Google and other search engines cannot tell what is contained within an unoptimized flash file. Additionally, if a browser does not have flash installed, it can be a bad user experience.

Using SWFObject is a great method how to optimize flash files. SWFObject is an easy-to-use and standards-friendly method to embed Flash content, which utilizes one small JavaScript file.

SWFObject is flash detection code written in JavaScript (JS) that detects if a browser has a flash plug-in installed.

• If the plug-in is detected, the flash piece is displayed.
• If the plug-in is not detected, alternative content contained within a div tag is displayed.
• If there is no alternate content in a div, nothing is displayed!

Below is a good example from Sony Music:

And here, the alternative content contained within the div tag displayed:

The key here is that search engines will read text, links, and even alt attributes within the div tag.

Therefore, implementing swfobject to optimize Flash for SEO is highly beneficial, to users who don’t have flash installed on their browser, and to the search engine spiders.

Keep in mind that SWFObject should only be used to leverage the flash content; do not use it to stuff keywords, images, or links that are not represented in the file.

Related posts:

1. How To Optimize Using Internal Linking
2. Splash Pages: Bad for Usability, Bad for SEO