While Macromedia Flash is one of the coolest and most fun graphic tools out there, it’s also thought to be a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) nightmare. Why? It’s said that search engines can’t index Flash (.swf) files because the search engine spiders cannot read them. Spiders crawl through websites and index the links they find, but they can’t find the links if they are buried within a Flash site.

Google and Yahoo are now claiming that they can index Flash files, or at least partially, but it is still recommended for optimal crawling to include text and html on your site. Vanessa Fox from Google writes on their blog “Images, flash, and other multimedia make for pretty web pages, but make sure your core messages are in text or use ALT text to provide textual descriptions of your multimedia. This is great for search engines, which are based on text: searchers enter search queries as word, after all. But it’s also great for visitors, who may have images or Flash turned off in their browsers or might be using screen readers or mobile devices.”

So how can Flash be used effectively?

Flash is a useful tool that enables you to add animation, video and other interactive multimedia features to your site. It should be used as an element, rather then the only feature on your site, “Think Flash movies, not Flash sites” as Shari Thurow states in her article on SearchEngineWatch’s ClickZ Network. Also having great content and text accented with some Flash will help ensure your site’s visibility in the search engines.

That does not mean that Flash should be avoided altogether because it is still as great way to add fun interactivity to your site. Just make sure you optimize your pages with content as well.

Further reading: SearchEngineWatch.com