The Use Of Adobe Flash

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Bonita Li in guest, Software

A lot of businesses use Adobe Flash when they create their company websites but only a few of them know how to use Flash in a proper way. So what are the points that one should pay attention to when creating a website using Flash?

Just to give everyone an overview of what exactly Flash does. Flash is software which enables web creators to add in interactive components to their sites, such as animation and graphics. It is used extensively in demonstrating products and training programs. If you choose to build your web site completely out of Flash, there is however the possibility, that Google would not be able to ‘index’ these sites and will list them way below the normal HTML sites.

What is the meaning of ‘index’? When you can left-click the text on a web site and see it highlighted in blue after dragging over it, the content is classified as ‘indexable’. This is to say that the highlighted text and images or graphics of the site are located in various ‘layers’. Only then can the text-based content be indexed by search engines, such as Google.

So, what exactly is Indexing? It is the process that Google uses to scan the important details of a website. Google would then store the details in their database for Google users to search websites by keywords. If you create the entire website using Flash only, the text on your web page would be layered into the graphics and Google would then not be able to index your website.

In the old days, it was completely impossible for Google to index content written using Flash. Although there are rumors saying that Google and Adobe are working towards the goal of making content written using Flash more indexable, there are no test results on whether the attempt is successful or not. Therefore, it is of your best interest to incorporate text-based content in your website and avoid using Flash to create your entire web page.

It is indeed undeniable that Flash is one of the best design tools when it comes down to the appearance of a website. It is also user-friendly in many ways. What we cannot change is that Google still has problems reading Flash contents and this is obstructive for the search engine to work optimally.

In order to solve the above problem, some websites simply offer users with two versions of their websites, one in HTML and the other in Flash. Although this approach solves the problem of Google not being able to read Flash content, the website owner would then have to manage two web sites when actually one will do.

Flash has its own merits, but unfortunately also its downsides. What we are suggesting here is that you integrate Flash components into an HTML site. In this way, you will still be able to benefit from the interactivity and attractiveness of Flash, as well as letting Google index the text-based contents and put you in a higher rank under their search results. People who visit your site will not miss out on the stunning design. Visitors will continue to increase since your site is now indexable. Would that not be the best way to resolve all the complications?

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Tags: Adobe, Application, business, C, Computer, Flash, Game, Image rotators, microsoft, Samples, Silverlight, Software, technology, web 2.0