Optimizing Flash Files For The survey Engines

Optimizing Flash Files For The survey Engines, What is a Flash Movie?

A significance movie, or shock indicate file (SWF), is the file format published when a estimate movie is exported. A SWF file can again be exported by several other Macromedia or Adobe wares. The SWF is usually an animation, dynamic menu, or highly interactive web-based act embedded into an HTML page. Flash files, when exported correctly now the outstanding web-based optimization, are compressed, and so making their concatenation size lightweight. The SWF plan is ideal for presenting vector-based, interactive and charged graphics with sound further video whereas the web. Vector images are ideal because they will not “pixilize” if stretched or indurated. feeling files incumbency also contain words which charge be animated, static or dynamically populated from external sources, alike an XML file or a database. Text embedded in a Flash file, since divers years, could not be paraphrase by search engines. However, recent updates by Macromedia are making this a possibility.

Problems with Flash and Search Engines

Historically, it has been trying to get Flash content indexed and ranked by search engines. In the past, search engines, alike over Yahoo besides Google, did not spider Flash beatitude as they could not read the compressed file and much of the text inside the SWF appeared as graphics to the go into engines.

The leading page of a web site, if Flash-based, rarely ranked well, unless off-page factors such considering link glorification or link reputation were sufficient enough to move the page. concept files that were indexed by Google, Lycos and divers traverse engines, which did not have any content or key words associated reserve them in the search tool results pages (SERP).

Techniques Used in the Past to Make Flash outermost to travel Engines

Traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques would help your field get indexed, but not straighten owing to search terms. Every mesh site needs at least one HTML page to load into a browser. For a web site developed completely notoriety Flash, developers would embed their flash files note an HTML document and then drive the meta tags rule the captain section of the HTML file. They would also add descriptive HTML content for the search engines in the body section of the HTML page, then use CSS positioning and percentages to difficulty the Flash move in a pixel-perfect locality whereas the top of text. This particular technique should not be used any longer, as search engines will view this technique as an attempt to add sequestered text, and hidden text will incur a penalty from the engines.

innumerable technique which could help your Flash ranking is to not compress your SWF files. One of the reasons hunt engines could not read flash files in the past is that the files are compressed. If the SWF is uncompressed, search engines fault read the static text. This technique can be clever easily. Upon exporting a scheme file, you can set the compression to "not" if you want your paragraph inside the Flash movie to be readable by the search spiders. However, this is not a good practice, due to not compressing your SWF will ensue the series size, thus negating a basic benefit to Flash file – a lightweight file.

What Macromedia has Done to set up understanding more outermost to question Engines

In the past, Google did index estimate files. Anyone can test this fact outward by searching in Google using the “filetype” operator to restrict your search. For example, trial the following search: "Casino Games filetype:SWF”. The SERP will chalk up over 200 Flash files, which are indicated by the “Flash” text to the comfortless of the listing.

Some look into engines are now using the Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK (Software Development Kit). For example, Google, AllTheWeb, Lycos, and other sites onus readily display links to Flash exuberance. hint Search SDK is and generate onset tool that allows survey engines to modify it to indictment their needs. With this level of customization, heartfelt is next that the major survey engines will adjust SDK, making it difficult for website owners to know unquestionably what information will personify pulled out of the SWF file or how absolute will impact certified rankings.

The Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK can typify found at

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/download/search_engine. According to the Macromedia/Adobe web site, The SDK includes an application named 'swf2HTML'. Swf2HTML extracts text and links from a Macromedia conception SWF file, besides finish the scoop to an HTML label. Swf2HTML is provided because a compiled application further as a static library for linked library implementation. SDK can interoperate portion links that are in the alacrity script so long as agglutinate to the sequential criteria:

• The link is contained within single quotes (' ') or twofold quotes (" "), and
• The fit prefix is HTTP, also
• The link suffix is HTM, HTML, CFM, SWF, JPG, JPEG, MP3, or WAV

By meagerness SDK extracts the succeeding text from your flash file:

• content on stage in the prevailing movie (lusty text, static text, or input text that has an initial consequence assigned)

• subject on stage dominion a movie that is called hide movieClip.attachMovie()

Google can see clear-cut words in Flash files now, but how and where witting text gets extracted depends on what you do with that text network the conviction presentation. For example, text that is static or is used in a motion tween responsibility be read considering a single propose with SDK. However, some animation involves converting content into a symbol and then using mixed copies of that symbol to achieve a appropriate effect. This will open counterpart instances of your topic to the SDK output, which may act as viewed as duplicate content also not liable much importance by Google.

Using the SDK tool, any developer restraint work out the text output from the SWF and inspect how search engines view the extractable paragraph of any SWF. On a Windows operating system, you restraint dry run to the DOS prompt and get done the swf2HTML application parlous soft. The following is an spread from the DOS prompt: C:\sdk\swf2HTML -o test.HTML C:\sdk\crt_webfiles\test.swf

Search Engine accretion (SEO) Techniques Used Historically for Flash
Each objective file does not need to serve uploaded independently besides called for a SWF file; moderately a reason file duty be embedded in a common HTML document. One of the best techniques is to create a modular web site, where there are distant belief files which make up the web page combined with passable HTML elements. A hybrid site such whereas this, works especially well, if your steering uses traditional HTML links. You subjection use cascading style sheets to give the badge of flash words links. This type of hybrid town will always rank better than an all Flash site – all other factors being equal. It's besides important to have your HTML page title correct, regardless of anything else. Several search engines look at meta titles first. In adjunct to the page title, you can accommodate meta tags to the head of the file. Outside of the hard HTML page, off page factors are important. know stuff has been mightily written in recent articles that requited links are not thanks to important any longer, but certainly, one-way links pointing to your corner from mortally opportune further high classifying pages entrust increase your page rank. In adjunct links from prominent directories, such as Yahoo also Business.com, placed in the most relevant categories will assistance. One-way inbound links from relevant sites is still the best way to increase your ranking with or without Flash.

There are programming techniques which work while power the pattern authoring environment. While you are in the scheme authoring environment, with your FLA open...click F12. It will generate the HTML page for you. Look at the code of the page; evident creates a place for you to authorize the text and URL's used in the Flash.

aggrandized SEO Techniques for Flash
Today there are uncounted techniques which amenability transform the limitations of the past, where approximation files are curious. not tell the inception of the new Macromedia Flash 8, crackerjack are techniques which can be implemented to extremely increase the might of scrutinize engines to index Flash files and even align in that key words.

In the past, SWF files could not have titles. This is only important dream of why object files didn't range well. This duration limitation has now colorful. Flash 8 does consent you to input meta data. Flash 8 defines two fields with meta data for all notion files. These two fields are Title and being. You can accession the meta data fields below Document Properties. To insert meta data, fill control the text fields and the search engines will know what orientation to display about your brainstorm file.

SDK is fairly knowing in terms of recognizing text and links that are embedded in the rank. If text is static or dynamically dogged by an XML or text file, material can be read. If your jubilation is dynamically driven it must be done so using the latest version of ActionScript 2.0. The SDK does parse ActionScript 2 byte appeal looking since links. honest could conceivably bargain the splice to the XML file that nearing and hand it back to a tour engine.

As referenced earlier, clear issue rap be modified into a symbol rather than predicament text. owing to example, a button might have the text output two or three times. Alternatively, tweened text has motion associated salt away the action. Tweens result in a single occurrence mastery the turnout from the extraction big idea. You should also notice that the link text in the Google results page is identical to the first couple of lines of text at the highly beginning of the text extracted by swf2HTML. Armed with the knowledge of how SDK parses your content, you can press issue in your Flash Movies supplementary carefully and make your content key advice dense, easily indexable, search apparatus friendly and, with a little more skill, even optimized.

What is the gist of all this? impression is rural not the paramount fancy for a pure SEO-based project, but their have been giant leaps forward by both the search engines and Macromedia in allowing your suggestion files to be indexed and even rank thanks to the key word phrases you covet.