Flash and Image Best Practices for Websites

Posted on: December 23, 2011 by Comments Off

Sometimes large businesses opt to use Flash or extensive imagery on their Website. This is usually to easily get the exact look or animation they want at correct dimensions. There are often problems I find with this strategy:

  • Flash and images are not as SEO friendly as integrating more real copy. Although search engines can read alt, title, and other tags, content is key.
  • It is not always possible to copy text from Flash, and impossible from images. Even though there may be print options presented to users, some browsers may not display them or have images and Flash enabled.
  • Sometimes Flash can be buggy, not integrating well with other elements.
  • Flash is not as crawlable by search engines as many other coding techniques.

Here are some Flash and imagery best practices from my experience:

  • I find Flash best utilized for animation on individual pages or set sized locations on pages.
  • I don’t find Flash useful for full Websites or extensive interactivity.
  • Images are ideal to show imagery, not to replace copy.
Share |

Tags: , ,     Filed Under: Best Practices, Flash, Images