There is no doubt that Flash creates many issues when it comes to search engine optimization.  As you probably know, Flash files are similar to interactive movie files.  Even when there is textual content inside of Flash files, the text probably will not be indexed by the engines.

A webmaster may or may not know about the various tactics that can be used to compensate for the SEO issues that are created when Flash is used.  They may be more likely to know best practices for graceful degradation from a user interface perspective than from a SEO perspective.  These user interface best practices can help with SEO issues as well, as long as they are implemented correctly.

SWFObject

The SWFObject is essentially a small JavaScript file that detects whether a users browser has Flash installed.  If the user has Flash, then the Flash file will load and the user will be able to engage in the rich Flash experience.  However, if the user does not have the Flash player installed, the SWFObject can be set up to show HTML content in place of the Flash file.

This type of graceful degradation is important to search engines as well as to humans.  Because search engines are not effective at indexing Flash, and since they will not execute JavaScript, the SWFObject allows replacement HTML content to be shown not only to human users, but to search engines as well.  Google has come out and said that use of the SWFObject is an SEO best practice, as long as the replacement content mirrors exactly the content in the Flash file.

Low Speed Pages

Sometimes, Flash developers may use what are called low speed pages as a way to provide graceful degradation for non-Flash users.  What are low speed pages?  Very simply, they are pages designed to be smaller in file size, and thus, load faster.  Generally, low speed pages are HTML versions of their Flash counterparts.  Low speed pages originated back before broadband was widespread.  This way, users with Flash could view the larger and bulkier Flash pages, while users who didn’t have Flash or who couldn’t load it quickly enough could use the low speed pages.

Wait a second, you are surly saying.  Why are developers using low speed pages if they can just use SWFObject?  The reason is because the original intent of low speed pages was, and to a increasingly smaller percentage of internet users still is, to provide a page that is quicker to load than a larger Flash file.  But now that high-bandwidth broadband access is available to more and more users, the need for a low speed page is decreasing.

Still, that doesn’t mean that developers have stopped using low speed pages.  After all, there are still users out there that do not have broadband access, or may be visiting your site from a mobile device, and the low speed pages work well for those users.

If you are doing search engine optimization on a site that has Flash as well as low speed pages that mirror the Flash pages, you need to check to see which page, the Flash version or the low speed version, has the better chance of ranking in the SERPs.

For a smaller site, the low speed version may have an easier time ranking, because there is little external link equity which means the search engines have to rely more heavily on internal factors to determine what a page is about.  In this case, you will want to add a meta noindex tag to the Flash version of the page.

On the other hand, for a larger enterprise level site, there may be much more external link equity for your Flash pages.  This is not always the case, so make sure to do a backlink report before you start making changes.  If you do determine that the Flash pages have significant link equity, while the low speed pages do not have as much link equity, you may make the decision to put a noindex tag on the low speed pages, despite the fact that they have better on-page optimization.  The low speed pages will still be entirely available to the user, but will not be indexed by the major search engines.

The Best of Both Worlds

In the end, you can use both Flash pages that use the SWFObject as a graceful degradation method, as well as low speed pages.  The content can be the same in both the Flash version, the HTML SWFObject backup, and the low speed pages, as long as the low speed page has the noindex tag.  However, if you want the low speed page to be the page that ranks, then you will need to take steps to make sure that the content is different enough to not create duplicate content issues with the Flash page’s SWFObject backup content.

Still, the situations where you would want the low speed pages to rank are increasingly rare.  With the SWFObject, and by putting your JavaScript and Flash in external files, you can effectively minimize the file size of your primary Flash page and deliver HTML content to users that do not have Flash installed and to the search engines.

As I have mentioned before, keyword research for search engine optimization is more than just traffic and competition metrics.  It is important to look beyond traffic and competition to try to understand the intent of the user when they type their query into a search engine.

Profile the User to Get Qualified Traffic

It is not enough to only look at keyword traffic, or only look at keyword traffic and competitiveness.  In order to conduct effective keyword research, it is important to develop user profiles in your keyword research.  With every keyword that you add to your list of potential target keywords, think about what the user is looking for when they type in that keyword.

If they keyword is “widget reviews,” you know that the user is probably not yet in the buying stage.  They are looking for more information about the quality and reliability of the widgets they are seeking.  In this case, you would want the target this keyphrase to a landing page providing user reviews or testimonials.  If the keyword is “buy widgets,” you can be pretty sure that they user is ready to purchase, and you would want them to landing on a page that allows them to satisfy this need.

When performing keyword research, segment your potential keywords into separate sheets, with each sheet geared toward a specific user profile.  Using our example with the widgets, you would want one sheet that contained keywords for a user that is looking for widget reviews, another sheet with keywords for a user looking for widget specifications, and yet another sheet for a user looking to buy widgets.

User Profiles Should Mirror Your Conversion Funnel

If the idea of segmenting your keyword research based on user profiles seems a bit overwhelming, keep in mind that your user profiles will likely mirror your conversion funnel.

Your sales team is likely familiar with these different phases of user purchasing phases.  In the beginning, the user may be looking for information on whether or not they even need a widget.  Later, once they come to the conclusion that they do need a widget, they may look for information about different brands of widgets.  After that, they make look for information on widget specifications, widget reviews, costs of widgets, etc.  Then when they have collected all of the necessary information, they may decide to purchase a widget from a particular company.

In this scenario, your keyword research would be segmented based on the user as they exist in each stage of the buying process.  Of course, your website will ideally be set up to direct the consumer from each stage of the buying processes to the next relevant stage.  That way, the user can land on your site in any stage of the buying process and be taken logically through each step to the final conversion page.

Remember, though, that there will likely be users who do not fall anywhere in the conversion process.  An example would be a reporter looking to get to your web site’s press page.  Even though this kind of user is not one that would necessarily be making a purchase, it is still important to include this type of user profile in your keyword research.