16 replies to this topic

[joeeee]

can u hide links under flash? will it be ok to do

[Jill]

You can do anything you want.

It's search engine spam, however if you're showing one thing to the search engines and another to people.

[joeeee]

You can do anything you want.

It's search engine spam, however if you're showing one thing to the search engines and another to people.

well if it is a flash menu adn you know it wont get spidered. Some one told me you can put links behind the flash. You can see the link sin a text browser.. and they say it is SEO friendly

[qwerty]

That's not "hiding" links. It's providing an alternate means to access links for users without flash. That's assuming the links point to the same URLs as the flash menu.

[joeeee]

That's not "hiding" links. It's providing an alternate means to access links for users without flash. That's assuming the links point to the same URLs as the flash menu.

but if the users never see the links and they only use the flash menu, isn't that still hiding? It is only for the spiders not the users

[qwerty]

It depends on how you're doing it. Are users who don't have Flash installed going to see the links, or will they be hidden from them too?

[joeeee]

It depends on how you're doing it. Are users who don't have Flash installed going to see the links, or will they be hidden from them too?

I'm not sure.. It only shows up in a text browser. I saw a sample.. If you turn CSS off you can't see it. Only in plain text. So, I am not sure if people without flash will see them or not

[qwerty]

Well, that's what you need to figure out. If what you're doing doesn't help anyone but the search engine, then you're not actually helping the search engine or anyone else. As Jill said, you'd be spamming.

[jehochman]

You should take a look at SWFobject. This will solve your problem without violating any quality guidelines as long as your alternative content is essentially the same as your Flash content.

[linux_lover]

Yup listen to Jonathan I would have said the same thing! SWFObject is your ideal solution.

[webd]

can u hide links under flash? will it be ok to do

Yahoo recommends putting text navigation at the bottom of the page in this Powerpoint file:
http://www.ysearchbl...ndly-design.ppt

Google talks about it here:
http://googlewebmast...ch-engines.html

Both search engines mention creating HTML versions of Flash content. Google recommends blocking off that duplicate Flash content with a robots.txt file.

I wouldn't hide links beneath the Flash, but would put them at the bottom.

[fromtherooftops]

I have been using SWFObject effectively for a while now. And so far safely...

[JohneeMac]

Yeah as mentioned SWF Object is what you need.

Adobe actually use it on their OWN site believe it or not, so you cant go far wrong with it. Just avoid numerous spammy links, but from what you have said you wont have any problems.

Doesnt anyone know if the Spiders can read the Javascript and actually access the Flash? Its an question iv had for a few months now and havnt had any concrete answer. I would guess no, but i aint a pro seo'r .....

[jehochman]

The technology is available, but Google hasn't implemented it yet because not enough high-profile sites are affected. Of course, the high profiles are mostly smart enough to use SWFobject or UFO (does the same thing).

[ninjashoes]

Isnt it best to use an alternate non flash site?