Flash Elements on Index Page

Hello everyone,

Can you experts tell me if having flash elements on the index page, versus a flash intro, is still a no no for Google & the other search engines? Is it still best to keep the site completely static?

Wasn't sure if anyone had success ranking a site with flash elements on the index page...

Thank you for your time...

I think this will answer your question, i had rank full flash websites on top 10 keywords that have a moderate level of competition..

Thanks incdeveloper,

It's good to know a flash web site can rank well. I take it the more competitive the keyword, the less flash I should use...

This will be a new site, so I'm going to target less popular keywords to rank quickly, so I think I will experiment with a little flash, and modify the amount of flash accordingly, once we start targeting more popular keywords...

good luck!!!

Google says they can see flash, so that's cool, but I'm not convinced it beats good solid content and clearn design/code.

They dont. Flash websites are harder to rank than static websites....

If you want to use some flash elements on your index page, I will support it because it can make your site eye catching. But if you are planing to make a complete site to attract your visitors, I can't agree with you, because search engines may not be able to read your contents on your flash animation. So to make visitor as well as search engine friendly, try to make a static website and you can add some flash elements on your site.

Hi helloaneesh,

That's exactly what I plan on doing, setting up a static site with flash elements. I was just worried that even with just having the flash elements, I might be limiting the search engines from spidering through my site. Fortunately, my initial keywords I am targeting is not to competitive, but as I move up the ranks targeting more competitive keywords, I'll probably adjust my site accordingly based on it's performance...

I flash website can be more inteligent and more friendly to the visitor than a static website, and i got solid examples that support that.

Hi incdeveloper,

I totally agree that flash is very appealing to visitors. Since you have examples to support that, do you have any suggestions on what is considered too much flash? Do you have a rule of thumb that you stick with so I don't get too carried away with flash?

Well, my sites are always 100% flash that uses php and sometimes sql.

Levi,

I had the same question about six weeks ago! I build a site with flash elements on the index page to make the site look professional and appealing. It has been 33 days and as of this morning 39 of 46 pgs are indexed on G and the PR is 2. (only 27 pgs index on Y and 46 on MSN) The index page was indexed in about a week.
My suggestion is to make it at least a 50/50 split with flash. AND make sure your relevent Keywords and descriptions are within the text of the non-flash portions of the index page.
Here is the page if you need something to compare: http://HoustonNewHomeSource.com
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Well you cant suggest how much flash someone can use on a website, flash websites generally are build to make the client be attract to the website by giving him nice transitions and nice eye catching elements.

Your post can be compare to this: if you want to rank in SE make 50% your site images and 50% content...

Btw you got a error on the button named communities, this is what it displays: _level.flashbuttons........

Thanks you guys for the feed back...I'll probably play it safe & add flash elements on a static page. But in the future, I was thinking of creating a completely static site, with a link for viewers to click on to view the site as flash. I figure this would be the safest for the search engines, yet provide a complete flash experience for those with faster connections. Have any of you guys tried this approach?

If I create 2 versions of my site, a static & flash version, can I possibly suffer from a duplicate content penalty since the content itself will be the same between the 2 sites?