Ignorant statements can help your SEO rankings
Or at least that appears (in my opinion) to be the thinking behind Robert Scoble's latest post titled: "Why I don't use Flash". Several people have commented about this much more eloquently then I can (see Aral Balkan, and Mike Chambers ) so I'll make this short.
Using Scoble's theory here that the technology should be to blame for its poor implementation, I wonder what else we should be swearing off.
This is why I don't use Windows OS (Windows ME was a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't have hair (Donald Trumps hair is a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't watch movies (Michael Moore is a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't use automobiles (the Yugo was a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't eat food (Brussels Sprouts are a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't drink water (the water in Mexico is a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't breath (The air in LA is a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't talk to people (Robert Scoble is a horrible implementation)
This is why I don't ... { Insert your own ignorant statement here }
So why am I posting then you ask? Well I figure I would help the mentally challenged get his trip to camp, or pay for his band equipment, or buy a clue. Whatever it is he needs the search engine rankings for, I figure must be pretty important to make such idiotic claims like that. I'm all about helping out those who can't help themselves :S
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August 23rd, 2006 at 3:55 pm
I had a similar discussion the other day. You can find the article here http://www.curtismorley.com
I list many sites that are successful using Flash and still make it on the search engines.
August 23rd, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Very nice list. In fact the one notable thing I think that gets left off the most is what is the best thing that can get you ranked? I’ve always been told incoming links, people linking to you.. the viral marketing. And fact is a well executed Flash site has more potential to get people more excited than a static one because it can be much more emmersive, more rich, and offer a more cinematic experience.
October 19th, 2006 at 1:17 am
I have to agree with Scoble. He’s saying that a site should be able to degrade gracefully back to an HTML version if Flash isn’t installed (which is the case more and more since firefox doesn’t bundle it). I’ve never been a fan of complete Flash sites because they don’t play nice with browsers. A lot of functionality that you’d expect in an HTML page simply doesn’t work in Flash.
I can’t stop a Flash site from playing a frustratingly long animation or from playing a loud soundtrack by hitting the stop button (unless its been manually added). I can’t go back to the last “page” by hitting the back button (unless its been manually added). I can’t refresh the current “page” I’m on in a Flash movie (unless its been added manually). I can’t bookmark a page (unless its been added manually)…starting to see the pattern?
All this functionality that comes automatically with a standard HTML page has to be manually, and often tediously, added by the the designer. Flash makes for a good application platform, it does the whole applet thing cleaner than Java ever did, and safer than ActiveX did. And I’d much rather see the “plugin not installed” error for the news ticker on a website, rather than for the *entire* website.
October 19th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Actually thats not really what hes saying at all. He saying that Flash (as a technology) should be blamed for the shortcomings of the person who created it. Your comments about why you dont like full Flash sites because it takes away certain features you have become used to is a valid point (e.g. back button, deep linking etc). However many sites and Flash developers are beginning to implement these features. the fact that it isn’t out of the box is a gripe that the Flash developer should have, not you as the viewer. You dont have to do the extra work to implement it if you are the person visiting the page, so I’m not sure I understand your gripe there. And as for the long animations and no way to escape, again, a problem with the creator not the technology.
The problem with Scobles statements arent the fact that he got an error when he shouldnt have, its his over the top misdirected finger pointing at the technology rather then the implementation.
Thanks for the comment!