Flashy Flash Does Not Earn Cash

To use flash or not to use flash? That is the question.

If you were to ask me whether or not you should use flash on your website, my answer would almost always be “no”. Why? Well, I have many reasons:

1) Flash decreases page load in time.
2) Flash is image heavy and can overwhelm users.
3) Google hates flash because is a large file that cannot be tagged.
4) Flash, done wrong, is just ugly.
5) Search spiders cannot crawl text on images or text within a Flash file.
6) Flash is just bad for SEO, enough said.

The last thing I want to see when I click on a url is a flash piece that takes time to load. I will click out and will not waste anymore of my time. As more users gravitate toward the “quick fix” experience while surfing the internet, their tolerance levels are decreasing, which means most will click out before they give a fancy flash piece a second glance.

Users want information and they want it fast. If they type in a search query and decide to visit your website, they want to scan your content and get information. They don’t care too much about how your site looks. They care about what your site has to offer them. Users don’t expect flash unless they are watching a movie trailer. So, spare the trailer - show your users the good stuff!

If you created your website to promote your business or to serve as a professional resource, skip the heavy flash piece. Instead, provide your users with well-written content and engaging social media (photos, message boards, commenting, blogs, articles, etc.).

However, if you still cannot live without your fancy flash piece, I suggest reading “How to SEO Flash” by Jonathan Hochman. His article provides great techniques for optimizing Flash for search and for coding Flash with SEO in mind.