For the love of Beer—No more Flash!

July 9th, 2008 | Author: Beth Harte

I am a fan of microbrews. Why, because they are homegrown, fun, unique, tasty, and… more interesting than the average bottle of suds.

Perhaps it’s these wonderful qualities that get them in trouble when it comes to their websites. What’s the trouble? All-Flash sites! I have nothing against Flash, in small doses.

The main issue I have is that an all-Flash site makes it hard, if not impossible, to find new microbrews to try. Why? You know it…lack of search engine optimization (SEO). I am not an SEO expert (those of you that are please chime in, there’s a beer in it for you!), but I know the basic rules. If the site doesn’t utilize text, links, keywords, tags, etc. search engines won’t find it. If search engines can’t find the beer—then I can’t find the beer. Unless I dig, and well, I’m lazy and I don’t want to do a bunch of digging. I’d venture to guess that the average beer consumer doesn’t want to dig either.

Check this out, two microbrews that both have pale ales: Magic Hat #9 and Roosters Polygamy Pale Ale [sorry, as you know, I can’t provide a specific link for either brew]:

Now, a Google search for pale ale:

Do you see Magic Hat and Roosters? Neither do I! [Note: there weren't any ads either.] If it weren’t for the kindness of friends (word of mouth works again!), I wouldn’t have found out about Magic Hat. And that would be sad…because it’s really great beer.

So, why would SEO be great for microbrews? The Search Engine Guide offers up the following:

Obtain Increased and Higher Quality Sales
Increased Search Engine Visibility
Brand Recognition
Enhanced Credibility and Legitimacy
Investment in your Domain Name
Competitive Edge and Research Advantage
Ad Spend predictability and High Return on Investment (ROI)
Passive Business Development

And I get it…they are “micro” and perhaps searchability, brand, competition, etc. really doesn’t matter and they are happy with where their revenues are. But the truth is…Flash sites are sometimes just not very nice to look at, lack functionality, and are just plain hard on the eyes.

I’d ask microbrews to keep in mind when thinking about their cool, all-Flash website how many people won’t be finding them…and the lack of beer happiness for us.

Tip: Here’s a really great article from Search Marketing Gurus that discusses the disadvantages of an all-Flash site.

This is just my opinion, what do you think? Are you a friend or foe of the all-Flash site? Have any tips or best-practices for SEO that I am missing?

[Image: Purchased from iStock]