; 
  text-align: left;
}

#navigation
{
  float: right; 
  width: 450px; 
  padding-top: 110px;
  font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 14px;
  color: #efedee;
}

#navigation a
{
  color: #efedee;
  text-decoration: none;
}

#navigation a:hover
{
  color: #cee8eb;
  text-decoration: underline;
}

#content  
{
  float: left;  
  width: 700px;  
  position: relative; 
  margin-top: 0px; 
}

 

 

6. Include the Flash movie (at the bottom of the HTML)

<script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("mainsite.swf", "mainsite", "980", "598", "10.0");
so.useExpressInstall("expressinstall.swf");
so.addParam("quality", "best");
so.setAttribute("debug", "false");
so.addVariable("Selector","home");
so.write("flashcontent");
</script>

 

 

As your using SWF Object you dont need the active content JS and dont get that annoying "click to activate" either. So its all good really; and easy to setup.

I couldn't find any search results that contained the text content of your Flash movies - only what in your HTML pages as meta tags...

I couldn't find any search results that contained the text content of your Flash movies - only what in your HTML pages as meta tags...

 

Interesting; it shows up in the content details under analytics & under SEO testing tools it shows up the HTML site

very interesting i might have to go back and re learn flash, i left it behind a long time ago because of the seo limitations

 

i haven’t had a chance to read your article yet but i noticed when i click on the link to your site i get a flash site but when i copied and pasted it into firefox it was a html site (it could be my browser but i have flash on firefox as well)

 

what happens when some one finds a link on google to one of your internal pages, if you have a javascript reload can you stop it booting up to the flash home page, it just as far as i know you cant link to a specific page in flash website

 

also there was a trend for replacing text to a gif image with a javascript reloader, it was done so designers could use interesting fonts, but the trend never caught on because as far as i know people thought google would be suspicious of this slight of hand even if your intentions were honourable

very interesting i might have to go back and re learn flash, i left it behind a long time ago because of the seo limitations

 

i haven’t had a chance to read your article yet but i noticed when i click on the link to your site i get a flash site but when i copied and pasted it into firefox it was a html site (it could be my browser but i have flash on firefox as well)

 

what happens when some one finds a link on google to one of your internal pages, if you have a javascript reload can you stop it booting up to the flash home page, it just as far as i know you cant link to a specific page in flash website

 

also there was a trend for replacing text to a gif image with a javascript reloader, it was done so designers could use interesting fonts, but the trend never caught on because as far as i know people thought google would be suspicious of this slight of hand even if your intentions were honourable

 

 

Yes you can link to a specific page on a flash site.

 

As an example:

http://www.fizixstudios.com/profile.html

http://www.fizixstudios.com/showcase.html

 

You just need to pass the page name to the SWF; if you check the source you can see a parameter for the page being pssed to Flash. It's not loading a new instance of the site; just telling the main site to load a different internal page on entry.

 

In response to google considering the method as questionable; google discuss SWF Object in their documentation and in the FAQ have said they plan to enhance support for flash sites that use this method (im thinking its probably do so with deep linking with SWF address and more dynamic content).

 

SWF Address is another module which interacts with the web browser... it acts as an interaction layer between Flash and the web browser.

 

What the SWF Address module activates in the browser is:

 

1. Updating the URL as you navigate a flash site without relaoding the main page

2. Which allows the back and forward buttons to work; and they only reload the internal content as you move back and forward; not the main shell of the site

3. Allows you to bookmark/favourite pages in a flash site

4. Enhances deep linking (i.e. movie within a movie which is in a movie in a main movie)

ya I tried that & its working