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Since Adobe informed that they cooperated with the biggest search engine companies to improve Flash indexation and Google officially confirmed they can index Flash content there is a lot of discussion whether Flash is good or still bad for websites.

There are some that will say Flash is evil. But there are some that will say Flash is great tool for websites. Well, i guess it depends on the context and situation.

First lets take a look at downsides of using Flash on your website:

1. Single URL for different content.
   Flash is used to show many informations in one place. Flash may include many movies, text content, frames etc. yet it feeds the user with all those informations from single URL, no page refresh is necessary. Since different content is showed from single URL it is hard (or in many cases impossible) to link to those individual parts of informations directly making link building very hard job to do.
2. Load time.
   Big Flash presentations (including movies, sounds, pictures) may take a long time to load in user web browser, especially when user is using slow Internet connection, making many people to leave before they see the content.
3. Intros.
   Some Flash developers create an Intro scene or animation to introduce the content to the user. The problem with this is that it consumes users time. The user visiting your website have a goal: to find informations quickly. And if you order them to watch intro every time they reload or visit your page they will feel irritated and they will stop using your website.
4. Disabled Back button.
   If you use Flash that disables the Back button, know that ‘back button is the second most important navigation element after hyperlinks’ - says usability expert Jacob Nielsen. You should take usability seriously and leave the Back button working properly. If you don’t do that you might loose many users.
   Disabling Back button also is against Google AdWords guidelines, so remember that if you want to advertise your Flash website on Google, you have to keep Back button working.
5. Poor content updates.
   With Flash adding or removing content becomes not so easy task that in most cases requires hiring a professional. Frequently updated website is more useful to the users as they seek for the latest news, not the news from yesterday and the problem with Flash is that it tends to be created once and left alone.
6. Usability.
   Flash has different structure than text. Some older visitors or visitors with disabilities may feel unfamiliar with that environment and immediately leave your website to a text based website.
   You can not change the font size text in Flash, thus visitors are forced to read the text in specified font size, which is usually to small to read comfortably.
   You may not use some of your web browser features. “Find in that page” feature does not work, your web browser will not find anything on a Flash site.
7. Search Engines still don’t index all Flash.
   Currently only Google implemented the Adobe’s new Searchable SWF library, meaning only Google started to index Flash. Other search engines are still “blind” for Flash.
   And even Google have some limitations. Google can not see images in Flash files, Flash files loaded from JavaScript, content written in bidirectional languages (Hebrew and Arabic languages) and Google will index separately any files loaded by the Flash file (such as external HTML file, an XML file or another SWF file).

Now take a look on positive things about using Flash:

1. Interactive.
   Flash let’s you create multimedia presentations, online games etc. It lets you create things not possible with text-based static websites. It lets you create a connection with your users, let them be in control.
2. Good impression.
   Flash makes you want to see more. It makes you want to use it, see what it can do. It makes your users want to stay on your website and come back for more.
3. Flash applications.
   You can create a Flash applications including interactive tutorials, presentations, online courses with its own web interface and navigation menu.

Conclusion.

My final thought about Flash is: it depends what you want to achieve. In some cases using Flash is a good way, and in some cases its a bad thing.

I never thought Flash is bad or good. I am not a Flash lover or hater. Flash is a tool. And if used properly it may benefit you, but used in a wrong way it will only harm, harm a lot. What i mean is that Flash can be good and can be bad.

Flash has no rivals when it comes to interactivity with users, with flashiness. The user experience on Flash websites may be as good as on text-websites. It depends how you build your website and for whom.

Anyway, before you consider using Flash read the above pros and cons to figure out the best solution for your website.

As far as I’m concerned from SEO point of view i will consider each website separately. I do not judge if Flash is good or bad for all websites as every website is different.